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Bikes
Become a Shareholder
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Institute Mission
Promote the Teaching and Learning of Metallurgical Arts
Produce Odd Bikes
Have Fun While Engaged in the Above!
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Institute Bike: Cargo Cult
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Cargo Cult and the Institute Board of Directors
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An El-kabong Moment
I was sitting in a parking lot, minding my own business, when a Dutch Bakfiets came sailing by. There were two kids in the cargo bay, a guitar strapped to the back rack and a very happy papa effortlessly peddling the whole rig along.
It was an el-kabong moment. All other bike plans got put on hold. I HAD to have one of these cargo bikes!
There is a bike shop in your town importing these things now, this is our Seattle importer Dutch Bike Co. Seattle.
I chased the bike down, it belongs to Aaron at Aaron’s Bicycle Repair in West Seattle. Borrowed a tape measure, made a few notes and boldly launched forth…
I wanted to start with a solid, tall Mt Bike frame, I didn’t have one in the donation stack so it took a month of haunting Craigslist and $40 bucks. Worth the wait, everything on the bike was in good shape, a real classic, complete with a U-break and “Biopace” crank!
The boom, 1.5 inch mild steel square tubing might have been too light a choice, but I planned to make up with it in stiffening. The keel, 2x1/4 flat stock might have been too heavy, but it’s the only part of the bike forward of the steering tube that shows no wear.
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"How Does it Steer?"
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Desert Testing of Institute Bike "Cargo Cult"
Black Rock City, Nevada. The week of August 27, 2007
Biggest Load: 160 lb. 8 foot long box. Balanced it across the cargo bay, wide but stable.
Meanest Load: A pedestrian's luggage, made him trot along for a mile and a half as his stuff was hauled. 90 degree heat.
Most Popular Load: 21 bags of ice for camp neighbors.
Funniest Load: Female Jedi Warrior during the 1000 Light Saber Battle.
Heaviest Load: Guy who massed 240 lbs. Operator weight, 165. Total weight on bike, 405 lbs. The tires were near flat.
One Load Too Far: 2 female passengers who massed @220 lbs. While underway, metal fatigue that had been building all week lead to failure at un-reinforced part of forward boom. Left a spectacular gouge in desert floor. Passengers and operator unharmed. Prospects for repair, promising...
Side Note: The welds all held. The failure happened right at the end of the reinforcing “keel” under the main boom (I’m making up terms as I go along here).
Test Conclusion
Attempting to establish a "load limit" is a fallacy. When you have a bike with a large capacity, the urge is to keep piling weight and stuff onto the cargo bay, just to see how much crap you can carry. Reinforcement is called for.
Repair Phase
During the testing phase, the boom bent in two places, at both ends of the stiffening keel; right where the steering tube connects with the boom and at the forward end of the keel, where the boom fatigued to the point of failure.
As a fix, I went overboard and slapped enormous slabs of steel to every point that showed stress. I think I added ten pounds to the bike.
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But of course, there is the KING. When it comes to load, ain’t any of us touching this guy!
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November 2007
I rode a Dutch bike today, smooth, lighter, not so wobbley at the start and stop. Incredible breaks and that surprisingly wide range of gears on that internal hub. The only advantage Cargo Cult has is in going uphill. The Dutch bike is so upright, it’s hard to stand to climb. Cargo Cult, based on a good old mt. bike, is built to climb. Welcome to Seattle.
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