One can carry stuff without a cargo bike as well. Not as well and not as much than with a cargo bike, but it is possible. Especially if we put some mind into it.
One way is creating a space where load can be placed. In the US bikes many times come without basic accessories like fenders and a bike rack. So having a bike rack over the back wheel is helpful. Panniers on it may also be helpful. But what if you already have them, and you want more?
Another logical place is over the front wheel. It doesn’t extend the length of the bike, and it doesn’t interfere there with pumping legs or hands holding the handlebar. And it places load on the wheel, where there is less load: may make the weight distribution more even between the two wheels. Plus, it can look interesting and unique as they are a lot less frequent.
However, because of the location, some things come into play, which doesn’t tend to matter elsewhere.
The most important consideration is where the rack or basket is mounted. Most baskets are mounted on the front side of the handle bar, and most racks are mounted on the forks/crown of the front wheel. Both of these cases have a few major problems: they make the bike harder to steer – since the load turns with the handle bar or the front wheel forks, every turning action will make the load move sideways: instead of a light wheel, we are now turning a heavy load along. Another problem comes to light when you put the bike on the kickstand: the front wheel area will be unbalanced so the handle bar along with the wheel will turn sharp to one side, and will pull the bike towards that side strong enough so bike and basket both fall over. If the basket or rack heavy enough, or your kickstand doesn’t provide enough support, this may happen with an unloaded rack, that renders the kickstand totally useless or even straight harmful.
There are some clever design solutions to make the front area of a bike with a front basket more stable. One, which I like is shown here. See that little spring, that connects the frame with the rear end of the fork crown? That way the more the front wheel is turned, the more the spring pulls it back to the straight, neutral position. I like this even on bikes, that don’t have anything on the front – I sometimes use the handle bar to carry things, and the spring, if it is present, will make the bike more stable when the kickstand is used.
Another fastening method is to mount the basket or rack right to the frame. It is design-wise a bit harder to do, as on most bikes there is not that much space. However the difference is humongous: no wheel turning, no bikes falling over, no hard steering.
The Bread Basket on my Yuba Mundo is like that, and I love it. Not only the bike doesn’t fall over, but there is a well balanced feeling to the whole bike. A much less serious side effect to this mounting is that all the basket or rack will have to be over the wheel, otherwise the turning of the wheel would interfere with the basket. This makes the point of gravity higher. But with a two-legged kickstand, that holds the bike vertical that will not matter much.
The best test of the pie is to eat it. So try it out! You can order frame mounting front cargo area from… um only Yuba?
