I've been riding the same Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo Mountain Bike since my uncle found it in a sandpit and gave it to me to ride while away on my first internship. It was in somewhat rough shape back then, and it's kind of the bicycle of Thesius at this point as parts failed and I found ways to replace them.
I was replacing the front tire and realized I'd like to make this thing into a cargo bike (I currently use it to scout for furniture to restore on trash days, but usually have to ride home and return on foot to grab anything I find, plus I could get groceries). I'm not sure what level of standardization this bike follows and I have no familiarity with cargo bike parts, but I was thinking I'd like to add a Rear Pannier Carrier Cargo Rack and perhaps a large basket on top of that - in fact, I happen to have this homemade welded steel basket I pulled out of a dumpster a couple years ago:
It's 23" long, 12" tall, and 16" wide. I could weld on whatever mounting hardware it needs.
So basically I'm looking for advice on layout and things to add, specific parts if you have any recommendations, is that basket a horrible idea, etc. What traits make for a useful cargo bike, what would work well with this old mountain bike? And thank you for any ideas!!
I'm late to the party but I use my Trek 820 as a combo commuter/grocery getter and have not had luck finding a front rack/basket that works with my front suspension (though I haven't really made a dedicated effort yet).
For now, I've settled on just using the rear rack with pannier bags combined with a saddlebag and a big frame bag.
It's not quite as versatile as my ebike with 50liter pannier bags, but I am still regularly impressed with how capable a cargo bike it is despite being an old singletrack MTB.
If you find yourself struggling with front cargo options, it might be worth swapping to some sort of touring fork which can support not only a front rack/basket, but bags on each side of the fork as well.
Good luck and I hope you'll keep us posted on your progress!
Thank you! This is really good advice! I'm definitely not counting on the claimed 310 capacity (especially since I had to replace one post with a longer one I made from a 3/8" rod, so I could attach it to the little bolt above the rear gears instead of wrapping it around the seat stay). I'll definitely post my progress soon, and I think brakes are going to be my next step. Supposedly there's an adapter kit to add disc brakes to this bike but everything's so cluttered back there I think better pads make more sense and are more achievable. The pads on there now might be some of the only original parts left, not sure.
Well, brakes and one of those wrap-around-the-chain-stays kickstands. So I'll have a kickstand. It's a work in progress.
!micromobility@lemmy.world would probably appreciate pics and a rundown of your build when it's finished. Cargo bikes are awesome!
Step 1 in the cargo bike transition is complete! I have some secondhand panniers to try out with some groceries, and I'll see about adding better brakes, a rear basket and eventually a front basket, options like that.
(I mentioned in another comment that I'd had to modify the rack to get it to attach since the right seat stay is crowded, that's the blue part in the picture.)
Nice, Koolstop Salmons are good rim brake pads if you can't upgrade to disc brakes.