The Cargo Bikepacker

I moved to Wales last year (Yes, I know it's a stupid commute, but I have my reasons), and I took my Omnium with me of course! But after about 6 months and 6 goes around "The Gap" ride in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, my rear mudguard started to rattle loose and crack up, there were some sketchy bangs every now and then, and I kept getting front punctures.

It was fun, but I was torturing the bike, which isn't at all fair when it's been working so hard for me for years.

So, I thought, who makes a 20" suspension fork with a thru axle, straight steerer, and isn't terrifyingly cheap. and can it be fitted to an Omnium without jacking up the front too much?

Well, I found one on AliExpress that has 32mm stanchions and an air spring, and it's everything I wanted it to be! I then fitted it to my electric cargo, and built this Mini-Max to show everyone else how sweet the result was.

There was a small amount of troubleshooting to make sure that 1) the steering linkage worked properly with the new fork, and 2) figuring out how to cut the threads on the 1 1/8" steerer tube.

1. It was simple enough to bolt a longer arm to the steerer tube so the steerer arm was parallel with the main tube, and bingo!
2. We used a small length of steel 1 1/8" threaded steerer, and a expanding 70mm bung to hold it in place, which acted as a guide for the thread cutting die. It worked a treat! (Thanks _Tullen for the idea).

Then I took an old stock v2 frame that no-one had bought for some reason, and made a few alterations to our standard build, and here it is!

1. 800mm Wide Handlebar. YUP
2. Dropper seatpost. YUP
3. Wide gearing 32t chainring, 11:46t cassette. YUP
4. Maxxis Tyres! Ardent 29 x 2.25" rear, Minion DHF front 20 x 2.40" YUPPP!!

As you would imagine, it is a tame beast, and deserves to be taken on some unconventional adventures. Not just for the fun you will have riding it, but also to see the look on the faces of strangers as as you pass them by.

Trust me. It would be glorious!

If you want you can buy it from us for the low low price of £3,050.

OR if you want us to build something along these lines that is bespoke to you, your requirements, and your budget, then we have the skills, the knowledge, and the enthusiasm that makes it easy (more or less).

Just get in touch with me via email (james@paradisecycles.co.uk), and we can talk about it.