CETMA Cargo Bike Upgrades…

Jacking up the CETMA to install a rear fender...

My CETMA cargo rig needed some fenders. I had a set of Planet Bike Cascadia ATB fenders that were not being used. The rear went on with no issue. These fenders are ~60mm wide with loads of room for a 26″ x 50mm Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. The fenders didn’t fit the outline of the tire well, but they bent easily to get a reasonable fit. I won’t be using this bike for a ton of rain riding so fender perfection isn’t important here.

I also added a Brook B17 saddle as I stole the Selle Anatomica Titanico for my rando bike. I don’t need 15hrs+ saddle comfort on a cargo bike. I’ll probably replace this Brooks with a decent plastic saddle by the summer as even the Brooks is overkill for the length of rides I’ll be doing.

Rohloff off!

I took the opportunity to wipe the old girl down and adjust the brakes. I’ve got a front disc brake wheel and Shimano SLX caliper/lever I’ll put on soon. I’ve decided not to bother with a disc on the rear.

Not perfection, but good enough!

The back end of the CETMA is pretty standard so you don’t need anything unusual to get a fender mounted.

Coroplast DIY attempt...

The front of the CETMA Cargo Bike is not standard at all and needs a customized approach. With a Schwalbe Big Apple 20 x 2.35″ tire on there clearances are tight. I figured a DIY coroplast fender in memories of Kent Peterson style might do the trick.

Amazing what you can do with zipties and electrical tape...=-)

My DIY project wasn’t very satisfactory and rubbed on both the tire and the steering stop so I scrapped it.

Power tool upgrade!

For the last 3 or 4 years I’ve been using a battery powered dremel rotary tool to do jobs like cutting off excess metal fenders. It was a pain since the low capacity battery would barely make it through a single fender strut and a recharge was 60mins. That made a simple fender install an all day procedure. So I finally coughed up $20 and got a plug in version. Had I known they were that cheap I would have done so much earlier! It was nice to cut 4 fender struts in under 6mins…=-)

Beggars can't be choosers...

My next move was to try the front PB 26″ fender on the CETMA. It works – sort of. Looks a bit fugly, but at this point I don’t have a better option at hand. I hope Lane at CETMA scopes out a fender for the front end of these that will work with a 2.0″ and/or 2.35″ Big Apple plus disc brakes. It’s one part that is specialized that every owner could use.

Ok for now...

I’m going to live with this for now. I’d have to refit it with a disc caliper so I’ll come up with a better plan by that time.

Time for a test ride...

My GF’s mother is in town so I loaded her up for a ride to Swan Lake for a short hike. We are calling the CETMA the Fox Box to make it sound more appealing to my lady passengers. I gave her the option of the CETMA or the Big Dummy and she said Fox Box all the way…=-)

Hike it up!

The visit to Swan Lake was a success. It’s quite nice there. I think I’ll pack a lunch on less busy days and bike over when summer comes.

Maybe it should be called Duck Lake?

We didn’t see any Swans!

Bikes taking a rest...

Biking to a hike is much more fun than driving.

I wore my high visibility gray bike gear...

Riding with an adult passenger is no problem on the CETMA. The frame is plenty strong and the Rohloff provides a wide range of easily accessed gears.

Cruising back home on the MUP...