tarcks well
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Today we went to Chicagoās only cargo bike shop to test ride some things.
I tried two Bulitts:
And an Urban Arrow
My favorite is the pink Bulitt(obviously). The Urban Arrow is a hundred pound monstrosity that rides like a truck rather than a bicycle. I think I prefer the Bulitt because yeah, itās a bike. The UA is something else entirely. Pretty fun to effortlessly push a hundred pound machine with studded tires north of 20mph though.
The white Bulitt has Alfine di2, belt drive and was being sold on consignment. Itās clearly some suburban mamilās vanity project. Damn thing has like 1ā tires on it.
The UA accessory system is super cool and modular and really well designed to be a kid hauler while the Bulitt would require more tinkering which appeals to me, but not Ash. Also, I think sheād much prefer the UA, if we got the Bulitt it would be my bike rather than our bike.
What say you, Bulitt owning kid havers?
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If you have an opportunity in Chicago these are pretty fun to test ride:
I actually ran into a guy outside the grocery store the other day with an Urban Arrow (I was on my big dummy lol). He seemed to have pretty much turned it into a car replacement but he also seemed like he wanted something that was more like a bike. I guess having seen one in person, my main thought is ābetter than a car but I would be pissed if one flew by me in the bike laneā.
As we were chatting, a third weirdo who rolled up on a cargo trike came over to say hi. It was a real Freak Convention in front of HEB that day
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Have you looked at Yuba? Closer to Bullitt in ride quality and the kid hauling accessories are fairly fuss free.
I was talking to the lady at the shop and she pointed out that the yubaās cable actuated steering is a totally un-sealed system and would be totally wrecked by the heinously salty environment of Chicago winter streets. If the Yuma had linkage steering Iād probably already own it.
get what wief wants, within reason. i say that as someone who bought a trike, then sold a trike, and hated it the whole time except for the scant few moments of trying not to flip my kid on the way to the playground thatās a few miles away. fuck that thing so hard, but lessons gotta be learned somehow and they are best learned by the folx who need to learn them. we at least didnāt lose money on the dealā¦
that said- bullitts are fucking rad and we have a fleet of 7 di2 steps e-bullitts at work and itās about the best a cargo bike can be.
normally iād shit on such a monster truck but we live in the optimal place to own a 100# bike, doubly true since youāll garage it.
does it come with that hood system?
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is there any evidence that this happens? Iāve been using that setup for a while, and am not sure that 1. itās as dire as they sey (theyāre trying to sell you a competing product and all) and 2. that it would be a weirdly insurmountable problem - the steer cables are doubled, so itās unlikely that theyād all shit the bed at the same time. It seems more like just one more small repair task you have to do each April.
I have a Supermarche and like it. Not sure about what kind of baby suspension/seat they have for it, though. I used an Edgerunner with a Yepp Maxi from when the kid was two til when she was five.
I would have bought a Bullitt, but my understanding is that theyāre not great for people taller than 6ā3".
Not sure. Thatās the personal UA of the lady who owns the shop. The thing rides like a vehicle not a bicycle. Also it costs like 6.5 bongs or something crazy.
oh nvm pink bulleit it is!!!
not much of a compromise when it costs that much
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Pink intensifies
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OH and Iām not sure this is that relevant, but the rain canopy on the Supermarche is an add-on that works with either the bamboo box or the fabric-and-rails box. It looks like the Bullitt canopy is a whole integrated thing you have instead of another cargo setup.
To be fair the Supermarche rain canopy, version 1 at least, kinda has some product design hiccups to get sorted, but with any luck theyāve learned how zippers work at this point.
It doesnāt have drop bars, though. Iād guess it was built for cargobike racing?
How tall is Ash and what kinda bikes does she ride? I seem to remember a kona laid back kinda thing, right? This can be a big factor in buying a bullitt. I donāt know that other company but given the lazy boy seattube Iād imagine itās a bit easier on shorter riders.
As for the comparison between the two. You can get a bullitt kid canopy for ā¬450 but you should check with your cargo shop about availability. There are also TONS of homebrew plans out there.
The e-assist is a bit more work but there are also a lot of almost-plug-and-play kits out there. @Andrew_Squirrel is obviously the one to ask about that given he has an electric 20" wheel truck bike.
EDIT: Iām probably gonna edit this 9 more times as I think about it. But hereās the first one, and now that I think about the second most important after the ability for Ash to ride it comfortably.
You have to consider that the UA has that upper bar around the cargo area. Of ALL the parents I see riding around front loaders I donāt imagine any of them are loading them up with more than their kids but you are the most likely. Anything larger than the width of the platform you cannot load on a UA. It is absolutely kids only. And then when the kid gets a bit bigger or if you have another (!!!) you canāt make a slightly wider platform to accommodate. My friend Joven sold his Omnium when he got out off the messenger world and got a bullitt because he has a kid and a dog. He built a cool little birch plywood box with seatbelts and such that can accommodate two small kids. He only has one but sometimes thereās a friends kid that comes along for a play date.
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Well shit, the cargo bike lady just emailed me pricing on everything and the white Bulitt is just so ridiculously cheap for the build thatās on it I think Iām gonna go for it. Also thereās no tax because itās a consignment. The Urban Arrow is 6 bongs plus tax plus accessories so thatās not gonna happen.
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SHEEYIT. Just bought an xtracycle 10e for $3400.
Thatās a great deal.
DO IT!
Also get a One Up dropper post and shim the travel so at full extension it works for you and slammed it works for supwief. I think I read somewhere up there that thereās quite a difference in height between yall?
This is relevant to my interests: whatās the best derper for a heavy load?