Comments on: Rans Hammer Truck

By: CARLOS LASANTA SR.

CARLOS LASANTA SR. — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:45:35 +0000

I got my hammertruck in feb. 2011. couldn’t be happier ,right decision .
Yes,it’s a whole long frame ,which makes it stiffer
I switched to marathon plus schwalbes tires , 26×2.
More stable for my daily commute to work ( 7+ miles ,each way)
I don’t keep a car ; just a hammertruck . not a fast bike
But at 62, i’m not about racing or jumping from a cliff
( with all respect and admiration to those in those sports )
A winner bike , truly utilytarian ,strong and very,very
Practical . truly an eye catcher and questions provoking bike .
so,
what if it’s not xtra cycle compatible ? it shines by itself !
Great bike .

Rans hammertruck cargo rating :
Cargo area 250lbs.
Rider area:275lbs.
Total weight rating: 525lbs.

By: Fritz

Fritz — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:01:13 +0000

Sorry about the lack of response from me — been busy — but others have already followed up and they’re correct: not xtracycle compatible.

I plan to post about Xtra’s open source project in a later post — probably well after the show — but I’ve been hanging out with the Xtracycle people and they’re pleased as punch at all of the cargo bike developments no matter if they’re Xtra compatible or not. They have their business, of course, but at heart they’re a bunch of bike nerds who really love all kinds of bikes.

By: Josh M

Josh M — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:24:52 +0000

Interesting… it’s not a xtracycle rack (this is confirmed by an email response I got from Rans), but is inspired by the xtracycle system. Supposed to be higher capacity than Xtracycle… hmm…

That makes this and my dream BD interesting contenders.

I wonder what the frame is capable of holding? With a BD, carrying people is pretty doable…

By: Nanda

Nanda — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:55:57 +0000

I covered some of the Hammer Truck details over on the Crank Forward forums:
http://pub23.bravenet.com/forum/1970022224/show/747855

Regards,
~Nanda Holz
Petaluma CA
925.301.7043
http://www.spincyclz.com
onyourleft@spincyclz.com
…our service revolves around you

By: jj

jj — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:10:40 +0000

I was all set to get some snowboard gear and RANS goes and releases this bike. I’m still looking for more info, for example there isn’t a board for people to sit on etc. I’ve been really impressed with the climbin’ ability of the RANS Crank Forward bikes, but I will definately mess with the handlebar setup a bunch to get the maximum effect. Since there’s no need to stand on the pedals a Crank Forward is the ideal workhorse.

By: Lazy Bike Commuter

Lazy Bike Commuter — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:58:45 +0000

Those DO look an awful lot like Xtracycle parts to me.

If they are, then this could be a serious contender for my next bike, though I’ll have to read up on the crank forward design itself–never ridden one, but it doesn’t LOOK like it would be great for climbing hills–I would love to be proven wrong though.

It is cheaper than the complete Big Dummy that Xtracycle used to have on their site.

By: alec muffett

alec muffett — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:06:31 +0000

Fritz, dude – do you know anything about the specs of the cargo space on the Rans? It looks like an xtracycle, but not quite.

I’m asking because there’s a quiet debate going on about xtracycle having “open-sourced” their spec, I’ve blogged a post with the major links:

http://www.crypticide.com/dropsafe/article/2584

…and whether Rans have gone the homebrew or the xtracycle route is quite interesting, from that perspective, cf: Kona and Trek…