New long bike, the Yuba Mundo

[johann]

First the Xtracycle, soon the Big Dummy and a Kona longbike... now here's one out of Europe. Digging around the website, they seem to list Xtracycle as the contact for US inquiries.

http://www.yubaride.com/utility-bicycles-models.html

[bragi]

This bike looks pretty good, but it reminds me of a question I've had for quite some time: what is the gearing like on these bikes? If you're on a Yubaride, or an Extracycle, or one of those very beautiful Dutch cargo bikes, and you have to haul a 70kg (150 lbs) load up a long, steep, hill, for example pretty much any street in Seattle, could you pull it off?

[johann]

This bike looks pretty good, but it reminds me of a question I've had for quite some time: what is the gearing like on these bikes? If you're on a Yubaride, or an Extracycle, or one of those very beautiful Dutch cargo bikes, and you have to haul a 70kg (150 lbs) load up a long, steep, hill, for example pretty much any street in Seattle, could you pull it off?

Well, the Xtracycle inherits the gearing of the "donor" bike. There is nothing in particular about these bikes that make them less adaptable to lower gearing than any other bike. They are just longer. So if push comes to shove you can change the gearing with relatively simple chainring/cog swaps. And I won't repeat the worn out cliche' here: "It's not the bike, it's the engine" (oops, guess I just did).

The "magic" to me of these long-tail bikes is that they are only incrementally different than regular bikes, but this small difference makes a huge improvement in the bike's utility. And yet they can still be used as say, a city bike, even if you are not hauling.

So yes, for some hills, for some loads, you make other arrangements, or maybe other trips. Another slight drawback is the use of bike racks on busses (although I've heard but not confirmed of ways around that).

[bmike]

This bike looks pretty good, but it reminds me of a question I've had for quite some time: what is the gearing like on these bikes? If you're on a Yubaride, or an Extracycle, or one of those very beautiful Dutch cargo bikes, and you have to haul a 70kg (150 lbs) load up a long, steep, hill, for example pretty much any street in Seattle, could you pull it off?

The Dutch Cargo bikes (bakfiets) use a Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub. The chainring is typically 38t, and the standard rear cog is a 17. This is pretty high. For Vermont I'm switching out the rear cog for a 21 (although I have a 23 on my personal bakfiets for long trips with heavy loads). I believe CleverCycles in Portland goes with a 19t cog - but Portland is much flatter than Seattle.

I'm not sure what I'd use in Seattle, but the 23t on the rear is really low. I climbed a 9% street in town with a moderate load when I was using the 38/19 combination...

You can use Sheldon Brown's gear calculator for internally geared hubs to figure things out a bit: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/internal.html

[ong]

Here in Portland, I run a 34t chainring up front on my Xtracycle, and an 11-32 cassette in back (28-80 gear inches). I climb pretty steep stuff with heavy loads... so far I have never needed a granny gear, although I could add one relatively easily, I guess, if I ever need it.

[jwbnyc]

These long cargo bikes are very interesting.

I'm not sure I could, or would want to, hack it with one of these things over thirty miles of varying terrain per day though.

Still they are tempting.

[bragi]

What is it like to use a long, cargo-style bike over varied terrain, sometimes with heavy loads, on a daily or near-daily basis? I see these bikes around town every now and then, but don't actually know anyone who rides one. These bikes intrigue me, but I suspect it's probably more practical to use a "regular" bike and just use a trailer when you need to haul something. (e.g., I recently hauled a 45kg motor over flat ground using a trailer without much effort, but I don't think it would've worked with an Extracycle.)

[bmike]

What is it like to use a long, cargo-style bike over varied terrain, sometimes with heavy loads, on a daily or near-daily basis? I see these bikes around town every now and then, but don't actually know anyone who rides one. These bikes intrigue me, but I suspect it's probably more practical to use a "regular" bike and just use a trailer when you need to haul something. (e.g., I recently hauled a 45kg motor over flat ground using a trailer without much effort, but I don't think it would've worked with an Extracycle.)

I can't speak to the extracycle's use for a load like you describe, but I can say that using the bakfiets for everyday is is simply a pleasure. I've only test ridden an extracycle conversion - with no load - but I imagine they handle very much like a loaded touring bike. I would think a load like you describe would add the 'tail wagging the dog" effect... can someone speak from experience? (that said I've seen them around town with kids and other stuff on them - and they look very fun...)

Adding weight to the front of the bak seems to make the bike a bit more nimble - and the handling improves a bit. I've used ours to move 200 pounds of wife and dog around, as well as a more typical load of 75 pounds of dog food, cat food, kitty litter, and groceries. It handled it with ease, and getting the gearing dialed in has made these types of trips no more or less difficult than I've imagined. Yesterday we had some friends in town so we did a bike picnic - 4 of us (and their little one) took off on the bike path for random destinations - after about 10 minutes we had the little on in the bak (along with other random gear) and he loved it - being up front, in the breeze, able to see and chat and point and hang out. (he was previously staring at his father's back in a rack seat)

I've used my trailer and road bike to move 100 pound loads around - and I can say now would much rather use the bak!

[Kimmitt]

I feel kinda dumb, but I still can't figure out how one would go about buying a Mundo in the US. Are they out here yet?

[donnamb]

If Xtracycle is their primary contact, I would get in touch with them.

[StephenH]

In looking at the website and the brochure, it looks like they describe it as an 8-speed, but half the pictures seem to show a single-speed (or maybe multi-speed hub) while the others show derailleur setup- so there is perhaps some variation. Also the rack seems flat in most photos, but sloped in some of them.

[Buglady]

It seems odd that they only have one frame size. I've got really long legs and I really notice when a frame is too small!

Nice looking bike but I think I'll stick with my plans to convert an older mountain bike into an Xtracycle. I will want more than 8 gears if I'm rolling loaded - lots of sneaky hills around here (long slow grades) and a few in-your-face ones as you climb out of the river valley. I manage with 5 speeds most of the time but I really notice a difference if I'm carrying even 10 pounds extra! The mountain bike has nice low gearing that I think will be perfect.

Now I just need to go harass the fellow who's organizing the Xtracycle kit order...

[Buglady]

Came back to add, I do love the WorldBike aspect of the Yuba bikes. They donate 10% to http://worldbike.org/ - which helps get useful bikes into the hands of people in developing nations. I'm a big proponent of appropriate technology and here is a perfect example!