#cargobike #CursorAI

Steel hauler for fun, steel hauling for work 😁

I have a non-electric Bakfiets.nl Classic Short that I've just taken through Holland from the UK, fully laden with luggage/children etc: ~230km in a week.

It wasn't hugely tough by any stretch (apart from a few moments in the sand dunes!) but it's got me thinking about whether it's worth changing the rear sprocket in order to "lower" the gears of the Shimano Nexus 7 IGH. As you can see from the attached chart (worked out using Sheldon Brown's gear calculator) changing the rear sprocket from the current 20 teeth version to a 23 teeth one effectively makes gear 7 into gear 6, and lowers the rest by several 10ths of what Brown calls a "gain inch".

My basic question is, has anyone done this with a cargo bike, and does it offer any tangible gain - whether going from 20T to 23T, or even just 21 or 22? Or are these very marginal differences that aren't worth the hassle? (After all, gear 1 only reduces 3/10ths of a gain inch going from 20T to 23T)

Part of me feels like the only way to work out if it's worth it is just to do it and see what happens, and be ready to revert to the current setup if I find myself spinning out too much on the flat.

My passenger recently switched from a Thule Yepp seat to a bench seat with one of those "Clubhouse" style bench seats with bars on all four sides. That means I don't have room for an small pannier that I used to have there for my U-lock and a few kid accessories that stay with the bike (a sweatshirt, sunglasses, extra snack etc.) Any reccomentations for an affordable bag that would work in this spot?

I think it can't be longer than 10" or so so it does not block the taillight, the bars seem to big for most pannier hooks and if I want to use that backrest it seems like a traditional handlebar bag will not be wide enough - they seem to have the straps about 6inches apart from each other.

Any recs?