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Turn Any Bike Into A Cargo Bike – The Easy Way

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NOOMAD 3 Wheeler Cargo System Life Style 4

The NOOMAD advanced riding system turns any bike into a cargo bike with a few simple steps.  At anywhere from 400-800 Euro (~ $500-1000-USD), the new front end isn’t cheap, but it does include everything you need to hit the streets.

The system consists of two hydraulic disc brakes, operated by one handlebar mounted lever, and wheels and rubber in whatever size you require. Everything is mounted to a backplate which attaches to your existing fork via the v-brake post mounts or additional brackets. Weight is roughly 3.5 kg but varies for each model. Ride a recumbent? These crafty spaniards still have you covered.

The best thing is, the wheels tilt as you turn, for better handling. This setup is marketed towards people who could use the extra stability three wheels offer or just want to turn their townie into something a little more unusual and versatile.

Pictures after the break….NOOMAD Advanced systems back plate

 

Both disc brakes lines are routed neatly behind the backplate and are modulated via a single lever. NOOMAD 3 Wheeler Cargo System Life Style

NOOMAD 3 Wheeler Cargo System Life Style 2

NOOMAD 3 Wheeler Cargo System Life Style 3The backplate allows you to attach anything your imagination can think of – from panniers to child seats.

NOOMAD 3 Wheeler Cargo System Life Style 5The company also offers tandems, recumbants, and aero bikes (complete with “time trial” little wheels), with the NOOMAD Advanced Riding System cargo front end thing stock.

For more visit NOOMAD

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23 Comments
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MB
MB
10 years ago

They have also found the solution to clearing spiderwebs from early morning trail rides… just put a kid in front with a stick…

Emily
Emily
10 years ago

Thinking this might make a viable option for my non-riding hubster. He’s not great at balance. Any word on increased stability? Ie, trike like?

Engineer
Engineer
10 years ago

Oh wow I feel sorry for that kid, I see this as a disaster. Also good luck making any sort of a turn. Turning on bikes is’t so much steering wheel as it is leaning. Kinda hard when you have 2 front wheels.

uglyyeti
uglyyeti
10 years ago

That would be a cargo trike, not a cargo bike. Kinda like it though. I need that on the front of my Xtracycle conversion – can’t lift the front end on that thing anyway.

JasonK
JasonK
10 years ago

Those disk-braked wheels are laced with radial spokes on both sides; that’s a really bad idea. The spoke heads will shift slightly in the flanges with each brake application. This causes fretting (rubbing wear) that will eventually de-tension the wheels and lead to broken spokes.

Yikes!

JOEP
JOEP
10 years ago

@Engineer its actually designed to lean, look at the second picture. Watch the video.

Great idea. Well thought out.

Chris
Chris
10 years ago

@ Engineer:
Not much of an engineer, are you? There are motor scooters that use the same front two wheel arrangement and they maneuver just fine.

alfa 115
alfa 115
10 years ago

I don’t see a lot of good things happening carrying your kid like that. I cringed when they turned
right by that car at about the 3 min mark.

John
John
10 years ago

It looks like if you hit a pothole or ran a tire off the pavement on one side it would torque the bars out of your hands. A bit like riding one handed: worse, because your mass is not in line with the wheel, but with half the weight per wheel, maybe not so bad.

The radial spokes have no ability to resist torque until the hub winds up. It is like pulling on a clothes line; it generates incredible pulling forces on the spokes. Good way to have a wheel explode at the worst possible moment.

Fytze
Fytze
10 years ago

Cool that they got it to production, but I agree with John: Torque steer will really affect the pleasure of cycling with this thing. You will have to firmly hold the handlebars in case one of the front wheels hits something. If you bumped both wheels at the same time against a curb it will be ok, but with only one wheel hitting a bump.

arm-chair-engineer:
The key would have been to engineer the steering mechanism in a way that the point where the tire is on the ground is in line with axis of the steering. That way you eliminate ‘bump-steer’ and potholes would not affect the handling. This type of steering geometry you can find it in the better recumbent tricycles. But that would have been a much more expensive solution then what they did here. So that is the compromise they made.

@Chris: So no, this mechanism is not comparable to those motor tricycles like the Piaggio MP3. Those have much more complex steering geometry for eliminating the bump-steer.

Ryan
Ryan
10 years ago

@MB

Yes! Finally a solution to my biggest problem! Genius!

CMSF
CMSF
10 years ago

Well this definitely wont work for my chimpanzee Henryetta, her arms are just too long and I cringe thinking about her fingers and those soon-to-explode spokes. I guess I’ll just continue to suffer her back slapping antics which she inflicts from the perch of her standard rear-rack child seat. Her helmet is just adorable though.

eadm
10 years ago

I don’t want to discourage innovation, but could buy a nice set of panniers and a rack and still have enough left over for a bike. Could hold the same amount as well, corner better, hop on/off curbs…

ccolagio
ccolagio
10 years ago

from one engineer to another “engineer”: @engineer – you must be an EE b/c you certainty have no credibility with any sort of mechanics

Out for a Ride
Out for a Ride
10 years ago

@Engineer. You would be correct if the front wheel hubs were fixed to the axle. But the front linkage is designed so that when turning (leaning) the wheels also lean with the bike. Look at pictures 2 and 4.

Chunky
Chunky
10 years ago

There always has to be one arm-chair-engineer 🙂

arm-chair-Engineer
arm-chair-Engineer
10 years ago

@ chris

You are completely wrong, the motor scooters allow for further side to side motion and have the ability to move up and down quite a bit with the shocks, so when they are in a turn the shock compresses and keeps both wheels on the ground. I don’t see independent suspension here.

Just because I didn’t back up what I say doesn’t mean I dont’ have my reasons. I just expressed my simple opinion without going into detail about it.

My name is not engineer to be cocky and think I have the best ideas, it relates to a completely unrelated post that was the first post I made and kept it the same….. I like the arm-chair-engineer though 😉

Chris
Chris
10 years ago

@Fytze:
@Chris: So no, this mechanism is not comparable to those motor tricycles like the Piaggio MP3. Those have much more complex steering geometry for eliminating the bump-steer.

Well aware of that, having driven a Piaggio. My point is to counter the first post that two wheels in front hinders maneuverability. Agree that bump steer could in theory be a problem though probably not a big one. Doubt people would be riding very fast with these things. I’ve also ridden other two in front trikes and not had problems.

Personally, I think it’s clever but impractical. Much as I like cargo bikes, bakfiets, Xtracycles etc. I’ve yet to find one that was better than simply hitching a trailer to my bike. The trailer also has several key bonuses:
1) I can remove it quickly so I’m not schlepping an extra 10-30 pounds everywhere I go.
2) Way less expensive
3) Lower maintenance
4) Covered cargo space – an important consideration when hauling kids in Seattle!

I’m sure there are some niche applications where cargo bikes excel but they seem to be very niche circumstances.

Engineer
Engineer
10 years ago

There is a tiny bit of lean to this system at best. If they made it so it could lean, it would not go straight. So they put it in-between so you can lean a little, but the wheels wont flop over, but you can see in the video its hard to go straight without wobbling from side to side. The lean will only work if it has a suspension system that will pull it back to upright and only allow leaning in corners when forces are applied. This is how trike motorcycles work. They would also not work without suspension to keep all three wheels on the ground in a turn. They have independent suspension which is obviously not the case, that is what I saw wrong with this.

Just cause I blurt out an opinion doesn’t mean I have to give a long detailed explanation of why it is, my name as “engineer” has nothing to do with this post or to mislead that I am smarter or cockier than the rest, it was picked for the first comment I made, and I stuck to it.

– The arm-chair engineer 😉

Out for a Ride
Out for a Ride
10 years ago

@Engineer. Good points, and I stand corrected in my analysis not accounting for some spring force to bring the wheels back upright as well as bumpsteer. This statement that you made – “Turning on bikes is’t so much steering wheel as it is leaning. Kinda hard when you have 2 front wheels.” – is also incorrect, which is why the rebuts came. Turning on a bike with two front wheels can be done, although perhaps not implemented correctly in this case. When on the internet, all we have to go off is is your opinion that is blurted out, so you absolutely have to back it up should you want to be taken seriously (if then). I’d rather people be highly critical, rather than just believe the most recent thing they read.

In any case, I imagine the bike would be best ridden to see how hard it actually is to turn.

John
John
10 years ago

The front wheels appear to be on a pivoted parallelogram, which means the wheels are always parallel to the bike and the bike is free to lean without resistance, which also means it won’t hold you upright. Otherwise the turning axis would tilt the bike to the outside of the turn.

Note how in the video the riders behave exactly like with a two wheeler, wobbling on start, putting a foot down when stopping. I have seen other narrow track upright trike designs that do hold you up and allow lean. Can’t hazard a guess how they work, but they are much more complex.

jimmythefly
jimmythefly
10 years ago

This is almost a perfect storm of badness:

Compared to a normal touring bike that setup has:
Less pannier capacity than regular front low riders.
Smaller front wheels to fall into potholes deeper.
Tricycle config so now you have three lines to watch if you want to avoid running over an object in the road.
More bulk to fit into the back of a car.
Will not work with bus racks or most roof racks.
More awkward to carry up stairs.
Leans in turns -so not actually much more stable than a normal bicycle.
Two different spare tube sizes to carry.

If you really want a small cargo bike, a cycletruck or cycletruck conversion makes much more sense. They can carry much larger loads, including large boxy objects, and are close to as small and maneuverable as a normal bicycle, both on road and inside buildings.

@ Chris, you should try one if you get a chance.

DeeEight
DeeEight
10 years ago

Regarding the lacing… the flange carrying the rotor loads, the inside one has cross-laced spokes. The outer flange is radial laced. Perfectly fine way to do it, many MTB disc wheelsets use mixed lacing setups like that for the front wheels. They’re also very short spokes compared to regular wheels and the braking duties are handled by both front wheels so the torque loads are spread out between them.

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