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• #4927
It depends on the steering layout. With something with a low flat bed it's real difficult because the low centre of mass (CoM) doesn't cause the bike to lean and the steering to then turn towards the lean and push under the CoM to self correct itself.
If you want to do a wee experiment, have someone sitting on the rack bottom, versus sitting on a stool lashed to the base of the rack, i guarantee it'll be easier to ride no handed with the person's weight a bit higher sat on the stool than directly on the base.
Bicycle stability is effectively an inverted pendulum problem that relies on forward motion of the bike to allow moving the CoM over the balance point.
But then, is riding no handed really important? If i was doing delivery stuff rather than just wanting a cargo machine for part time commuting and only part time cargo then the bullit style long johns are unbeatable. (I was a cargo-bike courier for a long time and have a real gristly throbbing hard-on for the bullits)
:)
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• #4928
If you're looking for boom material i've got a bit of 50.8 x 1.6mm wall T45 to sell on.
I think maybe 700-800mm length?I was using it to pierce a 44mm headtube through the centre to keep the bed as low over the front wheel as i could for the sake of space.
A new design means I have no use for it.
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• #4929
Interesting, ta. There were times that no-hands riding might have been handy, but thankfully it's still possible to peel a banana/open a bottle whilst steering one-handed, in order to keep one's passengers fed and watered...
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• #4930
Is it just me?
I'm a bit paranoid about breaking spokes 'cos I've forgotten to unlock the built-in wheel lock. So far I've broken one "rubber bolt" on my Urban Arrow & on finding the replacements were about £10 I decided to look elsewhere. I couldn't find another source but did hit upon the idea of using a nylon bolt which was cheap.
I've been trying to get myself into the habit of spinning the back wheel with my foot before I get on, but today I forgot - low & behold, the nylon bolt snapped - working perfectly!
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• #4931
I wouldn't have thought you could get enough of a run-up to dent or break a spoke with a nurse's lock - I've set off many times on regular bikes without mishap, and cargo bikes tend to have beefy 13g spokes.
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• #4932
Someone at work got through 14spokes at once
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• #4933
I've started heaving my cargo bike a million times with a dlock still locked in the back wheel and never broken a spoke.
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• #4934
Which bike? Urban arrow XL is about 60kg unloaded. Plus rider + max cargo weight of 150kg, & Bosch CX on turbo I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t be at risk of breaking a few spokes accelerating forward while the lock’s on at the rear 😅
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• #4935
Anyway, if there's others out there with broken "rubber bolts", the nylon ones I've replaced mine with are only a few pence & they work
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• #4936
Omnium, which admittedly you can't be seated on while pushing off the kickstand and pedaling straight away, but assumed arrow riders did that only from the lights not after a pickup when they'd locked up.
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• #4937
Nah most of the time you wouldn’t pedal it off the stand with a big load. You can’t really when the weight on the front is more than you, the rear wheel doesn’t touch the floor when you are seated.
Often people get caught out when they take the key out to change batteries (you can’t remove it unless the wheel is locked)- or if they are doing one of many drops and lock up to enter the building. Just rolling it off the stand with a big load can quite easily break a spoke or two.
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• #4938
Good hack! Yeah it’s mad how much places charge for them. The cost if you buy direct from Urban Arrow is negligible.
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• #4939
Interesting - on my bakfiets it needs more forward motion than you can get from a locked back wheel to drop it off the stand, which may be why I've never had any problems.
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• #4940
Someone at work got through 14spokes at once
Maybe they should get one of those reminder thingies
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• #4941
There seems to be something about cargo bikes that makes this happen. I can barely remember a day when I didn't get a dangerous overtake.
This is today's close-pass (pic corrected)
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• #4942
Somehow I got the Idead stuck in my head to customize and old bike from the post. Now I stumbled across a good offer for a swedish post bike and the idea becomes more and more alive.
I am stillt not too sure if its a good idead, though. These projects tend to get out of hand and in the end i could've just bought a decent cargo bike instead.
Idea is to buy the standard bike and fit it with decent parts, maybe even a SS conversion. Should I do it? Also discs are trying to sneak into my mind at this point. :o
Price asked is 350€ as seen in the picture. In germany
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• #4943
If I wanted discs, I wouldn't be starting from there - they've already got drum brakes, so will have consistent wet/dry performance.
Tbh, for a hack/shopper, most postal bikes are pretty much ideal as they are - they're designed to carry heavy loads, and the components are chosen for reliability and long life. 'Decent' (lighter?) parts are unlikely to make a functional difference, and even if you replace most of them it's still going to be a heavy bike.
Of course, if you're doing it for the fun of the project, knock yourself out! Now I'm imagining a postal bike with deep carbon rims, CK headset, etc...
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• #4944
Yeah, just for the fun of it. Not really CK Headset But nicer parts in general. All black with Cambium C15, nicer mudguards, good lights maybe H+Son Wheels, something like that.
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• #4945
What's the best position and method of mounting a dynamo light on a Minimax?
There seems to be a small hole on the end of the downtube/"cargotube", but it doesn't appear to be threaded -
• #4946
This is quite nice compared to the normal german ones with two baskets that have a coaster brake in the back. But then I saw those for less money.
Does this one have a drum brake at the back?(edited bc reply mess)
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• #4947
Shimano Nexus SG-7R50, thats the 7 speed one, how are they?
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• #4948
I think most prefer Alfine.
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• #4949
I think so yes. Not sure though if they have also a dynamo in the front hub. Would be perfect.
But I’m not sure if I really want one of these. Have it a little bit more thought and I could also do 90% of the transports with a commuter with a front rig. For everything else I still have my van.
So it’s a fight between building this project ( the owner didn’t even reply to my offer so far) or building myself a nice commuter/gravel bike which is a little bit more practical for everything else.
I hate to decide those things. :/
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• #4950
I just bought a bakfiets short, rideable, very ratty.
My intention to replace the chain, gear cable and housing now looks like this:
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That's impressive - I was under the impression that no-hands was a no-no with any steering linkage. I only tried it the once on my bakfiets; never again...