Family Fatbiking - Yuba Mundo Cargo Bike

Fat bikes & kids are a great combo. The big squishy tyres give the wee ones a lovely ride on the back & for the rider the bike is really stable. Perfect for taking the kids off the beaten track, but like all good things, this has came to an end. My son has outgrown the normal kids seat that fits onto the back of the 907 & the addition of his little sister has created cycling conundrum in the motorman household - how do I get both the kids out at the same time?

After several weeks of trawling the internet & forums, I finally decided to buy a Yuba Mundo. There are many reasons why I chose this cargo bike, but the biggest & most important factor was the large rear tyre clearance. Room enough to fit fat tyres back there....
My original plan was to build the bike using a N-360 hub, but due to some issues in sourcing the correct dropout adaptors & concerns about usable gear range, I have decided to keep the standard rear wheel. I also like the security of the 14mm axle & 48h rim when the bike is loaded up with the wee ones.
The front end is using a Surly 135mm non offset for & 36h, 42mm wide doublewall rim from a unicycle !

The bike can be configured in a few different ways depending on what I am doing with it. Full family mode means both kids on the back. When the kids are on the bike, the xtracycle bags keep small feet away from the wheel.

only 1 passenger? No problem - the seat can be removed in less than a minute

Uber strong frame. No flex from this bad boy

Home made solution for deck & foot platforms. Yuba wants more than £100 their plastic versions....

Very versatile load area. Those platforms mean almost anything can be tied to the bike up to its 400lb load limit.

Look ! - V brakes working with fat tyres. Thanks Yuba for huge brakes!

This is the absolute maximum width tyre that will work if you want to keep standard gears.

The rear wheel had to be dished over to the non drive side to maximise chain clearance. In addition, the cassette was spaced out to the drive side by the same amount.

Up front, the BB was moved out to the drive side by fitting an old SS spacer. Still following?

 Result. That's what I call a neat chain line

There is no doubt the Yuba is a huge bike, but I was surprised there was not more difference in length between it & the 907. Very similar geometry too, if you compare the 2 bikes.

Big & bigger

Cargo bike at it's best - carrying stuff, children included !

Car got a puncture? No problem..

This bike is mainly a kiddie carrying tool & for the local shopping run, but I would like to try some camping trips with this bike. It may not be fast, but it is fun, fat & functional & I am really happy with how it has turned out!

Lossiemouth longtail Part 1

Birthday biking

Today was my Birthday!!......35 years young

Woke to a really nice day, so after an early birthday breakfast with the family, I headed off on the 35mile round trip to my brothers house in Portgordon with the Salsa.  

The great thing about this route is can be done almost entirely offroad, so if time is not a factor, it makes a nice alternative to the road route & is great in the winter as it takes me away from all the traffic

The heather is in full bloom at the moment & the trails are full of lovely, rich lilac colour. El cheepo camera doesn't pick this up too well

The harbour at Portgordon. This is the end of the line for the beach rider when heading East around these parts. The coast becomes much rockier& coast riding is mainly limited to coastal paths

The least used bike in the shed, but one of the nicest to ride. I have been really focused on the fatbike over the last year, but I am now using all my bikes on an equal basis & I am looking forward to some longer Speyside routes on the Salsa, it is a fabulous all day XC bike & rides really well on the road sections

The last few miles of the Speyside way on the Buckie section

Fantastic view over the Oat fields, towards the Firth. A planning application has just been submitted to build the worlds largest offshore windfarm in this exact location. Over 330 turbines could soon be filling this very photo....:o( ...I will be blogging in detail about this soon.

Some of the excellent noodley singletrack on the speyside way as you enter Spey Bay.

After nearly a week of wet weather, the harvest is finally underway. I passed numerous combines hard at work, once the morning dew has cleared.

Finally, as I returned to the local stomping ground in Lossie Forrest, I had the pleasure of sharing the trails with some new friends!

All this followed by a lazy afternoon in the garden, picking veg for our roast, Birthday cake & family movie night. Another Sunday in the bag...

Little bus, Big bus...

We all have boxes of bike parts kicking around in the shed right? Well I do, & it was time to do something about them! I realised that I had enough parts to rebuild one of my old bikes that has been laying around in the corner for years. 

After a few hours I had The classic Raleigh Dyna Tech Cro Mo Comp back together. This was my first "real" mountain bike, that I bought when I started work all those years ago.

But before the bike was ready to roll again, it had a job to do - test rig for my homebrew fat fork project! I finally got the modifications to the old VF66 forks completed & everything fits just fine. Silly head angle on the old bike, but a laugh to play around with in the woods for a few nights! I still need to reduce the travel, but least everthing works & I have a "free" set of fat forks waiting to fit to the right bike in the future.

Wheelie machine!

Bridge removed, but these forks are super stiff & will be more than ample for conditions I ride in.

Looks good to me!

Fun project for a few nights, but it was time to return the bike back to XC mode...

I needed another bike for the latest addition to the fleet...a Weeride Pilot. Dan isn't quite there with his riding yet, so the tag along is the perfect solution to keep him rolling with Dad. 

What I like about this set-up, is the bike (front wheel removed) & weeride fit in the back of the van, so now we can both head out on the easier trails with the dog. Why walk if you can take a bike?

Recycling at it's best

Remember these? Looking good with the red DX brakes

Top quality quick hitch & swivel connector

Weeride has hinge pin, so frame folds for storage

A nice wee video from you tube, showing the fun to be had when riding together

Room for a 20x2.3" back there - beachriding pics coming soon!

This system works really well & it is good to be back on the old bike again. Problem solved for 1+1 cycling, but what if the whole family wants to go out?

My wife is just getting back into cycling after many years off a bike & as a result, isn't too confident about having a wee one on her bike, as it become really unbalanced, with all the weight over the back of the rear wheel. She also has a pet hate about kiddy trailers for some reason & refused to consider this as an option.

So what you going to do, to get everyone out?? After many, many nights on-line, I have finally bought a Yuba Mundo Cargo bike to solve all our family cycling problems.

The Mundo is the most family friendly of all the longtail cargo bikes on the market right now & fit 2 wee one with ease. Our bike will be set up like this for the kids to ride on.

Loads of room on the rear

I have also ordered a set of xtracycle Freeloader bags like these. These work great as side guards to prevent little feet from getting into the spokes & also give the bike huge load carrying ability for trips to the shops/park/beach etc. 

Now that would never be the end of the story would it? Turns out the Mundo can fit fat tyres on the rear. I have a spare 135mm Surly fork hanging around, so I'm sure you can guess what is coming next...

2.35 Fat frank, next to a Surly Black floyd 3.8

Rim & tyre ready for front wheel build

It won't look this good, but there is something very cool about fat cargo bikes & I can't wait to get this project rolling!

Coast, Camping & Kids

The last week has brought some really nice weather & allowed me to get a few hours riding in the evening. The town is busy with folks on holiday, so when the weather is nice, the beach is busier than usual, but late in the evening it is nice to have the place to myself again.

The kids have been on their summer holidays, so things are quite busy at home. Once they are all tucked up in bed, it is good to get out in weather like this to chill out for a while at the end of the day

Short video from the midweek riding. Ace weather!

Fast forward a few days - I had planned to take a short overnight trip on the Sunday night, but a sudden change in the weather forecast meant I had to pull my plans forward to, err, now!

With the children all sorted, I handed control over to Mum, & headed out on a very local overnight camp - less than 3 miles from home!

With less than 1 hr before sunset, I decided to head west, to one of my favourite spots on the coast around here - the cliffs on the west beach.

Luckly, the bike was all prepared a few days earlier, so it was easy to make a quick escape

Not super-lightweight camping, but I like it! Waterproof everything - great for beach trips

After a quick sprint down the beach, I soon reached my camp spot

Glorious colour in the evening light.

Lovely wee place to camp if you like to be the last in/first out

Room with a view

It didn't take long to pitch the tend, so all that was left to do, was make a brew & watch the sun set..

It was a fantastic evening & very mild. I spent ages outside watching a spectacular dispaly of shooting stars. A great nights sleep followed, with the sound of the sea crashing below me, as a great wake up call in the morning

Early 4am start to catch the sunrise & get some filming done

Moray- beach - bike....i'm in a happy place here

Time for morning coffee

Now, this is what I call breakfast with a view

Time to roll. I have this bike a year now & it has changed the way I enjoy the coast round here forever.

Really nice light at this time of the morning - shame so few folk actually bother to see it

7.00 am & back home again. The town was unusually busy on a Sunday, but it was the annual raft race today & everyone was out preparing for the big day.

After a shower & something to eat with the kids, myself & Daniel headed back out to Burghead, to do come coastal exploring by foot.

By good luck, there was a dredger in today, so it was 101 questions from the 4 year old...he loved it!

Beautiful morning over the Moray Firth. Findhorn & Culbin in the far distance

This is one of my favourite photos of the day!

Back to the "bus" for a mid morning snack. Exploring is hard work you know!

Chester looked like he was enjoying it too.

Time to start work

Now, thats a fair big roosty bucket! & i'm not talking about the bikes!

Why do Gulls always look grumpy?

I was jealous of this guy, looked to be a great day to be out on the water.

Later in the afternoon, we all went down to have a look at the Lossie raft race. Cracking weather & a great crowd turned up. Lots for the kids to do, but it was pretty noisy & hot, so we didn't stay for long. We opted to come home & set up the paddling pool in the garden!

I forgot my camera, so here are some photo's i have "borrowed" from the internet & facebook

After such a long day full of adventures, we had a nice evening chilling out in the garden....Marshmallows have never tasted so good...apart from the ones I burned!

Just as we were getting packed away, the rain that was forecast arrived, so perfect timing & I am glad we all made the most of such a nice weekend!