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Cart Bike

Cart Bike
Combine a derelict shopping cart with a bicycle for a ride with ample cargo capacity. This is a nice way to save a shopping cart and a bike that might otherwise end up in a landfill. It is quite the head turner but not a good corner turner.

Any mention of this project must provide a link to www.zieak.com with credit to Ryan McFarland.


 
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Step 1Gather materials

Gather materials
You will need:

A bicycle
Shopping cart
Socket set
Hex key set
Dremel tool
Utility knife
Zip ties
Screwdriver

A note on shopping carts: Please don't steal them. This one happened to be floating around our downtown area for over a week before I grabbed it. The bicycle is almost ten years old and still works fine but I just bought the bike shop in town so suddenly have access to plenty of cycling materials.
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320 comments
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Apr 15, 2012. 2:06 PMclazman says:
I'd hate to be riding this deathtrap when the little wheels attempt to navigate a sudden change in road surface. Rolling resistance is inversely proportional to wheel diameter.

Haven't you ever tried to push a shopping cart over a rock of only a fraction of an inch, oh I'm sorry, several millimeters in cross section?

Something to do with trigonometry and force vectors and all that.
Apr 13, 2012. 9:46 PMlastgudguyleft says:
Very cool idea. Maybe if you flip the handlebar stem upside down it would fix the cornering issue.
Mar 5, 2012. 8:29 AMSpeakup says:
Dude! That pic just kills me.

You could put just a single larger wheel under the cart, maybe like from a wheel barrow with bolt on brackets.

Cool idea.
Mar 2, 2012. 7:47 PMbuiltbyben98 says:
this is awesome but i have one idea.

on many shopping carts the wheels are real cheap and squeak a lot. maybe theirs a way to upgrade the wheels with some sort of small bike or training wheel

Mar 1, 2012. 1:22 AMsusanchen2011 says:
It is convenient.
Feb 26, 2012. 11:45 PMAlberta Leong says:
wott! what a brilliant idea!! haha
Feb 8, 2012. 8:27 PMmr.a.rice says:
good idea,how about a folding granny cart?i have spare front 26in wheel want to explore tricycle option.
Dec 21, 2011. 5:05 PMdent244 says:
OK y'all!
lets settle some disputes here,
don't go to a store and take their brand new shopping carts. Go inside and request to speak to the owner or a manager and ask if they have any older shopping carts that they can sell or give you or a way to acquire one. Some may give you a few to choose from while others will say no. There is probably one out stuck in a lake, rusting. Go and help your community and pull it out and put it to use! If those aren't options and there isn't a dump near you, weld/make one! I am sure you can learn a new skill, to weld! it would probably be lots of tacking, but a good way to practice! or maybe you are confident in your lashing abilities and the strength of bamboo and make one that way. Maybe you make one out of composite material! the simplest way would be to form it to the shape you want or to attach the sheets to form a box and drill holes in it. There are so many alternatives!
and as to him with no helmet and flip flops, it isn't the safest thing but there is no reason to argue about it.
also it would be very innovative to attach the handle of the cart to a sets of wheels with a rod to make them turn! like how go carts turn.
Nov 12, 2011. 5:47 PMcarlsands says:
ughhh..... where do you buy a shopping cart
Nov 23, 2011. 2:55 PMlsumners says:
go no ebay duck
Aug 25, 2011. 5:26 PMjrfrank says:
Ok, this is an interesting project, but does it have to be the cover photo for bicycle mods? Guy riding a bicycle with no helmet and flip-flops? Of the times I've crashed, I was glad to be wearing a helmet and bike shoes. Let's set a good example.
Nov 5, 2011. 4:47 PMvoyageur10 says:
I see no problem with the photo, if he wants to wear flip flops and not use a helmet that is up to him. I think most people will understand that this rig is probably not going to be going high speeds, and thus I would feel comfortable not wearing a helmet while riding this. Of course there is still the worry of getting hit by a car, but we also have that worry as a pedestrian, so unless you want walkers to wear helmet and "bike shoes" I think the argument is pointless.
Sep 4, 2011. 4:31 PMSgtJellyfish says:
i agree
Aug 31, 2011. 9:04 PMeasilyamused says:
(removed by author or community request)
Sep 3, 2011. 8:34 AMdqalballah says:
To be fair I didnt find his comment "un nice" but had a very valid point.
Sep 3, 2011. 11:13 PMeasilyamused says:
(removed by author or community request)
Sep 4, 2011. 11:02 PMhtrĝan says:
I would not compared a guy riding without a helmet with a car ... Perhaps with a guy without a seatbelt.
I don´t think the first comment was inappropriate.
Sep 4, 2011. 12:08 PMwakojako says:
easilyamused,
I thin kyou need a new username, because obviously you arn't "easily amused".
Sep 4, 2011. 1:21 PMeasilyamused says:
(removed by author or community request)
Sep 5, 2011. 12:12 PMwakojako says:
Nope I have better things to do than have an internet argument.
Sep 4, 2011. 3:20 AMdqalballah says:
Yeah, fine, everyone has an opinion and it doesnt bother me, but the actual comment wasn't offensive. I just get tired of the high five culture which means no one is able to critique anything without being hit over the head with handbags. What that man said was a valid opinion said in a courteous way. I just didnt agree with the handbagging that he got to 'be nice or you're out buddy'. ...
Sep 8, 2011. 4:04 PMxana says:
why cant people do what they want with out getting handbags thrown at them buy the guy that's being a critique.   i think its cool that hes brave enough not to ware a helmet.
Jan 5, 2012. 8:22 PMblack hole says:
Maybe not cool, but it's also not like he's going 30 mph either.
Oct 8, 2011. 12:15 AMcurious youth says:
for longevity and a smoother ride i would replace the shopping cart wheels with good quality kick scooter wheels and bearings also. its amazing the smoothness of some of those things
also i would weld the back flap on the cart closed and remove the child seat. and for a more permanent fixture to the forks maybe a metal rod secured through some holes drilled in the carts frame and locked on with some nuts or bent around the cart frame and welded on?
Sep 11, 2011. 9:02 AMmarques1 says:
Have you considered using pram wheels or other similar ones instead of the trolley wheels, that would help smooth the ride and last longer.
Sep 2, 2011. 11:46 PMsvstick98 says:
that is the best bike i,v sen cool from sam
Jul 11, 2011. 11:27 AMWindowsRecycleBinTechnology.PawMedia says:
Haha cool :D
Jun 21, 2011. 2:11 AMt.rohner says:
Funny idea, but also dangerous... (Without helmet on the main picture...)
My suggestions.
Replace the carts rear wheels with rollerskate or even better, large kickboard wheels.(be sure they don't swivel...)
Seriously fix the bikes fork to the cart. (cable ties won't do...)
Mount the cart at a angle, so only the rear wheels touch ground while riding. (front wheels some 2-5 inches above ground, this way you can load and unload whithout the whole thing tipping over.)
May 8, 2011. 9:06 PMmrcurlywhirly says:
I love your ingenuity but would not touch this design, looks pretty dangerous to me.
Seems to me you are comprimising the ridability of the bike and your safety by using the shopping trolley on the front end. If the basket is what you want then wouldn't it be safer to hack the unroadworthy trolley wheels and frame off, get a short axle and put some bicycle wheels (or lightweight bigger diameter wheels) onto the basket, then fashion a tube hitch and use it as a bicycle trailer?
Probem with this design is that shopping trolleys are relatively heavy, and only designed for short trips on smoothish surfaces. For anything to do with bikes you want something as lightweight as possible.
May 9, 2011. 1:12 AMbo88y says:
The smaller diameter of the shipping cart's wheels make this unit unable to roll over any obstacle higher than about 1-1/2 to 2 inches. A temporary roadwork trench could send the rider end over end.
Years ago, when people still returned shopping carts back to the front of the store, I was doing just that, and because I was in a hurry, I was moving at a pretty good trot, and I hit a nicely cut little trench cut into the pavement of the parking lot, filled with asphalt to a couple of inches below the rest of the pavement. The handle of the cart got rammed back into my stomach, pinning my hands to my stomach, and I went head first into the cart as it went end over end with me in it.
Having entertained my friends during my misspent youth by taking head-first tumbles down staircases and walking away as if nothing happened, I was well prepared for the shopping-cart mishap, and didn't get hurt, but for those without specialized skills for rolling around on pavement, this sort of thing could be painful, especially with the higher speed of a bicycle.
This bike requires more alertness to conditions than most, and while it might be OK for short trips, ti wouldn't be good for commuting. Safety-wise, this project has "Don't try this at home" written all over it. But other-wise, it shows some great, um, imagination.
Jun 20, 2011. 11:45 PMAwesomeness in a can says:
So is there some special class you have to take to learn how to roll on pavement or do you just learn on your own? Because I think I can join you in knowing how to roll on pavement, I've fallen a lot too.
Jun 19, 2011. 2:12 PMmrincon gutierrez says:
Genial tu idea, práctica y muy útil. Felicitaciones.
Jun 6, 2011. 8:59 AMsammyhond1 says:
lol ... cool but bit useless xD only nice for jackass
Jun 19, 2011. 1:42 PMmenahunie says:
True and when you crash the same results as in the move.
This if done is a dangerous "conversion".. Hit any bump or even a small hole and wipe out..
Jun 19, 2011. 9:26 AMbooza says:
He meant the TV show/movies by the name of Jackass. :P
Jun 17, 2011. 4:11 AMsammyhond1 says:
whats not nice only say it has no use :P but it looks cool if some thing have no use it doesnt have to be negitif ^^
Jun 19, 2011. 12:06 PMsitearm says:
@zieak; Wow that is the biggest front handlebar basket on a bike I have ever seen.
 
Oh wait... omg
 
;) Site


Jul 30, 2009. 11:59 AMchotii says:
Actually....just because a cart appears to be "derelict" doesn't mean it doesn't still belong to the store from which it was taken. People around my neighborhood sometimes use carts to push their groceries home, then abandon the carts a few blocks from the store. They still belong to the store, and unless you have written permission (at least in my state, it is against the law to have a shopping cart for which you do not have written permission from the store to possess it). Such carts should be returned to the store that owns them. Call it your 'good deed for the day'. If stores have to keep buying carts, they pass the cost of those carts on to shoppers...to everybody.
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Author:zieak(Zieak's site)
I like making things out of items that would have otherwise been discarded. Check out my other projects! Now a PE teacher in Mongolia! I don't have much time or even the resources to make much any m...
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