vey

My old MTB style bike conversion to a utility bike has shown up a shortcoming. On this bike there is no suspension, which is good, but the ride is a bit rough which means that things bounce up and out of the baskets sometimes.

It also means that the beer gets shaken (!) and eggs are getting broken on the way home from the store which really bums my wife out.

I have to ride on some very rough brick streets, which also have some glass on them. I was thinking of making some changes, but need some advice.

I think this is what I am looking for:
1. Inexpensive ~$30 or so tires. Now I am riding on some $10 tires.
2. 26x2.35 (or fatter?). Now I am using 26x1.95.
3. Smooth or low tread. (Now I have a semi-knobby in the front and a knobby in the rear).
4. Inflate to ~40psi. Now I inflate to 60psi.

Would doing this help with my problem? Would my fatter softer tires become glass magnets? Speed isn't much of a concern for me, but sometimes amount of effort is. When I get this bike loaded so that it is carrying ~285 pounds, it takes some effort to get going now. Does fatter and softer mean even more effort?

evblazer

Schwalbe big apple if it'll fit. And it comes with a nifty reflective sidewall and come in 2.35 width
Schwalbe press release like page.

dwnptrl_777

A quick thought or two: I have 2.7" downhill tires on my 1x1. They're monstrous. Roll over everything? You betcha. I rolled over a group of children last week. No one was hurt. I barely felt them under the tread.

The downside is weight and cost, which you already understand.

That said, I think your solution is good: moving to a fatter will give you a little "free" suspension. But I think you'll need to spend some cash to get the kind of quality tire you're looking for; as 2.35 tire with a specific low-tread pattern (to help with getting over that glass) would serve you well, but it won't be $30 — if you DO find that, let us know!

vey

2.7" That got my tape measure out. No way I could do that in the back. I have 2.75" clearance in the front and 2.6" in the back. Assuming the tires flatten out with a heavy load, I think that 2.35 is as wide as I can go.

What do you mean by specific low-tread pattern? Maybe I should be looking for more tread, but not knobby?

wattly

Well, it only flattens out where it touches the ground, right?

dwnptrl_777

Sorry to not be clear...I was thinking that you might be looking for a low-tread pattern that's more focused on road vs. offroad, but with enough 'teeth' to let you get some traction in the dirt if necessary. Per the above poster, Schwalbe does make some good-looking tires in this category.

dmac49

Big Apples also come in 2.0. Changing from knobs to the Apples stopped the rough ride on my conversion I just did. I would be interested to know if you are going to raise the riding position to a more upright one as I did with different bars.

Doug5150

Fatter tires aren't going to make a whole lot of difference to anything that is in direct contact with the frame or rack.

The easiest solution would be to carry the eggs and beer in a backpack, and everything else non-breakable in the bike basket.

Alternately--if you had to carry a smaller amount of delicate items, you could place them in some padding inside the basket (such as a small fleece blanket folded up) but this drastically reduces the amount of what you can carry.
~

mhifoe

Doug has hit the nail on the head. What you need is something that is not in direct contact with the frame of the bike.

What do the baskets look like on your bike? Is there any way you could suspend a mesh bag across the top of the basket? That could well allow the eggs to survive.

vey

Here are some photos of my bike. It has a very large basket in the front which is carried by the frame rather than the fork.
https://www.ericvey.com/Workhorse/photo_gallery.htm

I tried an experiment today. I deflated the tires down to 40 psi from 60, then I went on a 12 mile shopping trip. I loaded about 35 pounds in the front and about 15 pounds in the back.

It seemed as though the groceries had a better time, but I didn't have eggs or beer, so it is hard to tell, but from what I could see, the front basket wasn't jarring as much. No snake bites either, but I could tell that the tires were down since it seemed to take more effort.

I think that I have the most trouble when I have a small load in the baskets. Big loads seem to settle things down.

I built this rig to be flexible. I have several baskets and can change one in about 30 seconds, so sure, I can rig one with a hammock. And they are deep enough so that I can put a blanket or foam in the bottom without losing much space.

Either that or gain about 50 pounds.

dwnptrl_777

Vey, I like your bike. A lot. My hat is off for your creativity and ability to recycle a frame. Well done, brothah.

vey

"Well done, brothah."

Thanks, but I do not deserve the credit. Alex Wilson, of Chicago, deserves any credit for the design. I just copied it.

The cantilever design works better than I hoped for. It really does need weight in the back to make it work against the weight in the front, though. I don't see danger of the COG being too high.

Years ago, I had a super sized conventional basket on the front of a Sears 3 speed, but if I put more than 20 pounds in it, the steering went bad. And if I only load the front on this bike, with 30-40 pounds the steering goes bad, too. It needs weight in the back to make it feel "right."

One would think that one's butt would counter the weight in the front, but one would be wrong. I don't know why.

tengu

Nice job! Check out www.rideyourbike.com/cargo.html for more inspiration. Also the pictures menu for lots of cargo. I work here, and we all appreciate the diy cargo bike.
I've got to recommend using the fattest, low pressure tires you can afford. they will save your beer. Buy them individually if you have to. Schwalbe Big Apple or Kojak, Serfas Drifter, Kenda K-Rad are great choices and will act like suspension but better. Drop a line,

sawyer

kevbo

Continental Town & Countrys come in 2.125" width, and are near slicks, just enough tread to be OK on hard dirt or gravel roads. Nice tires, a bit pricy though.

link

They are really much closer to slicks than they look like in the link above.