Utility Cycling - RANS Hammer Truck

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SNwQp_yuFaI/AAAAAAAAGGo/mhJonb-Vl-s/s400/RAND+HT

The RANS Hammer Truck (http://viksbigdummy.blogspot.com/2008/09/rans-hammer-truck.html)...looks nice. I'm interested in finding out more...:thumb:

If you have any details spill the beans....;)

damn this Vik guy! All he does is put more bikes in my head. Has anyone ridden a Rans? I wonder what they would be like for longer rides. I've never been on something so reclined. Are they fast? I am curious.

thanks

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SLLHxz_uYyI/AAAAAAAAF5k/wZ1f20t4GbA/s400/ianCFX.jpg

I ride a RANS crank forward. See my blog here (http://www.viks-crankforward.com/). I think of it as a modern Euro city bike. Modern design, parts and top quality construction. Stable handling, low seat height and comfy upright seat.

The seating position is more about comfort than speed, but that doesn't mean you can't motor when you need to. However, if you are trying to compare it to a road bike you'll be disappointed.

The photo above is of a RANS Street crank forward with an Xtracycle attached (http://viks-crankforward.blogspot.com/2008/08/ians-rans-street-xtarcycle.html).


http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/2886854208/in/set-72157607481169957/

http://pub23.bravenet.com/forum/1970022224/show/747855

i bet i would love it. but i am looking a little more upright for now. i'll have to got have sit down on one sometime soon to get an idea about it.

I think I'll be selling my Fusion when this bike comes out. I spoke to CS at Rans a few days ago and they are trying to get the hammer truck on the website this month. I was going to put an extracycle on my Fusion but this solution looks way better.

There is more info on the Hammer Truck on the RANS website here (http://www.ransbikes.com/ITR70.htm).

i sat on a cruz a couple of days ago. It was really nice feeling, i instantly wanted to go tooling around, grab a coffee or a beer. My wife loved it too, which could mean trouble with that universal fit. A rans is on the list for sure.
it might come down to whats available soon enough.

I had that same feeling the first time I hopped on a CF, you can see yourself ambling along with a nice coffee in hand.

Here's my Fusion before it got all accessorized!

Now I just need a little coffee cup holder and it would be complete.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee43/domromer/0808fusion001.jpg

There is more info on the Hammer Truck on the RANS website here (http://www.ransbikes.com/ITR70.htm).

Wow... nicely done. I may need to look into this one instead of a BD... probably see if I can't have it built with a NuVinci though... maybe a couple of other 'things'

Is this really a comfortable position for long rides?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SN5dGrK2y6I/AAAAAAAAGH4/aDLkxZ3QC_w/s1600/DSC_0049.JPG

Too bad they didn't make it Xtracycle compatible, but oh well. "Bike industry standards" is an oxymoron ranking right up there with "military intelligence"... :rolleyes:

Steve

is the overall length of this bike shorter than the competitor: surly and kona?
logically, since it is crank forward design, there is no heel clearance issue with loaded panniers,
so presumably, this with a long design, can be made shorter than the 'normal' upright bikes....

is electra going to follow suit?? townie long??

Is this really a comfortable position for long rides?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SN5dGrK2y6I/AAAAAAAAGH4/aDLkxZ3QC_w/s1600/DSC_0049.JPG

Too bad they didn't make it Xtracycle compatible, but oh well. "Bike industry standards" is an oxymoron ranking right up there with "military intelligence"... :rolleyes:

Steve

If I read this paragraph from their site correctly:


What will come next? I imagine a whole line of accessories, ranging from child seats, to a rack that doubles as a shopping cart, eliminating some hefting. The project has been close to my heart, since I was not car-bound in my early days. In fact I delayed owning a car until our first child was on the way. Even then we used a homemade bike trailer and a special trike called the TR-3, which featured a large wooden basket. Pedal powered (or sail) was always preferred over firing up the oil burner. The HammerTruck in a way is a return to those roots, and a welcome one. The good news is we are not alone; there is a growing movement to create and provide heavy haulers. There has been much inspiration drawn from the very friendly and eco-conscious folks at Extracycle, who at Interbike announced they have open-sourced their cargo hauling technology in the hopes more people will take up the task of hauling using man power. It is an honorable quest, one that brings many benefits to not only the users, but everyone around us. When more people start using human power to do things formerly exclusive to “oil burners” it brings us that much closer to a bike cultured society, which most will agree is a good thing, for the simple fact it creates healthier people, less pollution and greater appreciation of the environment around us. We are glad to join in with this effort of providing effective ways to haul. We have a passion and dedication that will for certain keep us inventing ways to haul, and ride. This is already evident in the new RAC system being offered for our existing CF models, but more on those later, for now ride safe and stay into the ride!

when the Hammertruck was in the design stage, Xtracycle had not yet made their design open-source; hence, if they had made the Hammertruck Xtracycle-compatable without Xtracycle's permission, they would have been guilty of intellectual property infringement. Xtracycle wouldn't give permission because the open-sourceing was in progress, but they couldn't say something like "We're planning go open-source soon, so hold your horses a few months," because such a thing really has to be kept on the QT until it is done.

I've been considering a Hammer Truck lately. My Rocky Mountain Xtracycle was recently demolished due to a driver violating 3-4 traffic laws at once and broadsiding me, as was my right knee badly crippled - i've gone from using electric assist to do cargo work, to being unable to ride at all, so the bike will need to be very easy to use on the knees, something the 'truck offers.

One thing I agree about though, while understood, its just too bad its not Xtracycle compatible. One would wonder though, as the "rack" of the hammer truck is not part of the bike, but rather a custom mounted system, if the mounts could be used to accomodate an Xtracycle specification conversion system.

One thing I agree about though, while understood, its just too bad its not Xtracycle compatible. One would wonder though, as the "rack" of the hammer truck is not part of the bike, but rather a custom mounted system, if the mounts could be used to accomodate an Xtracycle specification conversion system.

Yeah, there's a good chance something could be modded. Considering some of Rans' comments, I wouldn't be surprised if they release an 'Xtracycle-compatible' adapter of some sort.

I've been considering a Hammer Truck lately. My Rocky Mountain Xtracycle was recently demolished due to a driver violating 3-4 traffic laws at once and broadsiding me, as was my right knee badly crippled - i've gone from using electric assist to do cargo work, to being unable to ride at all, so the bike will need to be very easy to use on the knees, something the 'truck offers.

One thing I agree about though, while understood, its just too bad its not Xtracycle compatible. One would wonder though, as the "rack" of the hammer truck is not part of the bike, but rather a custom mounted system, if the mounts could be used to accomodate an Xtracycle specification conversion system.

Yikes! Sorry to hear about your bike misfortunes! I hope you heal up fast...:thumb:

The HT looks great. I'll be keen on checking yours out should you go that route.

I'll let you know how it goes. The MRI is tomorrow, so they can determine what the true damage will be, to some extent. I am likely going for the HT though, as from my own experience and what my body has been responding with so far, i'm probably not getting my leg to handle the stress of coming down from the saddle at a stop with weight in tow. Or probably even riding, but thankfully there are good solutions to help with that part!

So, the other night I inquired with Rans about some additional details on the bike:

+ Rack capacity. As we know from information on the website, the weight limit of the bike is 525lbs. That doesn't account for what you can really *carry*, so I asked for the specifics:

Rack limit of 250lbs, rider limit of 275. They didn't mention specific location strengths or weaknesses as with the Xtracycle system, but I presume it will be similar. Overall, the capacity is moderately higher though it would seem.

+ Off-road design. I wanted to know about what the hammer truck could really do. Obviously, its not an aggressive off road bike with is relaxed riding and design, but I was curious as to whether it would be able to do the same expedition touring, or hauling through the back country like the Xtracycle can. Their answer?

"The steel frame is strong to handle riding up and down curbs, the wheels are rated for the loads, and the fork is tandem strength. I am sure there is always a load outside of the bikes capacity, but I believe it will be hard to reach short of jumping ramps, logs, and down hilling at Moab."

Thats sounding nice. So long as you could handle the CF design, it sounds like the hammertruck can handle the same cross-country punishment as big dummy.

- Kickstand. I inquired about what sort of kickstand the HT really had, if it needed to be lifted off the ground (double pod stand) and if it could handle being used in heavy load conditions.

"No, the kick stand is only recommended for light loading, other wise you need to equip it with the optional runners, which allow the bike to lean over for loading each side."

Well, to me thats a considerable downside. I consider this the only thing about the hammertruck that doesn't sound great, so far. It would be much nicer to have even just a single sided high test kickstand, like the Xtracycle default, than a double pod you can't use while loaded.