Cargo Bikes

Great pic! Out of interest (I’m thinking ahead), where do you store your KR8? They’re pretty big bits of kit!

In the back yard - it's a bit unwieldy to move through loaded, so where possible I move it round the front of the house and load everybody up. I don't bother with a ground anchor; I figure anyone able to break down fences and lift out something that big and heavy is going to be to equipped to angle-grind my BFO chain lock. The guy that makes them says he leaves his out on the street in Amsterdam with a similar lock (plus the built-in frame lock), and it hasn't gone walkies yet; if I were leaving it outside in view, I'd want something very solid to lock it to.

So I’ve got to the point where I now have the money ish for a cargo bike (£2000), but I have a bit of dilemma. The bike’s going to be used for taking my daughter to and from nursery 3 days a week and then on to work for me. It’s about 18/20 mile round trip with the nursery at about the halfway point, there are a couple of hills but nothing major. It’ll also be used for visiting my parents which is a 30 mile round trip down the coast, very flat and for the weekly shop as part of these trips.
I’ve narrowed down my options to either an omnium or a Larryvsharry. I know this is way more bike than I need, but not wishing to sound like too much of a twat, I have my image to consider (ageing want to be courier) so there’s no way I’m using one of this plastic chairs people attach to their ugly hybrids. I’ve also discounted any kind of trailer as I don’t like there position on the road.

Narrowly I think the Larry is my preferred option because of lower centre of gravity and the greater flexibility in terms of the type of baby seat that I could use in the load bay. I have reasonable wood work skills so I’m assuming that I’ll be able to build my own box given the price of any of the larry accessorises.

So the crux of my dilemma is can I get away with running the Larry singlespeed. It’s the only way I can make it work money wise really. I consider myself to be fairly fit and I intend to stay that way. I’ve only ridden fixed for the last 10 years and my one geared bike hasn’t been ridden in years. So I’m concerned about the maintenance of gears, which I can do, but I’d rather not.
Other than the frame and fork the only other stuff I would need is a front wheel and some brakes, everything else I have.

So an SS Larry, how silly is that idea ?

If I had to do 20 miles on a loaded Cargo bike fixed, my knees would be toast. How about an alfine hub and you won't have to do all that much maintenance?

If I was you I'd go electric, prevents you from having an expensive cargo bike you never use for the longer stints because you're hurting or too tired.

SS cargo bike is bonkers, and not in a good way, imo. The whole point of a cargo bike is to be able to carry lots of different types (and thus weights) of loads, which you'd lose out on by not having any gears. I'd pick up one second hand for that price with gears.

To be clear, in talking about singlespeed not fixed. In normal circumstances I only be riding with my daughter, her stuff! and my own work clothes and no more shopping than I'd normally put in my messenger bag.

Perhaps, I should build it singlespeed and by the time I've worked out its a bad idea I'd have the money to buy a alfine rear wheel.

Use a 1x mtb drivetrain. Shimano mountain bike groupsets are cheap as chips (Merlin have got full SLX for £350 at the moment). As everyone else has said, singlespeed on a cargo bike is not really an option: wrestling a cargo bike up a hill doesn't really work, you just have to sit and twiddle small gears.

Big Dummy ?
I love mine and delude myself that I resemble Peter Fonda in Easy Rider when I pick my daughter up. Sadly I don't have a 20 mile round trip but it's important to have the right bike for when I'm asked to deliver urgent supplies to the back of beyond. Everyone should have an expedition bike - just in case.

2k is gonna be tight to get a Bullitt or similar. Would recommend you get a 2nd hand one as seats, lights, locks, canopy, cover etc. all will drive the cost up. If you want to use it all year round these elements will be essential for the comfort of the passenger!

Definitely test ride one, they are very capable but a lot harder work than a traditional bike to ride. You'll soon realise that single speed is not a good option! Alfine is a good option to avoid maintenance, but derailleur is the most efficient.

20 miles is a long way on a cargo bike. I've done over that on quite a few trips and you certainly feel it in your legs! I'm not mega-fit because I only commute these days. I've done a lot of racing over the years so still have a reasonable level of fitness (not by my standards!). I mostly ride our Douze (like a Bullitt) and every now and then I ride my fixed and boy, that bike feels so fast compared to the cargo bike!

@pascalo mentioned electric assist which wouldn't be a bad idea for longer distances, especially when loaded/up hills/headwinds.

Good luck!!!

Hmm, I had no idea the distance I was planning to cover would be an issue. They will be significantly less than I currently ride, all be it on anormal bike.

I was hoping to stay away from the official Larry add ons because they seem massively expensive. I hope to be able to make my own cargo bay and would at least start with my daughter in her maxi cosi car seat which has its own rain cover.

One other reason not to run a single speed cargo bike (except the Omnium Mini which is not really a cargo bike) is that everytime you stop at lights you need to be in a nice easy gear to get running again, otherwise even with an average weight on the front you're very likely to topple over.

As others have said, best bet would be to buy a framekit + basic Alex wheelset from a Larry vs Harry dealer and then get a reasonably priced groupset which would probably end up just over £2000, alternatively go for Nexus which should total at about £2300 complete if you're building your own add ons

Thanks, that's just the kind of insight I hadn't considered. Looking at it you can pickup and xt 1 x 11 set for £299, £200 for some disc brakes. I have a number of 26 inch mountain bike rear wheels that will work and other finishing kit. other than that I just need a front wheel.

So it's going to over the £2000, but not massively so

You don'd need 11 speed or fancy disc brakes. some second hand 9 speed and bb7s will be absolutely fine if you're on a budget.

Where are you based?

Front wheel is just a 20" disc wheel which you can pick up pretty cheap, make sure it's double walled though for obvious reasons.

One thing to not miss out on through Larry vs Harry is the damper kit

With a loaded cargo bike you feel every tiny rise in the road; there's not a chance you'd get away with single-speeding one. If you want low maintenance get an Alfine; filled with decent semi-fluid grease they're pretty much maintenance free (I think the only thing I've done on my bakfiets in over 4 years is change the gear cable because it frayed at the shifter end).

Where would one look for a second hand Bullitt? Had a quick look on eBay and gumtree saw nothing.
Don’t currently need one but wanted to see what second hand prices were, though gathering from the love they get on here, not sure many come up for sale..

Echoing the sentiment that a single speed cargo bike is a terrible idea! It's a lot more knackering than riding a normal bike. Plus as people have said, a gear low enough to get a fully loaded cargo bike moving at a set of lights is going to be really spinny once you're up to speed. The alfine hubs we have on our work bikes need very little maintenance, apart from the occasional tweak when they start to slip, you just forget about them.

I’m on the south coast, Fareham. But was considering going to SBC cycles to get the frame set. It looks like they’re the closest dealer along with others in London.

I was considering a gearing for 32:16, the classic mountain bike ss gearing as a starting point, but could gear down from that. But I think I’ve been persuaded otherwise now.

In terms of the front wheel rim had assumed you just used the most hard core BMX rim you could find ?

There have been a couple of Bullitts come up on eBay in the last 6 month. The last one which looked like it was in need of some tlc went for £1600, you also had to go to Glasgow to get it.

I don’t need the bike until September ish so I think my budget will grow to a more realistic £2500

The larryvsharry website seams to suggest they do consider singlespeed to be a thing in relation to there bikes.

http://www.larryvsharry.com/buyers-guide/

Yeah but doing so in Copenhagen is one thing vs doing it here. That place is so perfect for fixed/single speed cruising.

2.5K is better!

Definitely arrange a test ride. London Green Cycles should have one in stock you'll be able to test ride behind their shops to give you a feel of what it would be like to ride.

If you're going to use it all year round (and why wouldn't you?) a canopy would be a long term investment. Understand you could make the box as many people do, but it will probably end up weighing more than the stock one and you still won't have a canopy for when the weathers bad. The Bakfiets canopy is a super-simple design that looks like it could easily fit onto a homemade box so would maybe worth looking at and is probably better value than a complete Bullitt system.

We leave the canopy on the Douze most of the time unless carrying something big/awkward as it protects our little man from UV rays and we can easily unzip all the windows so it's fully open to allow airflow and it has a integrated fly screen on front aperture too. Regardless of weather he goes in it and is always warm and dry, even at -5 degrees we had some mornings last winter and torrential rain is no issue, he like drawing faces on the inside of the windows! :)

Good luck hunting one down!

We've (Velo Domestique) (in Bournemouth) just started dealing Bullitts and have experience with Omniums for a few years so happy to help you out. That being said it's pretty well known that Jamie at SBC is the man for Bullitts and if you can get up there easily it's well worth speaking to them.

We'll have a belt drive Alfine test bike in the next week, you're welcome to come down and take it for a spin

£2500 gives you all the options you could need really so I'd say it's worth waiting

This would be my choice - with the new child seat console add-on thing http://omniumcargo.dk/omnium-mini-max/

Johannes Killesberger's fixed Bullitt for 3 days 450km Sweden touring.

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This is going to be my own steel version of a cargobike. It is going to get a 1x11 drivetrain and some electric assistance so i can dump the family car. Just waiting for some material to build the steering rod and modify the bmx fork. Can't wait to have it up and running!