Modified Soma Tradesman Cycletruck

I'm building a cycletruck because I'm tired of hitting the grocery story every day after work on my commuter. This will most likely be a slower-burn of a project due to cost, but I thought you guys might be interested all the same.

this project has shifted into being more of an homage to the aesthetics of the Schwinn Cycletruck of the 40s

I'll be having the frame modified a bit to start things off. Firstly by adding some sort of drilling/guides for dynamo lighting, and secondly by removing the shift cable stops in favor of full-housing guides. I'm not a fan of riding around on black bicycles due to low visibility, so I figured if I was going to pay to have the frame powder-coated anyway, I might as well change a few things.

No longer planning to have it modified or painted for now.

As for build kit; as stated above, it will have a dynamo hub (most likely a SonDelux) and the current thought is a White Industries or Hadley rear to match laced to 20"/26" Velocity Cliffhangers.

Drivetrain wise, I've currently got my eye on a 1x11 SRAM GX grupo, as the components have stood up incredibly well on the fleet of Bullitts our shop built for a local courier company.

Being a budding retrogrouch, I've decided to go with an XT 3x7 or 3x8 drivetrain controlled by either Suntour barcons or M700 Thumbies.

As for brakes; I'm thinking mechanicals as I've seen too many odd-ball issues with hydraulics working at our shop to bring a set home; TRP spykes Spyres are the current thought.

While running errands on borrowed cycletrucks, I've always felt weary of people digging through the contents of my box while the bike is locked up, so lastly ~~I'd like to forgo the typical basket in favor of a lightweight, waterproof footlocker/chest with a lid and a lock.~~

Fuck it, going with a big Wald basket afterall.

Updates soon!

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Subbed.

Nice, subbed.

Cool frameset.

May I suggest Ocado. I hardly carry groceries anymore. Means I can do laps on my commute home :)

Sounds like a great project! Going for a high-viz colour for powder or something more sedate?

An interesting project! How come you decided to go this route rather than a more traditional frame with racks? Is this frame not really heavy and over built for carrying groceries?

Sounds like a great project! Going for a high-viz colour for powder or something more sedate?

Probably nothing fluro, but maybe a bright cyan, magenta or a red-orange. Not decided yet... kind of want a colored flake in their too. We'll see.

An interesting project! How come you decided to go this route rather than a more traditional frame with racks? Is this frame not really heavy and over built for carrying groceries?

Probably, but if we're being honest, most of us on here ride bikes that are over built or over designed for the riding we do on them; that's part of being more into bikes than cycling.

I work as a mechanic at a cargo bike shop and it's hard not to be interested in owning a cycletruck myself.

Ha Ha, that's fair enough! It's definitely very cool. I'm sure you'll get plenty of use out of it once it's built. Just think of how many beers you can carry with that bad boy.

I'll throw in a vote for ral 4010. It's not really pretty, but you'll never be unseen :D

Subbed, I love these frames. The forks remind me of little t-rex arms.

Subbed!

I'll throw in a vote for ral 4010. It's not really pretty, but you'll never be unseen :D

Mmmmm... Magenta fade into orange would be rad.

Loving the kepler SE paint job.

Or their flash job.

Rastarized!

Where did you get the frame?
Very cool project, would love one ☝️

Where did you get the frame?

From Merry Sales - they're the distributor of Soma in the USA.

Welp, got off the phone with my local powder coater and they'd charge well over $350USD to do a two color fade, so looks like it's a standard one-color job for this.

I'll be gathering parts slowly while the frame is being braised/painted.

First up: NOS DiaTech MelonCup!

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Get a base colour powdercoated and then go at it with rattlecans for #sickdiyfadezzz

Get a base colour powdercoated and then go at it with rattlecans for #sickdiyfadezzz

That's a thought!

Wow ok. The last 4 months have been a disaster.

• This project is still in the works.
  
• No progress has been made yet
  
• Plan is to drop the frame off at Cyclefab to get braise ons done later this month or early July
  

One eternity later:

Finally scrounging together the funds to move this project along. My tastes have changed a bit over the last year or so, and I've started amassing parts for a 3x8 build kit with a more classic look that's meant to be an homage to the vintage Schwinn Cycletruck of the mid-century with a lot of shiny silver bits to contrast the black frame.

The wheelset is the next step - hubs & rims have already been ordered, they're going to be super shiny. In the mean time, here are some other parts I've gathered.

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Holy mother of swag.