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The Yuba Mundo Thread

195K views 376 replies 72 participants last post by  derekageorge 
#1 · (Edited)
Yuba Mundo is now a fully established cargo bike with many owners worldwide. Let's share our experience from riding her, loading her and upgrading her. Here is mine with a fixie in a tow, with a 1940 vintage S&K velocipede, parked at home next to a coat rack, and a detail of her winter shoe. Mine is stock V3 with a front rack, Avid bb5 upgrade and few small things to make the ride for my kids more comfortable. Post pictures of yours, show us the improvements you made on her...
 

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#2 ·
My Yuba Mundo v4.0



250 pound passenger, dirt road, passenger movement steers bike... not a good experience for me. 140 pound passenger, dirt road, passenger movement effects bike... this is near maximum comfortable live load. 40 pound passenger, basically no effect on handling or me.

Mundo is used for hauling and recreational riding, 140 pound passenger (grandson) wants one of his own. From a bulk standpoint, two large square bales of hay is a maximum load (for me) and the weight is a 130 ~ 140 pounds.. (This is a maximum load that I can transport a useful distance.)
 
#13 · (Edited)
A front rack - a "bread platform" becomes very useful when one carries two kids on the rear rack and needs to pick up a bulky item in the store on the way home. It is easy to attach - just two brackets with 4 screws.
Dude, I would totaly plug those braze-on holes in that cold looking place in the pics. I would take a sharp pencil and jam it into the holes and then snap it off so the tip stays in there and prevents rust.:skep: Kidding, I would put some anti seize on some hardware and seal it up. I dont know if the braze-ons are open to the inside of the frame but that would suck if the uncoated inside of the frame started to rust from the inside out. Or someone could have a small flexible tube full of lead bird shot and fill your frame when you were not looking!:eek: Nice bike, and totaly dig the front rack.
 
#12 · (Edited)
OK Then! Now I can post pics!

I replaced my 29er w/BOB trailer with a Mundo. The Mundo goes anywhere the old bike did. The Mundo takes "hike-a-bike" to a new level with the rear handlebars to grab hold of. Shown here with about 80lb of camping gear, and a custom four water bottle capacity bar bag system. I run downhill tires with slime because everything has thorns where I live. I did have Hookworms front and back but the wire bead broke on the front tire and it would dismount itself from the rim on occasion, something I'm glad didn't happen while I was bombing down some hill! Anyway I threw a $5 almost bald Kenda Nevegal 2.35 on the front and it grabs the ground a little better than the Hookworm but offers slightly less floatation at low psi. Pretty happy with the combo actualy. I want one of those front racks, just not sure if I want the black one that clamps to head tube or the new one that bolts to the braze-ons. The black one looks more solid to me. I'd also really like to rebuid my bike with a pugsley fork up front and Endomorphs or Black Floyds (fat tires, for those who dont know check out the fatbikes forum) A fat tired Mundo would be the ultimate go anywhere do anything bike. I think you would have to run an internal gear hub because of chain rub. If anyone has done this I'd love to see pics. Also, For anyone who wants to tow a bob trailer, The main tubes at the very back of the bike have an I.D. of 7/8in. so you can put quill stems in them and possibly rig up a spot to put a BOB skewer.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I, too, ended up with 2.35 downhill tires with slime. For that I played with the chain line a bit. I put a 2 mm washer under the right BB cup and under the freewheel. Still at a small-front large-rear combination, the chain sometimes rubs. I measured other possibilities such as a wider BB spindle or a 6 cog freewheel at the back, but you would not get a chain line for a tire much bigger than 2.3-2,5" at the back. The reason you can get a better chain line with regular bikes is that a tire is right behind the BB, therefore you use the entire space behind it. On Yuba the tire is actually halfway between the BB and the rear axle, therefore on the largest cog on the freewheel you always get the chain closer to the tire. Conclusion: for anything larger, like say 2.5 - 3" you must use an internal gear hub. Then it becomes a matter of strength. I am afraid that 440#-plus-a-rider weight is too much for the hubs on the market. Nu Vinci hub may be capable of that. Tried one on a tandem and works just fine.
 

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#15 ·
Igh

I have heard good things about the Sram P5 Cargo hub. Yeah the 2.5 Hookworm hits the chain in the lowest gear but I am in that gear so seldom that for me its not worth worrying about, and the friction/outcome is so minimal that it doesn't matter for me anyway. Whats that thing sticking out in front of your front rotor? Some kind of guard? Has anyone ever unloaded their bike to get through a tuff spot, like a crazy rocky hill and then went back to carry their cargo up to the top? Or maybe across a deep wash? Carrying a Yuba Mundo up hiking trails is realy good exersise and will make you feel "hardcore" or sometimes crazy.:eek:ut:
 
#16 · (Edited)
It is a Reelight (Shop) - a LED light with a friction free electricity generator. You just attach a pair of magnets on wheel spokes and enough electricity is generated to run a LED light. A small condenser (capacitor) stores small amounts of energy and decharges during stops keeping the light on for several minutes after stopping the bike. Unlike hub dynamo or BB dynamo or tire dynamo there is no contact point. You only have to overcome the force of magnetic field that is negligible compared to air resistance, rolling resistance or bearing friction. No batteries, no upkeep. Always on.
 

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#20 ·
Mr SW...you're right about the Big Dummy being a faster bike, but for the money you really can't beat the Yuba line of bikes. Plus they are doing great things in Africa with them.... the company gives them away to locals, who use them to start-up a delivery business. The following is some information on one the Africa projects, that's on-going....

Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim Bicycle Bicycle tire

Mundos going to Tanzania -
 
#21 · (Edited)
Wrap around deck

So check this out. I think I am going to replace my side loader boards with one big wrap around board of a little thicker wood. (I think my current boards are 3/8 inch) Then I can attach one of those fork mounts that people put in the back of their truck to the deck for a towing attachment! Also, if the pugsley 135mm adapter is used I can tow my bob trailer. Plus that extra deck space could be useful. If someone is sitting backwards on the rack they can rest their feet or the board. Like I said though, the board will have to be pretty stout. Also a little caution will have to be exercised so that not too much weight is behind the axle, so loading up the bob trailer with a lot of weight will be ify. Usualy the bob trailer puts its weight right over the axle but now the yuba will be taking some tounge weight. Maybe if my wife does not task me over the holiday break I can sneak out to my garage and work on it. Will post pics when its done. Here are my artistic renderings The last one I took from google images and adjusted, so I give the photographer credit whoever they are:



 
#22 ·
This is a very interesting idea. Just watch out for the curb! One reason why Yuba is designed this way is, that the separation of side loaders at the back of the bike prevents you from getting stuck when you ride down a step, be it a curb or a natural step on a stony trail. I am really interested in your experience with this design.
 
#24 ·
Oh,yeah, that could be an issue.......



I see your point. I think I try to avoid curbs for the most part but when I do go off one I use my brakes so the rear tire goes off in slow-mo and does not slam down. That is when it would totally get hung up. On the other hand if you let the wrap around rest on the curb it would be parked there solid as heck so you could load the bike up. Might actualy be a good urban bike thing for that very reason. Would probably be just as stable or more stable than the stand alone. It would be a good way to stabilize your bike when kids are climbing up on it.
Now I'm starting to get board here at work and am doing this with paint:

I guess you could just cut a slot in a 4x8 sheet of plywood and slap that on too!!!!!!!!!!
 
#23 ·
Oh yeah, and check this out!

If you are pulling a bike with the new "wrap around deck" and towing attachment, someone could conceivably be pedaling that bike thereby making it a trail-a-bike! Here is another crude drawing. So if you had a ton of cargo and didnt think you could make it up a hill on your route you could just recruit a buddy to be a "pusher." Or how about adding another Yuba on the back! If you add a front rack and load it down with rocks you will be able to put more tounge weight on the deck hitch.:eek:ut:
 
#26 ·
OK, I've got a Wrap Around now !!!!

I had nothing to do today but eat food, drink coffee, and mess around in my garage so I built the Wrap Around. Its got so much deck space its unbelievable. I just need to get one of those fork mounts for the trail-a-bike. I'm going to drill a few smaller holes for tie downs and I still need to get some longer hardware to bolt it down. Its pretty thick wood and it feels super heavy duty. I cant wait to haul some loads with it.










 
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