Last week, John scoped the Sentient Workshop Project Stepping Stone full suspension cargo bike on the Welsh brand’s Instagram. He immediately reached out to Tullen and James to see if they’d send in a write-up on this very unique project. Below you’ll find a special Readers’ Rides, from the minds of two tinkerers with a lot of talent and vision. Let’s check it out!
Sentient Workshop had our favorite Apocalypse Build-Off bike from Bespoked UK
We are proud to distribute OMNIUM cargo bikes in the UK. This has meant we have ended up with a couple of frames from over the years that have sadly been killed by cars.
We stored them, hoping to one day have the means to repair them by simply replacing their mangled rear triangles. Now we’ve got all the gear (and some idea), that time has come.
James is an undiagnosed hoarder and has amassed a huge collection of old frames in a fairly sizeable stash. Filed carefully in the preloved mountain bike section next to his collection of (and this is no exaggeration) 20 Orange frames, was my Dad’s treasured Specialized Pitch Pro frame from 2012 that he very kindly lent to me, probably about 5 years ago. As avid mountain bikers and advocates for the cargo bike lifestyle, we saw before us an opportunity… a brilliant amalgamation of two of our favourite frames.
We’re getting older, and comfort matters to us more now more than ever before. For some time now, we’ve been running suspension forks and seatposts on our cargo bikes, much to the dismay of a dear friend of ours, a purist who firmly believes that a huge part of cycling is the suffering. We believe that if you’re suffering, then you’re doing it all wrong…
There are other pros, too, of course. A relatively high percentage of London’s road surface conditions are comparable to the black runs at your local bike park. The suspension softens the blow of every pothole you hit, which means your cargo takes less of that impact, and while both wheels spend more time in contact with the ground, you have better traction, improving both handling and efficiency.
Front suspension alone is great, but the next step is obvious. You should have rear suspension on your cargo bike. Reise and Muller are already on it with their Load and Packster family cargo bikes- if you’ve ridden one, you’ll know it’s like floating along on a magic carpet while having your buttocks gently massaged by someone with just the right size hands. Who wouldn’t want that level of comfort?
Have we gone too far? Well, maybe the BB is 3cm too high, but other than that, no. We’ve not taken it far enough. We’ve called it PROJECT: STEPPING STONE simply because that’s exactly how we see this far-from-perfect concept. We plan on running with this idea further to create, in our eyes, the ultimate off-road cargo bike.
We believe that, with the addition of an electric motor, it could have a multitude of uses. We dream that it could assist mountain search and rescue or help provide aid in relief efforts where conventional transportation has restricted access due to destruction and debris. We’ll be taking the bike along to Bristol on the 6th of September to the 10th edition of the Disaster Relief Trials.
It’s an event that simulates a day 4 aid effort in the middle of a crisis, using, you guessed it; cargo bikes. You can read more about the event at Pedal Collective.
See you there!
So thats it. Thanks to everyone for all the love and valuable feedback we’ve received so far. You’ll be pleased to know that we are working hard on a MKll that should be with us imminently. Oh and one last thing- Dad, if you’re reading this; I’m sorry mate but I can only return half of your bike.
Build Spec:
- Omnium Mini-Max V1 frame + Specialized Pitch frame + Various Reynolds 525 Tubes
- Sentient Works Mini-Rack & Mini-Mesh
- Sentient Strap & Mini-Anchor
- Fox DHX3.0 shock w/ 450lb Ti spring 125mm rear travel
- Sentient Works 20” fork w/ 65mm Travel
- Hope Pro 2 Evo rear hub in Gold
- Unbranded Carbon 27.5” rim
- Hope Pro 2 front hub in Gold
- DT Swiss U663 20” rim
- Maxxis Ardent 27.5 x 2.25” EXO TR tyre
- Maxxis Minion 20 x 2.40” tyre
- Hope headset in Gold
- Shimano M8100 XT cranks 165mm w/ 30t ring
- Shimano MT801 BB
- Shimano M8130 XT LinkGlide rear mech
- Shimano M8130 XT LinkGlide EV shifter
- Shimano LG700 11:50t LinkGlide Cassette
- Shimano LG500 LinkGlide Chain
- Shimano M820 Saint 4 pot calipers F+R
- Shimano M8100 XT levers
- Hope Standard rotors 180mm rear, 203mm front
- Shimano MT800 EV dropper lever
- KS e20-i 150mm dropper post
- HT PA03A pedals
- Ergon SMC saddle
- Hope XC stem 70mm in Black
- Renthal Fatbar mk2 in Back
- Ergon GA2 Large grips
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!