|
|
I
got a request a few years ago from a lady in Fresno for a heavy-duty,
industrial strength cargo bike. She was a nurse. Go figure. Anyway
she was going to donate the frame to the local community free bikes
shop. What she wanted made a lot of sense. It had to be able to haul
a mobile shop trailer to neighborhood parks and schools. It had to
have a rack big enough to carry donated bicycles. She wanted hitches
for both the Burley and the Bikes at Work trailers. I started with
the Muttonmaster concept but made it bigger, longer stronger.
The
design evolved to a "Mixte" configuration for easy mounting
and dismounting, and to accommodate all the various riders who would
be using the bike. The rack is 14" by 20", welded on in
true Muttonmaster style, and includes tie-downs and threaded
fittings. The bike has a welded-on kickstand, a salvage unit off an
old Chicago Schwinn. 
The
entire frame and rack are welded construction. That means it will be possible to repair or
modify the frame by oxy-acetylene or TIG welding, wiothout fear of contamination from bronze or brass. The only brazing on the frame is where braze-ons attach,
and at the rear dropouts.
The frame weighs a little over 10 pounds - extremely light for a bike of
this type...
The build included a 7-speed Nexus geared hub, FSA "nastyBoy" cranks, a really nice cro-moly fork from Nashbar (!!!)
plus a mess of parts supplied by Tower Velo in Fresno
Geometry and Specs
Angles: headtube and seat tube, 71 and 72 degrees
Top tube length: 23.75" effective
Chainstay length: 20"
Bottom bracket height: 10.5"
Wheelbase: 44.85"
Standover height: 27"
Rack: 14" x 20", welded on, with 6mm threaded bosses and tie-down points.
Fork: Suspension corrected heavy duty; or you can mount a boinger
Tube specs
Downtube: 1.5" x .9-.6-.9 chrome moly
Seat tube: 1.25" x .035"
aircraft grade chrome-moly
Top tubes: 2 x .75" x .035"
Chainstays: .875" x .035"
Seatstays; .75 x .035"
Rack: all .035" wall chrome moly. Struts: .625"; platform perimeter frame, .5"; other platform members, .375"
Price: Frame and rack: $1,150
