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I bought mine secondhand and they came with u tube style bars but I was told they were custom made (they're like xtracycle u tubes but more rounded)

They're so handy as footboards and for storing things that if I didn't already have a set I'd be looking at buying or making a set for sure. They're for wide and/or heavy things rather than long things I find

The brompton it chair or milian pere is really expensive but it really works good and the residuals are pretty solid. To me out was worth it for the memories alone

I punctured a marathon in London... Got very unlucky with a thumb tack. I regularly ride over glass (have marathon plus on my normal commuter) and happily trade reliability for speed

Sounds like you have more skills than many though. A new cargo bike will set you back a few grand so you might as well get decent accessories. If you've picked up a cheap secondhand bike then that decision is slightly trickier

The kickstand on my bike is a now discountinued xtracycle kickback 1. It's a shame it's discontinued as it's such a good stand. The double leg thing means I can leave the kids sitting on the bike without fear of them falling off.

I saw that Mike Burrows one last night, strong pricing considering it needs work and its overall condition. I rode one at a show with my daughter in the back, worked great

@pdlouche - you're right, they're all quite expensive for any cargo bike. But if you're getting one second hand it's worth spending a couple of hundred more on a well specced bike than less on a bare one (a bit like being a car with a nice spec rather than basic one). The value of the accessories decreases with age and once they're in the package, but if you bought a longtail (or other cargo) bike with no accessories you could easily spend £500 on accessories if you wanted quality xtracycle stuff. The cost of the sidecar is a great example

I forgot the most important accessory above - you definitely need a good stand on the bike. That probably applies to any cargo bicycle (i.e. not tricycle) but many of the long john or box bikes come with one whereas longtails often do not

The longtails start cheap but always end up quite a bit more. Ute is somewhere between £600 and £1000 depending on spec. Mundo is similar price range. Big Dummy is usually £1k up

BUT, look carefully at the spec, it's worth getting one for more cash with more accessories as buying them individually adds up quick. You want things like rack top, panniers, u tubes or footboards, mudguards, lights etc. Something like panniers might cost £100-£200 (you need the big wide long tail ones, not two sets of normal rack sized panniers as they don't hold anywhere near as much)

I reckon I could attached three boxes to my longtail, one on top and one on each side, but I'd struggle to store it in my garage and my kids then couldn't sit on it

I don't think there's a clear perfect cargo bike, they all vary in style and therefore suit different uses. It's one of the reasons why I like them so much (and another reason why I could easily justify having more than 1 type!)

Most cargo bikes should breeze taking the shopping, just choose one with gears and in your price range

I have a longtail cargo bike, I can fit a normal, shallow shopping trolley worth of stuff in the big panniers on my cargo bike, leaving the top free to carry more stuff or a child, or both. They ride like a normal bike and have normal gearing too.

There's a cheap Yuba Mundo on ebay right now... in hereford though. Also saw a dutch longtail on gumtree on SW London going cheap

Polisport Guppy for me, a rack mount job. Very quick to fit and kids send fine in it

Also have a GMG classic type seat for my smallest one to go in when the time is right

That's excellent to know. Does it look just like the VO and Hebie ones?

My work isn't loaded up with anything, one day but at the moment it'll make the front too wide to store it where I keep it. So for now it's not a problem

That's close enough to the VO version that any input you have would be really helpful

The two things I need to know are
1 - with the front wheel off the ground does it stop steering flop?
2 - can you turn the bars full lock either side without causing problems to the spring/device?

I don't need a steering stabiliser for riding, I need it for when I stop and unweight the front

Has anyone here used the velo orange steering stabiliser? (http://freshtripe.co.uk/velo-orange-wheel-stabilizer-large-downtube-31-8mm-diameter/)

I want to put something on my Big Dummy to stop steering flop when the bike is parked up on the centre stand, the front wheel is in the air and flops around, it's very annoying. The VO stabiliser looks pretty good for this but I'm concerned it might limit steering travel. I do have to turn the bars quite a bit to get through a tight barrier near me and I don't want it to limit this, I also don't want to stretch the spring.

I only need it when I park up and would prefer to avoid a bodge. Something like a steer stopper would be great but it's a lot of cash (https://steerstopper.com/)

Any thoughts?

If you have the rack to go with the Surly bag I'd defo be interested

I have a brand new set of Fu Man Chu bars if anyone wants a set and is in London? For whatever they cost me

Sold my other MTB and already have a set of jones loops

Slightly comfier to hold than a normal saddle though, slightly

I saw the flying pig tall bike a couple of times, it was good. Apart from the odd lycra clad numpty on a road bike trying to go fast and weave (unsafely) through when there were kids and normal folks just enjoying themselves

Sounds like he did well. We managed about 1.5 laps before the roads started opening up and it stopped being as safe. We took too long to leave the house. Hoping to head back for car free day in 6 weeks

The biggest challenge for me was getting there. It's too far for the kids to cycle, and too far for me to cycle with them on my cargo bike without electric assist. I took the train to Kings X but the trains weren't running properly so I took 2 there and 2 back. Was more stressful thank it shoul have been with 3 people and 3 bikes when there's only 1 adult and 1 bike is over 7ft long and weighs a lot! At least it was possible, couldn't have taken the tube and my cargo bike is too big to put on the car

The mundo looks like great value, but rim brake only. There's a big dummy for £1,500 on eBay too

I took mine round the freecycle ride on Saturday. Carried my daughter and pulled her bike along with the wheel in a pannier at one point. Didn't see many other cargo bikes, was expecting to see more. Lots of cool comments about the bike though. Saw a bullitt with a whacking great speaker system in the front, very impressed and completely outdid my little JBL flip Bluetooth speaker. Couple of box bikes on 2 or 3 wheels and that was it...

The workcycles fr8 and gr8 look good for family life. I did nearly get one, there was a well priced one on ebay. But it was a rational decision, not an emotional one, and in the end I decided against it

But it's a lovely bit of utilitarian dutch design, just not sure how well it'll manage hills

Thanks Lolo, I did try a google image search before posting that but my googlefu was weak

Very helpful picture

Does anyone have any pictures of an omnium stored stood up. I can't picture it. Info and interest only, not planning to get one

Storage challenges is one of the reasons I don't have a front rack on the bike. Would be so handy but would mean the front is too wide to fit in the space I keep my bike

I really rate the kids stuff from Decathlon. It's good value and generally pretty good kit.

It helps that there are a few decathlons around now as well but I've ordered online without any drama

I've also considered a sticky out thing with a little wire brush on the end. Generally while I'm getting close passes.

Not something I could actually bring myself to do though

When the kids sit on the back of my Big Dummy I make whoever is at the back wear a hi vis jacket, it should be fairly obvious they're a child from the sheer size difference but still doesn't provide any guarantees. So far have had relatively reasonable passes but I make a point of going on quiet roads where possible

For a short while I thought about writing 'child on board' on the back of the hi vis but have so far refrained as it might look a little silly

A big flag sticking out the back might help a bit...

Ha, sounds like a similar set up. Currently have a motorbike, 6 bikes, loads of storage, big workbench with various tools mounted to it, huge red mechanics tool storage unit

If it was twice the size I could easily fill it, it's currently the only sacred place in the house!

The conversions come up every now and then on ebay, and Big Dummys come up every now and then second hand. But full xtracycles don't really, which is a shame, as they have some brilliant thinking.

Thanks for the offer, sadly you're quite far from me!

I've thought about a Bafang mid-drive motor conversion but then got scared off when I saw how many then require extra TLC in keeping them running. Still fancy a doing a conversion at some point, just need to find the time to do it. I'm also not sure i'll ride the bike any more, unless I commute to work on it!

So far I'm a big fan of the Big Dummy, has saved a good few local car journeys and has made those quick trips easier as I can park right outside the shop/place