Cargo Bikes

[Stem Easy Up]

Woah, nice one. I didn't know these existed.

& @Jonny69
You're welcome!

I've been eyeing a Bullitt for a while, and the wife being around 20 cm shorter than me it is quite the selling point. We still have to try on, as standover might be an issue.

If you want something with low stand-over Douze Cycles have their V2 model with step-through style frame (called Traveller) and their G4 (e-assist only) has low stand-over height anyway. The Douze comes with the same adjustment (Easy Up).

We have a V2 (Messenger style) and chose it over a Bullitt. Less kudos, but having ridden both I feel the Douze was a better option for us and rides beautifully to boot.

Douze looks very nice!
Sadly though, it looks like there are no local dealers here in Denmark

Weight out front makes the handling not great but stuff is moveable and can still keep some speed. Weight above handlebar height is a lot more sketchy, if you hit a bump and the front wheel comes off the ground the bike starts tipping over in the air, so you need to go quite slow.

We have a V2 (Messenger style) and chose it over a Bullitt. Less kudos, but having ridden both I feel the Douze was a better option for us

Could you expand?

I did the same - rode a Bullitt and a Douze and thought the cable steerer system was much better than the rod steerer.

It allows to turn on the spot so I thought that made it much more manoeuvrable and 'nimble' in traffic.

I took the traveller version (step through) and honestly I don't know why anyone would choose a cargo bike with a high top tube - the Bullitt felt less comfortable to mount / dismount loaded with 100kg of Champagne.

Sure you'll get less hipster points and the independent bike shops won't want to touch them as it would mean reading a french service manual but hey, in my opinion the Douze V2 is superior to the Bullitt.

I have not ridden the Douze G4 but I imagine it's better than the V2

Speaking of the Douze, I am looking at fiting a child seat to the bike and that's the option I am trying.

I found a Cybex pram adaptor on eBay for less than £10 which I have started dismantling.

The plan is to bolt that adaptor to floor of the Douze (inside the AluLock box) to be able to clip my Cybex car seat onto it.
The adaptor arms fold down so I cab still carry stuff when not in use.

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My Douze is probably coming to the end of its planned usefulness as child carrier, and my daughter barely fits in. It's got the 600 extension up front. Pondering whether to let go of it or keep it for shopping. Because for that it's so so damn useful!

Swept back bars were a surprise the last few months and every customer has disliked, wanted them changed for regular bars. They suit people who want to be upright though!

Cables are good for a few reasons, isolates frame flex from steering so speed wobble impossible, tighter turning circle possible and can use a cam to have variable rate steering (so accuracy in the centre, and loads of available lock towards the end). Need adjusted once in a blue moon and not quite the same feedback through the bars, think that is the only downsides! Oh you can also have the frame load area lower to the ground as the steering rod doesn't go through or under it, cables can just be zip tied to the sides.

Not a fan of low top bar long johns, maybe I'm just use to them, I use the bar to stabilise the bike when loaded from tipping over.

Have noticed a trend, riders who would mount a normal bike by putting leg over/behind saddle, almost always put that same leg over the top tube when getting on a long john. Weird huh! Can see the appeal of a low top tube though.

You could order the 800 front end so your daughter can enjoy the bike a bit longer?

Or get an AluLock box to turn it into a grocery getter

I won't spend more substantial amount of money on it in any shape or form ... As a grocery bike it's good as is. I live in Adelaide, so it's not the same high-risk situation for bike theft and vandalism. Canvas box out front does just fine.

This is a bit off topic but seems like this is the most active thread where e-stuff is getting discussed and also you are in here quite a bit @BrickMan and I think you might be able to help!

Is there more to a Shimano Steps system than a battery, battery mount and motor? I guess they have a dashboard/head unit don't they?

I've had an enquiry from someone about grafting a Steps motor into their steel framed bike. I'm confident I can do the metalwork and they will source the motor as they are 'in the industry'. They want me to wire it up though and I've never worked on an ebike.

@markairsy1 you did ask...

3.5 years ago we were after a cargo bike to primarily enable me or my wife to take our boy to nursery (and now school) on the way to/from work. Total distance each way for me was around 8 miles with nipper on-board for only 2 of them.

I wanted a fast bike that once I dropped our boy off I could speed off to work on so needed something that I could still filter on so I wouldn’t get held up in traffic. My wife juts wanted a bike she felt safe and happy to ride. Speed for her was not an issue. We also wanted to use the bike for as much as we could to avoid using the car so it does the weekly shop and whatever else people would ordinarily use cars for.

Got our shortlist down to 3 bikes – Bakfiets, Bullitt and Douze.

We both loved the simplicity and laidback nature of the Bakfiets, but it’s just not a fast bike. It’s beautiful to ride, but I just couldn’t see myself hacking through traffic on it at speed, plus they’re pretty low spec.

I had ridden Bullitt’s before and loved them, but the wife hated how it handled. I can understand why as they’re a bit twitchy, plus hitting the limited steering lock (especially turning left) on tight slow turns was not nice. I’m pretty sure over time she would have gotten used to it, but during numerous test rides (including around where we live thanks to LGC) she eventually just refused to ride it as it scared her.

The Douze offered Bullitt performance (OK it’s not as stiff) and was the weight. Yet it handled beautifully thanks to the cable steering and the steering lock is HUGE so no disconcerting knocks on the steering rod when performing tight slow turns. The kids pack (folding bench seat with x2 harnessess, full cover etc) on the Douze felt better designed than the Bullitt’s. We also went for the Douze Traveller frame (low step-over height) as it made it a lot easier to mount/dismount a loaded bike. We’re both 5’ 7” (1.7m) in height.

After 3.5 years of abuse these are my top-line thoughts on owning a Douze.
(I’m a trained bike mechanic and used to race expert/elite MTB and CAT 1 roadie)

GOOD
• Every time I ride the Douze it never fails to make me smile!
• Amazing neutral handling
• Love the cable steering as you can perform tight turns when riding, but also just manoeuvring bike in a tight space (such as garage). Especially useful when loaded when you cannot easily just tip & slide bike)
• Canopy has worked well. Our boy is now 7 and he’s getting pretty squished in it (length & height), but it still works. We never remove it much with our boy in it as it can open fully up and provide good UV protection and also has a fly-screen built into it. He’s never got anything in his face/eyes from numerous summer rides when both me and my wife have.
• Despite riding the bike in all weathers all year round our boy has never got cold or wet. It seems crazy to me that you spend +3K on a bike and refuse to pay extra (yes I know they’re a lot!) for something that keeps yer kids warm & dry (and cool) despite what the weathers doing. If this is meant to replace a car, then a proper “roof” is essential.
• Folding seat has enough space behind it to hold a decent sized motorcycle chain/lock for securely locking the bike. We leave it permanently inside the bike as well as having a smaller folding ABUS lock on the bottle mounts

BAD
• We busted the Traveller frame after 2 years. The seat tube cracked/broke. I always felt that it flexed a lot vs. the Bullitt and this was due to the lack of top tube and after 2 years of hard riding a creaking started that was essentially the frame starting to fail. LGC/Douze replaced it with no questions. LGC haven’t seen one of these broken before, but as my wife was now an expert at riding the Douze we opted for a Messenger frame (with top tube) which is LOADS stiffer and we’re a lot happier with this frame design vs. the Traveller.
• Canopy leaked when we first got it, but once treated with Nikwax it’s been fine. Done x2 treatments now and it’s still very water resistant. The zips are the weakest link on the canopy, but the design has now been changed. This is not been helped by me crashing the bike 3 times which has damaged the end of the one zip/cover. But kids and their mates constantly play with them when a certain age…

STUFF WE GOT ON OUR DOUZE
• Dyno hub with front/rear lights so you have lighting 24/7 without charging/fitting anything
• Security skewer on front wheel to prevent it being nicked as locking front wheel on a cargo bike is a pain and a dirty task in the winter
• Rear rack – keeps my work stuff out of the front and also you can never have enough room on a family outing. Plus used it to carry his old bike (made holder) and will adapt it soon to tow his current bike (20” MTB)
• BIG chain lock for best security, but also helps us lock x2 bikes together, whilst the folding lock is convenient for in/out of shops, but also surprisingly small/annoying at times to use due to design
• Mudflaps on mudguards to minimise spray
• Single-sided Deore XT SPD pedals. If I can I ride with SPD’s I will. It’s not e-assist so SPD’s help loads with power up hill and acceleration from lights. Don’t bother with lower quality pedals the non-SPD side it just not grippy, been there, tried that.
• Bell. Necessity around parks/towpaths etc.
• Alfine 8 hub. Have a love/hate relationship with this. We’re on our 2nd after the 1st just failed. It makes sense on a family bike, but if it was just me I’d go with derailleur, but appreciate the minimal maintenance and changing gear without having to pedal when you arrive at junctions/lights etc.

Shout if you have any questions, apologies for typos in text, hate writing and never intended to write so much! 😊

@Vince and @pascalo we're strongly considering getting a 800mm front-end, but costs are super high. At the moment our 7 year old still happily jumps in it when he's not riding, but it's not going to last forever. Can't see ourselves ever selling it as it's so bloody handy!

Looks like a good (and affordable) fix! Love the idea of you putting a small child inside the "AluLock box" :)

@thebrenthamtaffy we went with a riese and muller packster 70 over the bullit for similar reasons - my wife did not like riding it all!

Reposting my build from a few years ago, daily rider for nursery drop offs supermarket etc. Love it.
Got a second kid now so need to get a canopy to widen the sitting area out. Long term reckon I'll upgrade the frame to a stages so I can get a wider range than my legs care for.

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Damn, that's freaking nice! Love the nitto for shred bars. Lovely colour too.

a proper “roof” is essential.

It's a common comment in the UK (alongside you can't use a child seat when it rains / it's cold) but if you look at what's common practice in other parts of the world you'll see that is really not the case. I live in Denmark and there's a handful of us cargo bike owners at my kid's nursery, the vast majority of parents however bring their kids in a Yepp seat (so fairly exposed to the elements), rain hail or shine. OK maybe not hail. The nursery owns a few Christiania bikes too and they are open top.
One thing to mention is kids are wrapped up in balaclavas and waterproof insulated coveralls in winter whenever they're outside (which is a lot) anyway.

I'm not dismissing the idea of a canopy, I just want to point out they're not a must.

Are there still any Douze dealers in the UK?

Is there anyone in SW London with a cargo that would let me borrow it for a day next week?
Or a couple of hours really.
I need to collect an office chair from Battersea and bring it back over to Putney and I'd rather not have to pay a big courier fee.
Happy to pay in beers, kudos, overthepantshandjobs etc

I'm coming to see you on Friday innit. I dont mind leaving my yuba with you if that helps, will have speakers on the back tho so I'll need to leave those with you and probably ask to borrow a bike to get to work. Could drop off to me at in white city when you are dun and ride your bike back, might be a total faff but if you stuck for offers then it's there.

Really appreciate the offer, does sound like a bit of a faff though :)