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CargoDrive: Replace Your Bike's Front Wheel for E-Bike Cargo Capacity

By Rain Noe - March 30, 2021

in Bikes

The CargoDrive is a retrofittable front wheel for your bicycle that comes with a cargo-carrying platform--and an electric motor for power assist.

As you can see, the diameter of the front wheel is quite small, at 20"; this is done to lower the cargo platform, allowing you to carry more without sacrificing visibility. An adapter between the fork dropouts and the wheel axle makes up for the height difference.

An integrated kickstand can be deployed to hold the bike steady while loading it. The platform, which weighs 30 pounds itself, can hold a further 66 pounds.

The 250-watt motor will provide a top speed of 20 m.p.h., and has a maximum range of 37 miles.

My main concern would be maneuverability; the few times I've ridden a bicycle with a heavy load over the front wheel, I found it quite tricky, particularly in city traffic. However, I'm an amateur/casual cyclist at best, and the more experienced folks in the video below report that it's not an issue:

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The CargoDrive is up on IndieGogo, with buy-in starting at $1,184. At this point they're well short of their target--at press time, they had $2,758 in funding on a $552,563 goal--but there's still 30 days left to pledge.

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Jo Mo

4 years ago

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I just want to say this is one of the best bike related designs/inventions I have seen in a while. I would just point out that the smaller wheel not only allows more room for cargo but equally important, puts the load lower, making riding and standing still way more stable than say a basket or porteur style rack.

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Nicholas Wolff

4 years ago

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Hi John,

You are on the ball. We have tested a wide range of bike and on our prototypes we have an adjustable rake/offset. We will have one setting in the end which will be tending towards slower and more stable handling.

The effect of the battery being positioned behind the steering axis in combination with the motor's centripetal force and the fact that it is pulling, counters a lot of the weight on the rack itself. Once moving the handling is very stable only a little heavier.

Keep on rolling,

HUSKY Bike Tech Team

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John Whitley

4 years ago

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Regarding stability, that tends to be a function of the bike geometry, or specifically the “rake” of the front fork. With proper geometry, a front-loaded bike will handle and steer just fine. For example, this page [https://viventebikes.com/considerations/frames-and-forks/] describes the basics of this geometry with an eye towards the needs of touring cyclists. The key bit:

“Another issue with touring bikes is that they need to steer and behave properly when they have a front load and are going fast on long descents. The slower steering and greater stability of higher trail [greater fork rake] provides this.”

So the design of this cargo platform around its adapter, in combination with the bike’s existing rake/trail geometry, will determine the quality of handling.

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