How to make a shopping cart bike

strider3700 · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:16 am Post subject: How to make a shopping cart bike

I know it's not an armoured assault wheelbarrow but this could be useful for some
http://www.bicyclelaneindustries.com/bli/cartbike/
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shame on us, doomed from the start
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skyemoor

Good find.

For more such projects, see http://www.ibike.org/economics/work-bike.htm , halfway down the page.

For those not mechanically inclined, there are many on the market;
http://zerocouriers.com/workbike/makers/index.html

Need to move the kids around?

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MattSavinar · Elite Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 2000

Dude awesome find. Will be cross posting at LATOC. Will not be giving you credit though.

' 5moped

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strider3700

skyemoor

I believe that was intended as humour.

For snazzier work bikes (ok, not for DIY);

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SILENTTODD

Very Clever! I am impressed it works so well with such easy to work equipement and attachments.

You will see a lot more of this kind of thing in the future. If there is any silver lining to Peak Oil, this is one of the few things I look forward to!
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gg3

Good stuff.

The shopping cart bike looked pretty unstable though; definitely a "build it for your own use but don't let anyone else ride it" project.

The ultimate workbike was a 4-wheeled English model called the Brox, which if I'm not mistaken is now being built in Germany under a different name. The original UK version could carry a half ton in the cargo box. It also had something like a 25-speed transmission, and the ability to de-clutch and shift when stopped. You could brake for a stoplight without downshifting, and then declutch and shift to lowest gear before the light turned green, and then start off again in low gear and work your way up.

What these things need to be truly viable as "trucks" or "minivans" is a full enclosure for the driver. Curtains, fabric, and soft materials won't do, it has to be hard plastic, which is very light and will help aerodynamics.

Meanwhile I've just invented a hand-powered micro version of a Bobcat loader, with fewer moving parts than a bicycle, that'll lift and load 200 lbs. of materials (sand, gravel, dirt, manure, compost) at a time. A friend from the community came over tonight and suggested some improvements to create a heavier version (with a few more moving parts than a bicycle) that should have a capacity around 300# or more per shovel-full. No doubt we'll end up building at least a prototype for use in the community.

The next logical step from there would be a pedal-powered tractor/dozer/loader. This would almost certainly be a 2-person machine, with large cleated steel wheels. It would be cool as hell to make it 4WD, but probably too much complication.

Note when designing any kind of vehicle, human-powered or otherwise: rear wheel steer is terribly unstable at anything above slow walking speed. You do not want rear steer on a machine designed for over-the-road use or you'll flip it. On industrial equipment such as loaders, it's permissible, but only because you're operating at a very low speed.

MattSavinar · Elite Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 2000

Revi · Fusion Joined: Apr 25, 2005 Posts: 3531 Location: Maine

I love stuff like the shopping car bike. The revolution will not be televised. We are going to start to re-make the world out of things like shopping carts. The leftovers from industrial society will work just fine to get us around and carry stuff we need. I imagine the backs of pickup trucks will make dandy horsecarts too.

We are living in the best of times. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

TheDude

skyemoor

...only no workbikes. Content should alway trump image, unless one are a painter; even then, there has to be content.
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strider3700

Vortex · Coal Joined: Dec 24, 2006 Posts: 13 Location: Sweden

I have aquired a bike from "Posten" (Swedish Post) due to their change to electric vehicles (Club Cars). This postal bike, when equipped with all three "bags/panniers" is very good as a cart bike, biking around with +30 kg of cargo is no problem.

I had to repaint the bike (black) though since Posten really do not like people having these bikes in their colours and logotype. Unfortunately, Posten do not sell these bikes, you must know someone working there in order to have it. But I think it is possibly to buy it directly from Monark (the manufacturer) for 8000-9000 SEK or so. Sounds expensive, but it is really a good deal since these bikes can take a lot of abuse and are designed to be easily ridden around even if loaded with +30 kg of cargo.