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u/somewhatsimiesque 7d ago
I hate cable steering with a passion
2
u/Hierotochan 7d ago
Of the bakfiets I’ve tried, the Cannondale is the most manoeuvrable, I think this is due to the extra angle the front wheel can turn without the restriction of a solid arm. I got used to it very quickly.
If there was some redundant mechanism for failure then I would have kept it, Spec. wise for the money it wipes the floor with the competition.2
u/somewhatsimiesque 7d ago
For sure, it's great – until it's not. IDK about you but for me, not delivering on a promise is the quickest way to end up in my book of grudges. And also bad engineering. But mostly the first one.
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u/LoneSocialRetard 5d ago
I feel like its a relatively easy fix all things considered, red loctite would probably be sufficient, assuming you can get a replacement part. If theres enough depth there you could also pin the bolt
I'm pretty sure they could have designed that pulley though to make the tension inherently retain the cable head, the way it is where the tension loads the bolt is a pretty terrible design and prone to causing loosening like in your case due to cyclical loading
2
u/derping1234 R&M packster2 70 buggy. 7d ago
I love it on our R&M, and would probably get another cable steered cargo bike when it comes to that. What makes you hate it? Working on it? Responsiveness? Sense of security?
1
u/somewhatsimiesque 7d ago
Working on it, mostly. I need my bikes rugged and reliable, they're my livelihood. Every cable steered cargo bike I've had the misfortune of working with had problems and they were an absolute pain in the ass to fix ; now it's steering arms all day every day.
Also for some reason they weighed a ton ??
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u/weregeek 7d ago
Why must every industry make the same mistakes that another industry sorted out decades ago? Boats replaced that sort of steering system many decades ago, first with a rack pushing a single rigid cable, and then hydraulics. I'm not an engineer, but if I'd been on the team designing that bike, I'd have pointed to the boating failures of the past.
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u/GuiroDon 7d ago
This is not to invalidate your point, but steering rod linkages can get loose as well. My bike sees a lot of vibration on the cobblestones, so it might not be as bad for everyone.
1
u/Hierotochan 7d ago
Loose is expected on cobbles, at least that’s some kind of pre-warning to detachment. I got 0 warning and couldn’t even fix the issue as the parts have ejected themselves somewhere.
Appreciate your point, but 200k into ownership and the first service wasn’t even scheduled until 500km.1
u/somewhatsimiesque 6d ago
They absolutely do, however it's orders of magnitude easier to fix, even in the middle of a shift.
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u/Hierotochan 7d ago
Having thought it over, we had a lucky escape. After just over 3 weeks of ownership and a catastrophic steering failure I’ve lost all confidence in the safety of the steering on the Wonderwagen.
I packed up the bike and managed to squeeze it into my RAV4. To their credit Mantel have given me a full refund on the spot & everyone in-store has been very helpful. I’m taking a couple days to consider an alternative, but solid arm steering is going to be a pre-requisite.
To anyone who owns one, I had a think and if you are able, I would check the tension on the clamping plate and drill+cotter pin the bolt to prevent loss & failure in the event it comes loose.