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build a 2-wheel cargo bike

build a 2-wheel cargo bike
as promised in my last instructable, here's my attempt to build a 2-wheeler. why? i got infected by the bike-building virus. especially cargo bikes are just awesome vehicles: you meet lots of new people ("hey, what's this?"), you can transport nearly everything you need on a regular basis and it's better than a car if you live in a city like me (no parking fees, no searching for space to park a car, no insurances, taxes, gasoline, healthier & better for the environment,...). so go on and build your own, it's not that hard ;-)
 
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Step 1Donor frames

(sorry no pic) i got myself two donor frames from the local dump: an old 26'' mountainbike (hardtail) and a 20'' kids bike. the kids bike is just needed for the front fork and wheel, so if you find one where everything else is rusty and broken - take it! the other bike is used as a whole.
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23 comments
Nov 14, 2011. 12:33 PMtheboatdriver says:
really nice!! im planning on building one next month, already gathered everything except for the steel.
I was wondering how you've put the outer cups from the headset in the long headtube? (or did you find a tube with the exact diameter?)
I was thinking to get a tube with a bigger diameter than the original headtube, cutting the headtube in half and weld it to the tube with the bigger diameter...
or is there an easier solution??

:-)
Nov 1, 2011. 6:20 PMbpurcell2 says:
Brakes--The weakest point of the two bakfiets I've built are the brakes. I'm one use a cantilever on the rear and a BMX side-pull for the front. The other uses old MAFAC racers front and rear--I've found that with a full load and going down a hill brakes are weak. On the next build I hope to use discs, especially on the the front.

Rap
Nov 1, 2011. 6:21 PMbpurcell2 says:
Nice Build BTW--you've given me some ideas.

Rap
Sep 27, 2011. 4:46 PMgsport george says:
Nice.
Where do you store it?
This is mine:-
http://www.instructables.com/id/Long-John-Cargo-Bike/
and I have had to build a small lean to to keep it in...
Interesting that we both went with Orange...
Sep 26, 2011. 7:00 AMbainslie says:
Fantastic build dude. I knocked one up myself recently with the help of a marine engineer mate who himself had made one first. Here's some stuff we learned.

Rod end bearings for both ends of the steering rod offer superior resistance in hard knocks [running into curbs/walls under load, etc]

a variation on the bucket style cargo area is the "deck" or "tray" style area with sides that fold down to make a totally flat tray for awkward loads [like old bike frames that have been chucked out ^_^] which can be more versatile. We were initially worried that without sides loads would slide out in corners, but the strange property [and vastly superior nature] of two wheeled cargo bikes is that they'll lean in the corners and most loads, if not really light, will stay right where they are. Of course if you have young children then that all goes out the window.

We also found that using a ladies mountain bike frame meant that in the [no doubt extremely unlikely] event of falling over sideways, the top tube of the frame doesn't tend to take you with it.

On the notion of moving the steering mount point higher on the front fork, it *does* allows your hard lock left to be a lot further left but we needed to do SO much readjusting and fine tuning to make sure that it would clear all the various bits that are so close together in there [we ended up cutting a groove roughly the circumference of a tennis ball into the front of the cargo deck] having said that, I've never ridden a bike without the clearance, and I would imagine it's pretty constricting.

Anyway, as I said, awesome build, it looks really schmick and it's always great to see another nutter on the cargo bike convoy.

Well done.
Sep 22, 2011. 4:38 PMgreybear2k5 says:
Saw a lot like this in Amsterdam, not sure if they were homebrew or if someone actually sells cargo bikes there.
Sep 22, 2011. 2:01 AMcolinus says:
Wow, nice!
Figure I've made exactly the same thing two years ago. But someone has stolen the bike! Too sad.
Did you experience stiffness problems? Mine was like a chewing-gum frame, and really heavy (25 kilograms).
I'd be happy to see a video of the bike in use!
Great work.
Sep 21, 2011. 1:53 PMcarlitos says:
Nice idea. You can add seatbelts for transporting humans.
The mechanism for steering the front wheel reminds me
of Olli Erkkila's forkless cruiser bike.
http://www.ollierkkila.com/Site/?page_id=4&album=11&gallery=70
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qiR7E3dpjk
Sep 21, 2011. 12:06 PMzazenergy says:
Wow, such a great job!
Sep 21, 2011. 4:47 AMRayKenn says:
Excellent project ! Thanks for sharing the details.
Sep 20, 2011. 6:48 PMrimar2000 says:
Good work, but I have the feeling that the cargo compartment is a bit weak.

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