I’m considering building a cargo bike, and my options are an xtracycle kit, a Big Dummy frameset with an xtracycle rack, or a Kona Ute.
I’m leaning to the Big Dummy because it’s steel, it’s an integrated design, and it will cost only a couple hundred more than using the xtracycle extension.
I like the design of the Kona better, but I’m not a fan of aluminum for bike frames, and one that is supposed to carry better than twice my weight makes me a bit leery.
Any thoughts?
In my experience Surly produce better quality products than Kona. The Dummy also costs about four times as much as the Ute.
Do you have a specific use in mind for the bike? The type of cargo being carried and type of riding you will be doing are important factors to consider. If you are riding in heavy traffic I would recommend getting a bike with the load up front. That way you can easily see if you can fit through the gaps in the traffic. On open roads or off road the Dummy would be my first choice.
I ride one of these for work: http://www.trisled.com.au/maxibike.html
It is fairly nimble through the traffic, it will carry as much weight as I can lift and I have hauled some fairly large boxes through the city.
Apologies for the picture quality, I only had my phone with me at the time:
They’ve got some good looking bikes on their site. Are there many of these on the streets over East (I live in Perth)?
Cheers,
Eoin
I believe there are several around Sydney. Melbourne has me:) plus another guy on a Bullit. A few people deliver food and beer on various box bikes too.
I put an Xtracycle extension on my bike years ago and it has stayed on since. It is really not to bad riding around unloaded like a regular bike but does make bunny hopping up a curb/over a log a bit of a chore, but you can’t bunny hop a trailer at all. 
I was planning on taking the extension off the bike after using it for a few trips but it is just generally more awesome as a long bike. I have a unicycle for playing around on the trails.
I used to use my X as my daily driver throwing my back pack in the saddle bag to keep my back sweat free but now mostly my bike is used for multi-day off road excursions which is where I think the design really shines.
As for Big Dummy -vs- Ute -vs- Xtracycle:
I would vote Ute if you just want a grocery getter and won’t really use it that much. I have never tried one but they look sturdy enough and the price is right.
Otherwise I would vote Big Dummy. I have ridden one a little bit and even with cheeper wheels it still just felt better/more stiff than my Kona Hahana + FreeRadical combo. The Big Dummy frame has been on sale for a while at most places that sell them so the build should not brake the bank. I love my FreeRadical but an integrated frame is just a better starting point if you want a cargo bike It would be worth spending a bit extra for.
good advice
Thanks for all of the input. I did a bit of searching, and found a Big Dummy frame for $600. I’m going to move the parts over from one of my other bikes, and so the build will come in cheaper than a Ute even with the xtracycle rack.
I’m going to be losing my car, and using this as the replacement. I’m a bit tired of pulling a trailer with kids in it, and so kids will be the primary cargo. Having it with me at work will mean that I can stop by the store on the way home and pick up the groceries without having to go light with my shopping.
So, the winner is the Big Dummy. I’ll post pix once it’s built.
Thanks again,
Jerry
in the meantime, while you’re building that. . . I just restored a tandem for my girlfriend : ) she doesn’t even know I have the bike, I get to see her in another 2 weeks!! : D super excited to take the first ride on it.
best deal I think I’ve ever gotten on a bike, 50 bucks for the bike itself, which was a rustbucket, but the frame is solid!! about 150 for all the restoration materials and a few different jobs I couldn’t do.
this was the closest b*ke thread, and I’m super excited!! it was a lot of work, and it came together so well. . .
it’s sorta a unicycle…s O;-) right? one wheel per
Sweet looking double. It still averages out to a couple of unicycles if you take the lowest common denominator between wheels and riders.
The Big Dummy will be here in a couple of days, and I should be riding it by Wednesday. I still haven’t figured out my bag system yet. Part of me wants to get some aluminum tubing and bend it into my own racks, and another part just wants to spend a couple hundred dollars more for the racks and bags from xtracycle.
Any thoughts on the bags/rack?
the xtracycle bags are reeeally nice, but if you have your own shop you can use, it may not be a bad thing to get a custom job.
just make sure you get the horizontal platforms so you can carry large boxes and not have to worry about crazy crazy strap contraptions. I think they come standard on the xtracycle rack.
As far as bags go, you will ride in the rain at some point : P plastic bags can only keep your stuff so dry.
The platforms of the Big Dummy look a bit puny to me on this image.
Making a rack yourself (or having it tailor-made) could be worth the effort if you can get large side platforms like those of the Yuba Mundo.
This would require strong tubing of course… rather steel than aluminium, for you cannot vary the diamater (it must fit through those mounting tubes on the frame after all).
^ The Yuba Mundo would also have been my hint if I had discovered this thread earlier.
I’ve seen Yuba’s and Xtra’s next to each other and the cargo area is really not that different in size. The Yuba deck is a little longer, and narrower. The running boards on the Yuba are nice because they are a little smaller than the Xtra ones, and less prone to hitting things. The Big Dummy in your link shows the foot platforms, not cargo decks. Here is a photo of a Dummy with cargo platforms.
Sorry, my mistake.
Yes, those sure are big^.
Still though, you make a good point about making custom ones in a different size. I may end up buying the vertical racks, and making the side ones. I like the more trim look of the Yuba, and so I could make some side racks that are a few inches narrower than the ones you can buy.
You could make side platforms that are basically like the Yuba’s but extendable to twice their area by unfolding the wooden part with hinges.
So that way you would still have a narrow vehicle but a lot of space “on demand”. Support of the extensions would be an issue of course.
(it would also be thinkable to let them fold to the side completely, but for a declared workbike I see no use for this configuration).
Or another option: tuck-in extensions. Maybe you could store them hanging under the vertical racks, as you can see on the sketch. Their advantage would be that you can just leave them at home when you know you won’t need them.
(blue: normal load area, green: extension boards)
Sold the car. Here’s the Big Dummy.
It’s just about finished. My bottom bracket is a touch to narrow, and so I’ll need a new one if I want my granny gear, but otherwise it’s finished.
