Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop

build a 2-wheel cargo bike

by carkat on September 20, 2011

Table of Contents

build a 2-wheel cargo bike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Build a 2-wheel cargo bike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Donor frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Bulding the frame pt.I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 3: Frame construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 4: Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 5: Fork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 6: Mounting the steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 7: Putting everything together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 8: Disassembling and cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 9: Painting the frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 10: Putting everything together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
Intro: Build a 2-wheel cargo bike
as promised in my last instructable, here's my attempt to build a 2-wheeler. why? i got infected by the bike-building virus. especially cargo bikes are just awesome
vehicles: you meet lots of new people ("hey, what's this?"), you can transport nearly everything you need on a regular basis and it's better than a car if you live in a city
like me (no parking fees, no searching for space to park a car, no insurances, taxes, gasoline, healthier & better for the environment,...). so go on and build your own, it's
not that hard ;-)

Step 1: Donor frames

(sorry no pic) i got myself two donor frames from the local dump: an old 26'' mountainbike (hardtail) and a 20'' kids bike. the kids bike is just needed for the front fork and
wheel, so if you find one where everything else is rusty and broken - take it! the other bike is used as a whole.

Step 2: Bulding the frame pt.I

after disassembling the bikes completely i took the bigger one and welded two tubes (construction steel, 34x2mm) to it as shown in the picture.

Step 3: Frame construction

now it's time to decide how long your bike should be. after that i suggest to draw the front construction 1:1 on some paper and put the rear part beneath it. it helps a lot to
see if everything fits together. after that use it to weld the pieces together.
some technical notes:
- be careful to have the main tube to the front parallel to the ground. this means to measure exactly as possible the dimensions of the front wheel and fork and the center
of the back wheel (see drawing)
- for the steering angle of the front wheel i used 75°

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. this was a mistake. it was cut off afterwards, thus the front looks a bit different 1. bottom tube is parallel to the ground
on the other pics.

Image Notes
1. looks good, right?

Step 4: Steering
take the fork from the bigger donor bike and cut it in three pieces as shown above. then weld the top two pieces to another steel tube (something that fits inside the head
tube (by the way, a good source to learn bikeframe vocabulary is here: http://aarline.info/hotaar/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BicycleTypogram_mini_Black2.png )) and
extend the bottom with a piece of steel.

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
 Image Notes
1. cut here
2. cut here

Image Notes
1. sorry for the blurry pic

Image Notes Image Notes

1. top 1. bottom

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
Step 5: Fork
add a piece of metal to the fork in an angle of 90° as shown in the pic. a better position would be to move it more to the top (see annotation). that gives the wheel more
space in left turns.
be careful to have the same distance from wheel center to the hole for the steering axis and from he center of the head tube to the hole for the steering axis. if these are
different turning the handlebar doesn't result in the same turning of the front wheel.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. welded to the fork 1. this distance is the same as the other
2. this would be a better position. weld it here. 2. this distance is the same as the other

Step 6: Mounting the steering

the steering axis is screwed to some ball joints and connected to the two holes where it should rest. added is also some support to the bottom tube (see pic).

Image Notes Image Notes

1. support 1. ball joint
2. ball joint

Step 7: Putting everything together

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
Step 8: Disassembling and cleaning
everything is disassembled and all metal parts are cleaned from rust and old paint. what you also see in this picture is the support for the load-box, made of steel tube
and welded to the frame. the stand in the background is also made of small steel tube and was a pin to construct. next time i will try some motorbike kickstands, maybe
that works out, too.

Step 9: Painting the frame

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/
Step 10: Putting everything together
it's done!

Related Instructables

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Cargo Rack Cheap Human Electric Long
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4 wheel bike Power Bike by scd
trailer, version 2 bikeframe Hauler) by carkat kickstand for
by BobS Woodenbikes the Mundo
(Photos) by
fossilfool

http://www.instructables.com/id/build-a-2-wheel-cargo-bike/