Originally Posted by
squirtdad
OK....over the top title to lure you in.
IMHO utility does not have to equal capacity do bring home a months worth of groceries and some times the focus on that level of capacity may scare people away.
Utility is simply using bike to get something practical done..which almost always means having some carrying capacity
...
+1 !
I
want a cargo specific bike, but I'm already bursting out of the limited storage capacity I have with a commuter, tourer, and an off-road bike (& my ladies three bikes of the same classes). Luckily, I've always been able to handle all the cargo I need to with a converted MTB (old rigid with long chainstays) with good racks fore and aft, and occasionally a board strapped to the deck of the rack to increase its size a bit to secure larger loads. In my experience (a year as a cargo courier, in addition to many years carless or car light), often just lashing or strapping a board to the top of your rack increases the surface area enough to lash down oversize loads.
I wholeheartedly support cargo-specific bikes, but it's nice to see the other end of the spectrum here!
