Long Harry local hauler, laundrette runner, dadbike and commuter

Cheers @si_mon628 !

New grips and tyre fitted but it’s now a bit wet outside. Shifter spring also transplanted from a dead 10-speed X0 shifter to my 9-speed X0.

Random. I’d never really liked the way this 9-speed X0 shifter shifted. It always felt a bit vague for what was their top end product. I don’t think that spring has ever been in there, even when I had the shifter on my Rudy Project mtb. Now it clicks and shifts perfectly.

And then the mind wanders. I went for 9-speed because it was prettier than the newer 10-speed one was. It looks like the ratchet might be interchangeable and now I’m wondering if a 10-speed upgrade inside the better looking 9-speed shifter body would work...

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Excellent work on improving shifter internals, I love stuff like that!

One other thing with the shifter while it’s off. I straightened the upshift lever as it was making contact with the downshift lever (or whichever way round that is). It must have had a hit at some point. Now it can move all the way, it’ll ratchet 5 gears in one shift!

Interesting seeing the differences between the top model X0 and entry level X7 though. X0 is all metal parts, has cartridge ball bearings throughout and you can take it completely to pieces if you’ve taken your brave pills. Entry level model has more plastic parts and just runs on plain axles. It looks much easier to assemble in the factory but it means the cable replacement is awkward compared to X0 because there is stuff in the way.

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Making the box. Plywood bought last week. A while back I put a frame together out of offcuts of aluminium construction kit from work. Did some measuring in the week and decided on a final size. Uprights cut to desired height and crossmembers added. Seat position front-to-back and height is adjustable. The seat base and squab are going to be mounted on t-slot nuts so they’ll also be adjustable to make the seat bigger as J69_jnr grows. Dims: 850mm long and 500mm wide.

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Forgot to post this last weekend. Cut the base and sides.

Did some sums to calculate the rough weight of the box. Frame weighs 5.8kg. I calculated the ply is going to weigh 9.5kg. That’s 12mm base and 9mm sides, 12mm seat base and 9mm back. So add in the fasteners and the curvy bits and it’ll be around 16kg.

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And today’s progress. It’s slow but it’s still progress!

Front and back panels cut during the week. Panels drilled for fixings and mounted up. Stainless button heads on the sides and countersunk underneath. Did a test fit on the bike and cut the slot in the back panel to clear the random fixing on the steerer tube. All looks good so far.

I’m going to cut some handles into the side panels, drill the mounting holes in the base, then a few coats of yacht varnish and it’ll be ready to use. I don’t think it needs the upper crossmembers so I think I’ll take them out and see how it fares.

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Great building. Is it going to live on the bike full time?

I think mostly it will. It would be nice to be able to hitch it on and off quickly, but I haven’t quite worked out a good way to do that yet. The bolt-down points on the frame are 4 alloy tubes with 8.5mm holes. I’m thinking of tapping them to M10 so at least I don’t have to fiddle around underneath with nyloc nuts. Worst case if they strip out is I can drill them out to 10mm.

If it's not in your plans, some drainage holes would probably be a good idea?

I did think about that, but then I thought every hole in the base is a way for toys to fall out!

I got a couple more hours on it today. Cut some handles at the centre of balance for decoration easy lifting. Bench seat is cut and fitted. Again, all on T-slot nuts so it can adjust and it’s locked in place with a bolt at the top.

Weight at this point is 15kg on the scales. I’ll take the front and rear crossmembers out when I dismantle it for varnishing.

3-year old for size comparison. There’s easily enough space for 3 kids in there and it struck me I can easily fit a second rear-facing seat in the front as it’s already tilted at the right angle.

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Better pic inside.

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Excellent stuff.

Quick update. Handles added to the front and back of the box. First pic is lacquered and reassembled without the unnecessary frame bits. Second pic is box mounted on the bike ready for the first ride.

So far done a 10-ish mile test ride, lugged some junk round to the garage, a bit of pottering around and a bit of a hilly 16 mile ride to Virginia Water with 3-year old onboard, picnic, blanket, cushions etc. Seems to actually work best without the seat base and a load of cushions instead. Will try and get some better pics before the box gets too beaten up.

For posterity adding iOS pano setting getting confused about what a charity shop run on a funny looking bike looks like.

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If it's not in your plans, some drainage holes would probably be a good idea?

It completely lashed down while I was out today and it turns out the box doesn’t drain out very well. Where the extrusions are bolted to the wood it’s actually sealed up pretty well. Wet shopping.

I finally got around to tapping and helicoiling the box mounting points. Not my finest insert seating job - I tried to be cheap clever and use two short inserts one on top of each other and it didn't go too well. Got one perfect, but two are slightly too proud and the other a little too deep. Still, it works perfectly and the box is dead easy to swap on and off. I've got some longer inserts coming in the post, so next time I'm in work I'll pick the short ones out and replace them with the long ones.

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Thats a really cool build, love it!
Enjoyed reading this thread!

Thanks @seven glad you’ve enjoyed it!

Still jealous you bought this before I could

Ages since the last update. I’m home alone this weekend so I’m interspersing watching Le Mans (and drinking beer) with some updates to this. I took all the retro stuff off it a couple of months ago and put it back on my Rudy Project mtb where it came from. It’s getting Avid Single Digit V brakes, new bars and stem and the 10-speed SRAM X7 I had on my GT Edge Aero. So nothing massively exciting going on, but reliable stuff and an extra gear.

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So good! And looks likes holding up well, did you need drainage holes in the bottom or not?

I didn’t put any in it, but it does basically fill up with water if it’s left out in the rain! When it’s chained up outside I keep it covered with a long cargo bike cover I got from Germany and the rest of the time it lives in my council lockup next to my Anglia.