Light Cargo Bike for daily 6 mile+ commute
 

Right now, I ride a 40 year old schwinn traveler 12 miles round trip to school everyday. It has a back rack on it and, with a few bungee chords, I can carry a duffel back with work clothes and attach my banjo brothers pannier-backpack. I like it because I can mostly carry what I need and make good time (20-30min). The route is 95% paved, however in the future I'll be riding miles of gravel and paved roads. Does anybody know of a quality, durable, comfortable-for-long distance light cargobike? The Pashley Pronto workbike is in the style that I like- thicker wheels, front and rear racks...only it seems designed more for urban, smaller commutes. Something inbetween a cargo and a race bike is what I'm looking for.

Look for one of the 2008-2012 era Globe bikes (an affordable hipster marque owned by Specialized, but discontinued around 2014 or so). There were three or four models suitable for commuting, errands and hauling groceries, etc. They have long wheelbases and chain stays so there's no risk of heel strike with panniers. I see 'em on craigslist in my area for $75-$200 in very good condition. You can find sample photos on Bicycle Blue Book and Google image search.

I have a 2008 or '09 Globe Carmel. Great inexpensive errand bike and for cruising around 12 mph. Heavy duty, massive aluminum frame and it has a suspension fork which is comfortable but adds about 5 lbs. As I ride it, with rear rack, heavier tires than the originals, water bottle and basic tire patch/tool kit it weighs 35 lbs. Much of the weight is in the heavy spring suspension fork and massive seat post (necessary when nearly fully extended) and heavily padded springy saddle. But it's comfortable so I keep it that way. Occasionally I ride 20 miles or so at a time, including some gravel trails, and it's a pleasure on rough roads. I did lower the stem and replaced the original riser handlebar with a flat bar, which was more efficient yet still comfortable.

Globe had similar compact frame bikes with sloping top tubes and rigid forks: the Live, which was fitted with a front rack; the Haul, with integral rear rack; Work, with no racks but I think it had fenders.

If I'm recalling correctly they didn't offer a model with both integral heavy duty front and rear racks, which seemed odd. The rigid forks might be able to handle a heavily loaded front rack with better stability than the spring suspension fork. I usually don't carry much weight on the front of the Carmel, no more than 10 lbs.

I'd definitely recommend the compact frame models with sloping top tubes for easy mounting/dismounting with a loaded bike. I can hoist a leg across the top tube even with the rear rack is loaded up so high I can't kick a leg back across the rear of the bike. Much easier than with a taller horizontal top tube. Not quite as easy as a step-through or mixte, but close enough.

And there are tons of similarly made hybrids from Giant, Trek, many others. Look for a longer than usual wheelbase -- these are sometimes described as comfort hybrids. Besides handling a heavy duty rear rack this also allows plenty of room for panniers and baskets without heel strike. If you're hauling enough stuff you'll soon want panniers to keep the weight low. Heavy loads on the rear rack can be exhausting to balance while climbing hills in hot weather. The same 30-50 lbs evenly distributed between panniers and the rack will feel much more stable on public streets shared with even light traffic.

Or......https://www.bikefriday.com/folding-b...es/haul-a-day/

Long Haul Trucker touring bike with 26" wheels, 2" tires can carry quite a load!

Specialized Sequoia - all-rounder bike that fills the gap between Specialized AWOL touring bike and the Specialized Diverge gravel road bike.

salsa Fargo is my go to for that kind of riding

My wife has had a Yuba Boda Boda for about four years, and she really likes it. It's aluminum, so it's surprisingly light, and it doesn't extend as far back as a full cargo bike. I don't know how much they cost now, but back then it was just over a thousand dollars.

I recently spent a lot of time obsessing over cargo bikes, and have to say the disc brake Boda Boda really is impressive.

Soma Pick Up Artist ?
http://www.somafab.com/wp-content/up..._side1_900.jpg
http://www.somafab.com/wp-content/up...etimes1500.jpg
The Pick-Up Artist (Complete Bicycle) | SOMA Fabrications

WorkCycles Fr8 Universal frame (as city bike)

I think I might go with this one. Anybody have experience with Dutch bicycles, or workcycles specifically? I realized that I wanted something that I could put on a bus, and that a longtail bike wouldn't do that. I also like the size and rider position of the dutch bicycles. Seems very comfortable for a slow, relaxed commute. The sport bikes keep me looking at the ground all the time.

The Workcycles FR8 can be customized to fit your needs. Its definitely a versatile commuting/utility bike.

http://www.workcycles.com/components...255c37ce10.jpg

A few nice things about the Bike Friday. It is one of the lighter cargo bikes, but everything I've seen indicates they are quite robust for regular use. I'm not sure how that compares to the smaller cargo bikes like you've found.

It is a small USA company, and they'll make the bike to your specs, although not necessarily cheap. So, for example if you wanted drop bars or touring bars, they'll add them. For some bikes, they'll send you an adjustable stem, then once you get the size set, send it back and they'll custom fabricate a gooseneck stem.

They used to put the DualDrive into some of their bikes, and could put in other IGH hubs if you needed.

Plus a color choice.

It sounds like Workcycles, above will also do some customization.

The other unique thing about the Haul a Day is it adjusts to size...the tube length can be changed from small to large so various family members can use it. That's not true for any other cargo bike I am aware of. So if there are two users, and one is larger than the other, that's not a problem.

You might have problem with loading this bike onto a bus rack. The arm to hold down the front wheel might not fit. With the fender and front rack, you will be hard pressed to get the arm to lock over those. You might have to remove that equation from your list of wants.

How about a hybrid bike running 35-38m tires? You can add racks front and back, fenders. Inexpensive, lighter and probably a bit faster than most cargo bikes. I love all the bikes that have been suggested here, but I don't get the impression that you really need something that robust. You can probably find a decent used hybrid for little money.