Cargo Bikes

2.25" thunderburt :) This particular one has sliding drops and crimped chainstays, which was unique to the small batch this one was part of.

The current version will take 47c max.

Does that even exist? Might just be their website but it looks like they are are all nuvinci

Aye I've been chatting with both - will sort something out soon!

I’d contact them or ask your local dealer, I’m certain it’s available. I can’t really work out their website

WAIT A MINUTE

You guys have cargo bikes that are enjoyable to ride??

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My Workcycles Kr8 backfiets can take a big week's shopping in the box, or a normal shop plus twins; if I wanted a big load plus kids I'd be putting the Dutch shopping panniers on the rear rack, but that starts to get to the limits of what I can pedal...

I think the nuvinci is fine for folk who do a lot of city miles, and unexpected stops and starts, and for those who aren't regular riders, they are user friendly to folk who aren't "up" on bikes. Have heard of folk getting thousands of trouble free miles out of them, same for alfine 11, but have heard of way more where thwy have issues (main one is they become "notched" internally so it will tend to slip into one particular ratio of its own accord (and the shifters imploding, but had hoped they'd made a better shifter by now).
Alfine 11 btw is also bad for cargo, ok for manual bikes and for hub driven motors, but not for mid drive. Alfine 8 are better, and nexus 5 better again. But any igh will fail given enough bad shifts/user error/abuse. Imagine mashing gears in a manual car, you get away with it, but only so many times before stuff goes wrong.
For me I like to be able to ride around in silence with no motor (when there's no hills lol) , and a geared igh/infinite igh would defo make that experience more hard work.
Negatives of regular derailleur gears... Chains and cassettes are going to wear faster than on a regular bike, and then a powerful mid drive compounds that. But any old bike shop or end user can take care of it, changing chainring (well bosch need a special tool but they don't cost much), chain and cassette is no harder than a regular bike. Can't change gear when stationary so you have to change down on expectation, though the instant torque of most mid drives means any old gear is going to make the bike go forward when you want it to

the other downside of regular gears is potential grease marks on my wife's smart work trousers...

I really like the idea of not having to worry about cleaning/relubing chains from November to March. When i get back from nursery/school with kids, i don't generally have time to clean the bike and by the time they are in bed and i've done house chores, i'm unlikely to want to go back outside and do it again.

Will have a think about what models have nexus 5 and gates drive I guess - other than LvH ebullit, any others?

A quick note, E14 Rohloff belt drive is fucking dope.

a new challenger appears!

Hadn't heard of that. Will investigate.

A quick note, E14 Rohloff belt drive is fucking dope.

Too bad it's only compatible with Bosch eBikes. I hope they do a stand-alone someday soon.

Panasonic too!

Can Bullitts take a full chain case? My bakfiets is still on the original chain and sprocket after 6 years and however many thousand miles - I'm sure it will wear eventually, but until then it just gets an occasional oil. And keeps trousers nice and clean.

Rohloff plus Hebie:

@gillies

I've ridden most of the big common cargo-bikes for work at various points, though the one I'm still keen to try out is a reise and muller.

BULLIT I'm sure I'm probably going to repeat what others have said on here. There's a reason that all of the delivery companies exclusively use Bullit's. They're big, solid reliable and handle well. As a wee note: there was a geometry change when they moved to the ones with the integrated headtubes out front. The old ones ride nicely, but the newer ones ride even better. The steering feels much more neutral at slow speed tight turns. The older ones started to kick and jackknife the front wheel in really tight slow turns.

8-freights handling remarkably doesn't change when going from loaded to unloaded. It really surprised me, I think it's the straight fork and low wheelflop. Unfortunately, it goes from riding like ass with a really really vague steering feel to riding like ass with a really vague steering feel. I'm sure it's something you could get used to, but unless you have a massive hardon for mike burrows you're probably best to get something else.

Urban Arrow. AVOID! The riding position is so reclined that you can't get any power into the pedals. This means you're relying on the motor all of the time and essentially using your pedalling as a throttle. If that motor ever cuts out you're stuffed. They're also super heavy, super expensive and universally hated by all of th ebike mechanics who have to suffer servicing the things.

Omniums. The cargo and minimax are super super rad. Probably the best cross between a cargobike and a standard bike out there. Probably not suitable for transporting two children and shopping however. The only downside is the same downside as all other cargobikes, which is the size of them.

Christiania. AVOID! rode down the arthurs seat road (steep long road in edinburgh) with cars passing super close, trying to slow down but every time I did the bike would violently try to swing into the kerb. The twin front disc brakes (one on each wheel) are a pig to balance and always end up with one brake being the only one operating. They're also hell when you hit any sort of rough surface.

The absolute worst cargobike I have ever ridden is an MSC Truck it seems like someone had commissioned a bunch without ever having ridden the thing. It wouldn't go aroudn a corner, when it was loaded up the flex along the length of the bike was extreme, you would start turning a corner and there would be a lag as the weight behind you twisted the whole bike. The bike would hit it's max twist as you hit the apex. Hideous hideous thing! Thank god we offloaded that dross to Edinburgh. ;)

I've also ridden a bunch of modified pedicabs, trikes, cycletrucks etc. but none of these are suitable.

Thanks dude, this is super useful.

Increasingly looking like it'll come down to r&m packster 60/80 with nuvinci or a bullit with rohloff.

Butchers and bicycles/ triobike would be up there too but I can't test ride those and they are too expensive for me anyway.

Should be able to test ride both the packster and a bullit here in Glasgow anyway.

I honestly don’t have a problem with the riding position on an urban arrow (or the mechanics / maintaining of them). They’re slow unassisted because they’re heavy, they’re heavy because they’re huge, and rated to carry more than their competitors.

Sorry to sound like a fanboi, I use one a lot and think it’s good for what it’s built for :)

I tried a Bullit, an R&M Packster 80 & an Urban Arrow XL before buying. The Bullit was the most fun, the R&M felt best build & the UA worst of the bunch but decided on the UA as the others just wern't big enough. The ride of the UA has been improved by changing the bars to flat, changing the seat-pin to an offset one & changing the saddle from the rubber armchair that came with it. I'm now looking for a longer saddle to straighten my legs out a bit more - raising the saddle makes frequent stops in traffic a problem. If I happen to come into some money I'd change the hub to a Rohloff

Adding to that, the geo on the UA has been designed like this to provide a super stable position with two feet flat on the floor at standstill. Easy stopping and starting.

Yeah, that too. Although I do find the saddle too low when accommodating fully flat standing it definitely helps.

One more thing, the kickstand is absolutely solid on the UA- it’s great. Can have multiple people standing, getting in and out of the front and it won’t budge.

too big for what - what's your load?

Paint, dust sheets, tools, ladders...

Thought I'd dust off my tools.

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Love it! What did you use for the head tube?

Gas pipe frame tube from donor bike, same internal diameter as bmx cups.