I’ve got one more working cargo bike to share today. A few weeks ago, we introduced you to Chris Follmer’s Big Dumb Pug. Well, Chris wanted us to know that this custom Banjo Cycles cargo bike is not just a pretty face — it can HAUL, too!
The load is 300 + t-shirts boxed up. Chris thinks that there’s room for more on this load-hauling beast!
If you look closely, you may notice a “tow truck” assembly on the back of the frame, just behind the rear tire. Simply remove the front wheel of a bike, clamp the fork into the fork block back there, slip the front wheel into one of the Freeradical pockets and off you go! We tried a similar thing down here, and it really works:
Ride on, Chris, and thanks for sharing your cargo-crushing machine!
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Love that tow truck idea. Looks like a Rocky Mounts truck bed model. What did you guys use?
Thanks for posting this good stuff!
- Dylan
Owner of The Goat
Is the “tow truck” assembly also custom? Or is that an optional attachment for the Xtracycle?
The “tow truck” assembly for the back of the Big Dumb Pug is custom — it appears there is a platform built onto the back of the frame to mount the fork block.
For ours, we just used an old Yakima rack fork block, shimmed with PVC strips. It clamps around the lowermost tube of the FreeRadical frame. Here’s a link to my Flickr stream that shows a closeup of how ours is mounted:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8731815@N08/3033102567/
Ghost- Have you ever had a problems as that becomes a hinge point. I would imagine a ride going up and down curbcuts, or a rolly polly trail, that the fork might loosen or wiggle out.
Clancy, I haven’t ridden with it enough to notice any real problems — but just in case I clamp the fork very tightly. I’ve noticed some rear-wheel chatter from the towed bike since the rig can’t flex over bumps…
I’ve got to spend some more time hauling bikes to really get a handle of the potential pitfalls. I’m curious to hear Chris’s experiences with his setup!
Yeah Ahren at Banjo welded on a plate that it is mounted to. I’ve only hauled 3 bikes so far, but it is so much easier than when I had my X and had to use bungee’s with the front wheel in the Freeloader! The bike tracks so well and I can still load one side with stuff!
Ahh… a dream bike to be sure. Someone grant me several K, will you?
Awesome!
I love the Big Dumb Pug:))