Here's the final incarnation of my cruzbike cargo hauler. It's a Gary Fisher Joshua F-4 frame. The frame was a medium. I'd tried an extra small frame before,but they have a headtube reinforcement that messes up the angle of the seat. I started with an aluminum rear triangle, but went back to steel. The rear shock is a cheap elastomer. I tried an air shock, but the elastomer works better with the load.
The seatpost is a race face XY, which is absolutely perfect for the cruzbike, but hard to find.
The rear wheel is a singlespeed wheel with disk brakes. The disks are needed for cargo, and with the fixie scene, buying a singlespeed wheel is frequently the cheapest way to get a light wheel.
The front brake required some strange cable routing in order to avoid my knee. Velcro ties to the rescue.
The handlebars were a big problem for me. For cargo it helps to have a really wide handlebar to get up hills. This is a full length riser bar with upside-down bar ends. It's about 5 cm wider than the Gary & WTB bars.
The stem is a short, high rise stem. It would be a better fit to have it facing the rider, but then the long bars would be too dangerous in a crash. This is stable & easy to get in & out of.
The front uses big apple 2.3 inch tires in a Surly fork. I started off with a front shock, but the tires are a) not much heavier, and b) much more effective under load. I was never able to tune the shocks so that I could go over curbs and not bottom out. These tires roll over anything.
It works surprisingly well with a passenger on the back, since their head is just above the driver's. My most amusing load was carrying 2 other bikes in the xtracycle, one on each side.
The seatpost is a race face XY, which is absolutely perfect for the cruzbike, but hard to find.
The rear wheel is a singlespeed wheel with disk brakes. The disks are needed for cargo, and with the fixie scene, buying a singlespeed wheel is frequently the cheapest way to get a light wheel.
The front brake required some strange cable routing in order to avoid my knee. Velcro ties to the rescue.
The handlebars were a big problem for me. For cargo it helps to have a really wide handlebar to get up hills. This is a full length riser bar with upside-down bar ends. It's about 5 cm wider than the Gary & WTB bars.
The stem is a short, high rise stem. It would be a better fit to have it facing the rider, but then the long bars would be too dangerous in a crash. This is stable & easy to get in & out of.
The front uses big apple 2.3 inch tires in a Surly fork. I started off with a front shock, but the tires are a) not much heavier, and b) much more effective under load. I was never able to tune the shocks so that I could go over curbs and not bottom out. These tires roll over anything.
It works surprisingly well with a passenger on the back, since their head is just above the driver's. My most amusing load was carrying 2 other bikes in the xtracycle, one on each side.
