Cargo Bikes

so the varia’s not synced with a wahoo, you just look at the light flashing to know a car is inbound… ?

Nice! What basket is that?

Channeling some Mad Max vibes there!

Yeah, that's right. I can sync it with my phone, but no need, I can always see the light start flashing.

nice setup. furiously scribbling notes for my katu…

rad af

what is the towing bracket, and is the kids bike an earlyrider?

Man these things are cool, still have one on my wishlist.

Cheers!
Is a Unix Camillo; https://www.fahrrad.de/unix-camillo-festmontagekorb-M233259.html

It’s a FollowMe towing an Early Rider 20”. Total weight on the R+M in that picture is 140kg, plus the bike (40kg) and the CargoLine motor/XT drivetrain just ride as normal.

My Omnium has a CYC Photon motor which has far more low down torque and speed, but has a lot of failure points so only take the kids locally. R+M I’d trust on a Euro tour, which we’re doing next month.

but has a lot of failure points

oh yeah? could you elaborate pls?

First one arrived with broken torque sensor. The replacement I've got now has a failing torque sensor, and just now the sprag clutch has seized too. These are replaceable parts, but it's only done 500 fairly unchallenging miles and is currently unrideable. It's perhaps worth noting these were both probably some of the first off the production line, and they do seem to be actively working on and improving them, so may not be an issue anymore. Their support is responsive and I'm sure this will be resolved.

I still think the Photon is probably the best option compared to TongSheng/Bafang for cyclists – it's smooth, powerful, well machined, good Q Factor etc, and I bought it knowing it was a new product and expected some issues, but at £1k I also didn't expect it to need so much maintenance as I'm used to Bosch, which just keeps going.

This is a great setup. how are you going to get all your kit to Europe for a tour?

We're fitting a pannier rack, a fair amount should go in front, and my partner will be cycling along with her Orbea Katu which also takes a fair amount up front and on a rear rack. Hotels rather than camping so hopefully we should be OK.

Before this we had a big Butchers and Bicycles cargo bike with a huge cargo area – the Load 60 (and 75) both have pretty small usable cargo areas in comparison to other cargo bikes as everything is so low to the ground, similar to a Bullitt. Good for handling, less good for bike tours.

Lol I'm sure you'll have room.... I meant how are you going to get the bike over there!

Ha! We live by the south coast so will be getting the Newhaven > Dieppe ferry, straight on to a EuroVelo route on the other side. We did it last year on a non-electrified Omnium and only one kid, which almost killed me.

I took a katu on a small tour a few years ago and had good fun! They are surprisingly good bikes

As only Surly can…
https://youtu.be/Yvgk_1rnARI?si=jlBwrbyac8HXvlZB
It made me chuckle.

Interesting thanks!

My startup got caught in a funding gap, we didn’t pay ourselves at all for about 6 months to keep it alive. This is after 3 years of survival level income.
Pretty confident we’ve found product market fit now tho and investment capital is following fast behind that.
Anyone who tells you early stage venture is glamorous isn’t doing it right ;)

Thanks! Weirdly I’m also south coast and my fossil fuel vehicle is a VW transporter too. See you around, your bike setup looks rad

Here's how it looks most of the time, with a FollowMe attached. It's longer than my VW Transporter

Putting me up for a challenge here. Now I want to put mtb tires on my bullitt.

Sounds like a tough time. Great to hear you’re coming out the other side of it. Also great that the bike shop held onto it for so long.

That last part needs to be drummed into people more.
Well done for getting through it, especially this year.

Anyone interested in my Bullitt? I love it but sadly looks like I won’t have the storage over the summer. Would consider a Tern GSD or similar as a swap :)

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recommended rear racks for a katu… ?