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Basement projects at Perennial Cycle cover a pretty wide array of bike related interests. Marlin is a mechanic at the shop that recently learned how to use the torch and was looking for a fun, practical project. This cargo bike project is Marlin's take on a practical load carrying bike that you can ride around all day without feeling as though your driving a bus, or a tank.

There were a lot of little sketches like this around when the project was going strong. This is the most detailed drawing I ever saw of the Cargo Bike. I'd say that Marlin had a little extra energy after having a sandwich from Caffrey's (I recognize the bag). The sandwich bag sketch gives the main idea behind the design..

The frame is a  steel 90's Fischer mountain bike frame that had a oversized (1-1/4") headset. To convert the front end to fit a 20" front wheel he got a 1-1/8" headtube that happened to fit nicely inside the original headtube and used the new headtube to extend the headtube down. This allowed him to put a large, heavy duty (yet lightweight) rack on the front of the bike.

The rack is brazed onto the frame of the bike and thus when you turn the bike, it does not move with the fork and handlebars like you'd expect a front basket to. The fact that the rack is quite low (this is the reason for the 20" front wheel) means that the weight on the rack does not throw off the handling of the bike much at all. When there is not a load on the rack you don't even notice that the bike is cargo-minded.

You can see a lot more of Marlin's work and see more current projects at his website http://utilitariantransports.com/

Nice work Marlin!

Take a Look Mirrors are well designed, highly adjustable mirrors that attach to your glasses, helmet visor or your helmet using the stick-on helmet adapter. The mirror itself is a glass mirror of good quality and the components of the mounting hardware are stainless steel with brass sleeves. I have found the mirrors to be very durable and due to the brass sleeves being used as pivot points they are extremely adjustable. These are the best glasses/helmet mounting mirrors on the market.The designer of this product was a dentist and his first attempts at creating a cycling mirror was to tape a dental mirror onto his glasses.

The mirrors re sold in 3 versions:
Original
Compact
Original with stick-on helmet mount
The original has larger mirror (1-1/2" x 1") and longer reach (over 3" from the front of the mounting clip to the mirror). This mirror tends to work when mounting to a helmet visor or to the stick-on mounting adapter for helmets.
Being that the Compact model has a smaller mirror as well as less reach it tends to be best for those that are going to use the mirror with glasses. When attaching the mirror to glasses it will tend to be closer to your eye and thus the smaller mirror will suffice for seeing behind you without blocking too much of your forward view.

Over the years I have moved between handlebar mounted mirrors and glasses/helmet mounted mirrors a few times. Thus the excellent selection of mirrors at Perennial Cycle.

The last couple of years I have been switching between a few different bikes and am finding it easiest to have a Take A Look mirror attached to the visor of my helmet and thus I'm always prepared with a mirror. I am currently using the Original Take a Look attached to my helmet's visor. I actually have drilled a tiny hole in my visor and used a little zip tie to permanently attach the mirror my visor. I did this after losing a couple mirrors because I set the helmet down and accidentally knock the mirror off the visor...

I also ended up putting a bend in my Original mounting bracket model to optimize the position. Being that I switch between a laid back recumbent and an upright bike I feel that I have to play around with the mirror position a little more than I would have to if I was riding one or the other. The used the mirror for a while without the bend and then did my tweaking which has worked out very well.

I wouldn't recommend customizing your mirror until you have used it for a while and have gotten the hang of adjusting it. If you do choose to customize your Take a Look mirror be sure to make the bend on a stainless steel (silver) section of the mount. The brass sleeve is a softer metal and will be the first part to bend if your attempting to do this without a good grip (tools) and then the brass sleeve will break later as it's not thick enough to be bent. I used 2 needle nosed pliers to hold the stainless rod securely as I "formed" it.

The speedy, yet durable Schwalbe Kojak now is available in a 16" x 1-1/4" (ISO 32-349mm) tire to fit Brompton folding bikes! The Kojak is a bald high pressure tire with a puncture resistant layer (kevlar belt). This will no doubt be a popular tire on Brommies as many are using them to go some distance and the Kojak can do that oh, so well.

While the 16 x 1-3/8" (37-349mm) Schwalbe Marathon Tire will continue to be the most durable, longest lasting 16" tire on the market, the Schwalbe Kojak will no doubt prove to be nearly as durable with a more performance oriented edge. At a 1-1/4" with a pressure rating of 115psi the Kojak will add a bit of speed to any Brompton. A supple sidewall gives the Kojak a nice feel on the road (not as harsh as you'd expect for a 115 psi tire). Both the folding and non-folding have a nice, supple feel. Though the folding model is more supple.

Available in both a folding and non-folding models. The folding version is a bit lighter weight with a kevlar bead and higher threads per inch, while the non-folding version costs a bit less. The higher thread count on the folding model makes for a more supple and lighter casing. We measured the tire on a stock Brompton rim and the tire measured 30mm wide and 26mm tall. See all of our 16" (349mm) tires here. All our 349 tires will fit a Brompton except for the Greenspeed Scorchers (a little too chubby for the Brompton Frames).

Here are some details on the 16" Kojak:

SIZE: ISO 32-349 mm (16 x 1-1/4 in.)
PRESSURE: 115 psi
WEIGHT: 175 grams, or 230 grams for the non-folding
BEAD: Foldable Kevlar or Wire Bead
CONSTRUCTION: RaceGuard; 67 tpi, or 50 tpi on non-folding
Website Links: Folding Kojak here, Non-Folding Kojak here

Schwalbe was out in front of the pack several years back with a number of tires specifically designed for recumbent bikes and now we meet them again at the corner of the folding bike market. It's always good to meet old friends in new places.

Panaracer has come out with an urban commuting tire that uses Protex Shield Technology. This is a lightweight and supple protection layer that we will likely see on more tires in the future. A supple tire is a nice, smooth riding tire while a more rigid tire can be harsh. The combination of highly supple, yet lightweight make the RiBMo (Ride Bicycle More) special.
We have it available in 700 x 25, 700 x 28 and 700 x 32. Check them all out on this webpage.

Here's some info from the Panaracer website: