18 April 2009

Singlespeed Cargo Bike

Here's a bike I've been seeing for the last few months, up and down Cambridge Street. I've been holding out on posting it, hoping that I will happen to catch a glimpse of it being ridden. No such luck.

DIY homemade bike bicycle cargo utility
How odd it must be to steer with that rubber-wrapped bar! I notice that there are no brakes, so it must be fixed-gear. (Updated: Ooops, I was wrong - it has a coaster brake, thank heavens!)

DIY homemade bike bicycle cargo utility
Here it is in January, still on Cambridge Street:

DIY homemade bike bicycle cargo utilityI couldn't find any maker information on the bicycle frame itself. There are two forks being used to hold the two front wheels, it's my theory that this is a DIY cargo bike. Isn't it wild?

DIY homemade bike bicycle cargo utility

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's awesome.
I've been sketching a DIY cargo bike and this definitely looks like the simplest solution.
I'm pretty sure I spy a coaster brake on the back right seat stay. A cargofixie would be pretty hardcore.

I couldn't find a contact spot for you to invite you (and your readers) to my "Ring the Bell!" ride in New Bedford. It's May 1st at 6pm. Slow, stylish cruise around our ragged little city.
ringthebellride.wordpress.com
Come ride with us!
-mat

Ranger Bob said...

The rear hub has a coaster brake on it, so it isn't fixed gear. It is, however, a cool bike. Thanks for sharing!

Thom said...

I think there *might* be a coaster brake arm bolted to the left seat stay, instead of the chain stay where it would normally be, but I can't be sure. It also looks like a DIY job.

Lynn said...

That is so cool! Looks like an old tube wrapped around the handlebar. I would love to have it for trips to the garden center a few blocks from my house. I'm not sure I'd want to be anywhere near it when it tries to make a turn at the bottom of a hill, though.

Charlotte said...

I didn't even consider a coaster brake, thank you all - I feel much better thinking that thing can be stopped.

Mat, I think a ride in New Bedford would be lovely - it's a beautiful ragged little city. I was just there about a month ago and wondering when they're going to extend the rail line? In my fantasy world I would buy a harbor-view flat in downtown New Bedford before that happens. So lovely.

Anyway, thanks for the invitation!

Sunny said...

Sweet bike -- like a reversed trike, and with a wide trapeeze bar rather than trad handlebars. Love it!!

What intersection on Cambridge street is it nearest? I want to see it in person.

Also, I heard from a BBS 100Km rider that he was keeping pace with a tandem couple on an Indy Fab (or similar?) bike. Wonder if it could have been you...?

Cheers,-Sunny

Ann in Cambridge said...

Hey, this is unrelated, but thought I'd pass it along in case you'd missed it -- I just learned of it online or I would have forwarded it sooner (since it happened yesterday). Anyway, how funny:
http://www.theblessingofthebikes.com/

She Rides a Bike said...

Wow! Crazy. I'd love to see how one steers that cargo bike. I see DIY cargo bikes in Flagstaff from time-to-time. The one habitually tied up in front of the library I am pretty sure is used to haul large quantities of library books. I wonder what this one primarily hauls. When I was a ceramics major, the tongue-in-cheek question at every critique with our ceramics prof was "What would you use this pot (platter, bowl, vessel) for?" Followed by "Well, Ron, I'd probably use this pot for storing Fig Newtons".

Jon said...

That's pretty awesome. I might have to build something similar.

Charlotte said...

Sunny, not me on a tandem at the 100k.

This contraption has been seen all up and down Cambridge St, usually somewhat near the intersection with 2nd or 3rd. It did appear at the same time the Russian icon shop moved in, though I haven't worked out how the two might be related.

Carice said...

Nicely done DIY!
I like the clean finish on the cargo box.
Even if it's not a fixie, I'm not sure how much load I'd like to push with just one speed!

Miles Fernandez said...

Someone has to make an Instructable on this!

Mars said...

The owner: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kronick/3026199835/

Made at: http://miters.mit.edu/