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 can only give you advice, based on my experience with an older MTB that has hauled over 130lbs worth of groceries at a time.
I’m a fan of keeping the bike modular, so it can be ridden with no extra bulk (except for front and rear racks), but I can increase its capacity with a combination of baskets, panniers, or a cargo trailer.
My standard haul configuration is usually the trailer with rear panniers (25L Arkel Shopper bags x 2 + the Wike City Cargo Trailer with 100lbs capacity). It typically looks like this, although I don’t usually bring the trunk bag on grocery hauls, and will instead (if needed) mount a large steel basket, which is secured by voile straps.
If I’m picking up a really large/bulky grocery haul, I will bring two front panniers and a handlebar basket (Wald).
But… most errands and smaller hauls will either see me with a Burley Travoy trailer, which converts into a handcart for taking into stores, or just the rear panniers.
As I said, I like to keep things modular with the option of just having a “naked” bike to ride around with.
This is great info, thanks for taking the time to write it out! I didn’t even notice the front rack at first, does the handlebar basket just latch on to the rack? I think this (minus the trailer for now) makes a lot of sense for me
Ok, so Wald makes several types of front baskets. The one that I have has a bracket that gets mounted to the handlebars permanently (you can remove them, but they aren’t means to be removed like their quick release mount), and then the basket latches onto it.
Here is what it looked like after I installed the Wald mount:
It was a challenge to make sure that I could still have a functioning headlight and camera with the basket installed, so I also installed a handlebar extender to lift those up, and a bike light mount on the front rack. Since then, I’ve learned that you can get a clip-on mount for baskets that will hold the light, but I’m not sure if they use the same Garmin quarter-turn mount as my light, so…
But… I found that the Wald mount interfered with my regular handlebar bags (Arkel Signature BB and BB packet), so I’ve strapped some horizontal tubing to the Wald mount, so those handlebar bags can mount better without excess rubbing. I can remove the tubes very easily for when I need the front basket.
This particular bike is pretty busy, but it’s an AMAZING utility bike! I’ve also added a frame bag for added carrying capacity (mostly for extra straps and tools), a top tube bag, and it now has double feed bags attached behind the handlebars for quick access to snacks, my powerbank, compact camera, etc.
If I had only one wish, it would be that I wish I went with a front rack that has a platform. My front rack is a low-rider, which is great for stability, I won’t lie, but I would have made use of a platform.
One final mention. When I strap a basket to my rear rack, I tend to add a cut piece of 2x4 under it to give it a few inches of lift off the rack. This makes it easier to get the Arkel panniers off (and back on). It’s not necessary that I do that if I plan to use only the rear basket.
Let me know if you have any other questions, and I’d be happy to help!
This is awesome advice, thank you! I bought a rear rack and some cable housing (I’m worried the rear derailer cable will scrape on the rack mountings). I’m going to start with the rear rack and panniers.
My front fork is some kind of chunky mountain bike built-in-shocks thing and I’m not sure there’s a way to mount a front rack to it, but I’ll try to figure something out once the rear one is set up. Failing that, I’ll look for one of those handlebar baskets.
I figure I’ll start small, see if this is useful, and add capacity as I go.
Thanks again!
There are also handlebar mountable baskets, klickfix for example. I have klickfix adapters for all my bikes, currently not using it on my touring bike, but i did for a lot of tours. They’re not the most stylish baskets, but i like the easy possibility do dismount it and go shopping with it or whatever.
Except on my citybike i have a fixed basket that is mounted to the head tube.
Something like this might work with your fork. Front baskets are really nice to have imo.
That’s a good idea! I’ve got the rear rack attached, I’m going to add a kickstand and then some kind of front basket. I think these will work with my front fork.
Thanks!
That’s what I’ve done! I’m lucky that the used MTB I linked is a 26"er, and so was my older one. I built up my older MTB with a bunch of gear, and they all ported over without issues. Then I just added more as I saw fit.
Good luck with your build!
Thank you!