V3 Build

Time to get down to work. The aim here is to build up this frame with parts from another bike that my better half finds too tall, and bits from my parts bin.

A better shot of the (frame turned upsidedown) gusset on the downtube. All the tubes are different ftom V2 and the frame seems lighter. The welding is nothing to write home about, much like the V2, lets say functional rather than pretty. The paint job seems (could be the colour) thiner in places than my V2, with perhaps less lacquer. Still cool though.

Bought this back from Shanghai 2 years ago, all the bikes there have this, and it has sat in the parts bin ever since. I wouldn't leave my bike out of sight with this as you can still drag the bike away and shove it into a van. But sometimes when you stop at a café or for a rest etc, it is a pain to lock up your bike. With this I can sip my coffee and leave it insight on its stand without having to keep a constant eye on it. I have a second one for my V2 Yuba too.

Here you can see the alu spacer that takes the frame dropout from the Yuba Mundo 14mm to the standard 10 or 9mm (can't remember) size for a wheel axel. I see this being the weakest point in this "lite" (read cheap) setup. As the bicycle wheel is one of the strongest structures known to man I don't see the wheel folding. Now the two girls are mobile, I doubt that Mrs Yuba is going to load enough to bust this anyway, especially with two Yuba Mundos to spread the load on outings. This standard MTB wheel has seen serious abuse pulling overloaded trailors and packed racks, children on child seats, sometimes all at the same time. If the axle bends I will look at another solution. This will be an interesting test in a family use context, afterall Mrs Yuba won't be hauling sacks of grain in the bush, or three kids for 40km like me.
Also dropping the wheel into the drop outs was easy, no grunting or effort involved. That is a big change from the V2 which was agricultural to say the least. For that I had to put one foot pushing on a chainstay and pull on the other with a hand whilst trying to waggle in the axle...
Have not tried fitting the dreaded H bars as yet !

Sans headset.

First problem. The Rock Shox Tora fork in the parts bin has been cut too short, which is a shame because they look seriously tough. The headtube on the Yuba is quite long, and even without a headset fitted there is just not enough space to fit a aheadset stem. ( I will have to check that the Yuba Mundo can take a aheadset too, or if I am limited to threaded setups only.) So this bit of parts recycling isn't going to happen... will have to look at other fork solutions.

Orange

The fork is also quite laid back due to their length, changing the headtube angle, so that might change the great Yuba stearing. Also it puts a slope off the back of the flatbed, although with rider sag it might all pan out flat.

Ran out of build time, end of part one.