We are getting excited for our upcoming trip to Oregon this weekend. Portland celebrates Pedalpalooza this month and it is packed with cool bike events. Since we are sponsoring the Disaster Relief Trials, we thought it would be a good time to pack up the van and head North.  If you’re in the Portland area, stop by and say hi at one of these events (we’ll have the all-new Boda Boda to try!):

Saturday, June 16th

Kiddical Mass, PDX
1pm-3pm
Arbor Lodge Park

Join Yuba at Kidical Mass, PDX for a fun-filled circus-themed family ride! Put on your bearded lady getup or dust off your bear suit, brush up your juggling or tame a bakfiets of tiny lions. Surprises are in store! Kids must wear helmets. We ride slow enough for little ones; kids must be able to ride in a (reasonably) straight line and start & stop as required. Come ride with us!
Katie Proctor, katie.proctor at gmail daht comm, Kidical Mass PDX, 607-262-0439

Yuba Open House at Joe Bike
4-6pm
Joe Bike
3953 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97214

Want to be the first of your friends to try out the all-new Boda Boda bike? Hightail to Joe Bike on Saturday for an exclusive Northwest preview of the new cargo cruiser from Yuba Bicycles.

World Naked Bike Ride, PDX
8pm-12am
Meet at the empty lot at the corner of SE Water and Salmon streets

The PDX world naked bike ride for 2012 will take place on 16 jun 2012 at 10pm. Begin gathering at 8pm at the start location – the empty lot at the corner of SE Water and Salmon streets. For more info on the ride, check out the Facebook event.

The World Naked Bike Ride is an annual, worldwide bike ride that highlights the vulnerability of cyclists everywhere and decries society’s dependence on pollution-based transport. It’s also a lot of fun and it’s free for all! Portland has the world’s largest ride–with around 10,000 people on the road in 2010 and 4-5 thousand folks in 2009 and 2011–and we are looking to break the record for the world’s largest naked ride again in 2012!

Sunday, June 17th

Disaster Relief Trials
10 am – 6 pm
Velo Cult
1969 NE 42ND AVE
Portland, OR

Opportunity ONE: Family Utility

• Demo a full spectrum of cargo bikes from three shops:
  Clever Cycles, Joe Bike, and Splendid Cycles
• See the new Yuba Boda Boda cargo cruiser
• Learn about disaster preparation for your family and home
• See how you can transport your family without your car, or without using your car quite as much
• Have your questions answered by top cargo bike enthusiasts

Opportunity TWO: City Utility

• 30 riders will navigate 30+ miles, visit 7 checkpoints, and collect 100 lbs of cargo along the way.
• This event will provide a working draft for what a city can do with cargo bikes after a disaster
• Create connections among city organizations both public and private for the public good

Zombie Apocalypse Ride
10:30 am – 1 pm
Velo Cult
1969 NE 42ND AVE
Portland, OR

The Zombie Apocalypse Ride is combining forces with the Disaster Relief Trials. For those that love zombies and disaster preparedness but aren’t planning to race the trials, this ride is for you. This is a fun and social ride. Dress as either a Zombie or a Survivor (self-explanatory). Prizes for best Zombie and Survivor Bike. Easy paced ride with multiple stops where various facets of surviving the post-apocalyptic zombie world will be debated.

Want to be the first to see the Boda Boda in person?

Come celebrate with the team that made the Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser at our glamorous global headquarters on June 27th.

We’ll have food, music, beer, prizes and games to help make the evening special.

WHERE: Yuba Bicycles
2350 Marinship Way SW7
Sausalito, CA 94965, USA
Get directions

WHEN: Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm onwards

Draw to win a FREE bike!

On June 27th, Yuba Bicycles will release a new bike: the Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser. It gets its name from the ubiquitous utility bicycles seen all over the African continent. Boda Bodas get people and products to their destinations day in and day out. They not only carry essentials, but also transport the dreams and ambitions of individuals from their communities to the world at large.

The Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser empowers cyclists for everyday adventures, from trips to the farmer’s market to elegant picnics off the bike trail.  What do you dream of doing by bike?

How to enter
To enter to win a free Yuba Bicycles Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser, simply draw a picture of what you think it will look like. The drawing can be as simple as a scrawl on a bar napkin or as involved as a fully rendered 3D drawing. The person who we deem guesses the most accurately, gets a free bike.

Send completed drawings to kaytea@yubaride.com by noon (pacific time) on June 22, 2012 to enter. The winner will be announced at the Boda Boda launch party on June 27.

The fine print
Contest is limited to people in the continental US. Winner is responsible for shipping costs.

Have you been looking for a way to take more bikes with you? Perhaps you’d rather bike to your cyclocross races to get warmed up? Or maybe you want to take your kid to the park with their bike to gain confidence before having to battle traffic?

Introducing the towing tray, exclusively from Yuba Bicycles. Fitting all v3 and v4 models, the towing tray makes it possible to bring along any bike from a 16″ up to a 29er, with a tire width up to a 2.25″. It is made out of the same material as our Utility decks – recycled milk jugs – and is durable and tough. A side bumper keeps the towed bike from scratching your Mundo. Towing tray kit includes running board with a slot for front tire, adjuster for 20″ or 16″ tires, and bumper.

After installation, to use the towing tray, adjust the support for the size of bike with a screwdriver. Then, use a cam strap to attach the towed bike to the Mundo frame, locking the front tire of the towed bike down to the frame of the Mundo, as shown at right.

Order a Towing Tray

A number of our customers have requested some sort of deck or floor for the Bread Basket. Our hardworking designers are working on producing a floor with some really cool features, but you’ll have to wait for it.

In the meantime, here are some step-by-step instructions so you can make your own Bread Basket floor. In the examples shown at right and below, we used 1/4″ plywood, window screening and heavy mesh, but you could use any number of materials such as coroplast, sheet metal, or leftover plastic election signs. You will also need sixteen zip ties.

1.  Put your Bread Basket on top of your material, and mark the inside of the bread basket on the material.
2. Using whatever cutting tool is appropriate for your material, cut along the line you just marked (using eye protection if necessary). Make sure it fits inside the basket.
3. Take the basket floor piece out of the basket and put holes in each corner, four more on the long sides, and two more on the short sides. (Please note: stiffer materials such as the plywood shown in the example do not require as many holes and zip ties as softer materials).
4. Use zip ties to attach the basket floor to the Bread Basket.
5. Et voilà! (It’s always classy to use French to express your admiration of your own handiwork).

And for those of you who were wondering how to route the brake cables when installing the Bread Basket, here’s a quick video showing what it should look like:

If you have been wondering how to route the brake cables when installing a Bread Basket, this video’s for you.

Recently, many of our customers have been asking how the Peanut Shell compares to other bicycle child seat options, such as the Yepp Maxi.

Safety
Upon inspecting both child seat options, it was clear that the designers were focused on the child’s safety. Both seats fit children up to 48 lbs (22kg) and featured a five point harness system to secure the wee one to the bike, as well as foot straps to hold the child’s feet in.  In my opinion as a Dad  I like that the Peanut Shell is a much safer seat. The following are the reasons why I consider the Peanut Shell a safer and more comfortable seat for the little ones:
• More of a protective shell. Which means more head support when the child falls asleep (the head stays up-right). And very importantly complete shoulder protection. If the bike were to tip over the child is much more protected in the Peanut Shell.
• The cross-bar, kids like holding on to it and it is also an added safety feature.
• More padding in the seat.
• A lower of center of gravity, which means riding the bike is easier and safer.

Installation
The manufacturers of both child seats claim they are a breeze to install. Watching the installation videos for each seat, neither seems particularly daunting, but the Yepp install does seem like it would require a bit more dexterity.

Ease of Use
The Yepp Maxi has a neat feature where with the press of a button the seat can be removed, leaving behind the mounting clamp. Apparently it is designed this way to facilitate swapping the seat between bikes. I understand that it can be easy to remove from the structure, but then what can one carry on the metal structure when the seat is removed. Passengers can’t seat on top of the rack nor it is really possible to carry cargo.

The Peanut Shell requires about one minute of time and a 10mm torque wrench to completely remove it from the bike. There is no mounting plate or bracket left behind, meaning the entire utility deck is left clear for other cargo or passengers. It takes only about two minutes to reinstall. With practice and the right tool it is extremely easy.

Quick comparison

Lindsey of the You Ain’t Got Jack blog is a pretty crafty lady. She has figured out how to provide sun, wind, rain, snow and sleet protection to a child sitting in a Peanut Shell. The coolest part about it, is that the sun shield snaps off and snaps right onto a foldable stroller. The best part about it, is that the whole solution costs less that $20!

Here is the link to her instructions.

Many Yuba riding parents have been asking us for an accessory that helps smaller “Big Kids” keep their balance while riding on the back of the Mundo. We brought this problem to our engineers, and they came up with this simple, effective solution.

Meet the Leg Up

The Leg Up accessory is part of the group of accessories that bridge the gap between when the child rides in a Peanut Shell and when their legs are long enough to reach the Side Loaders.

Together with the Hold On Bar, the Leg Up enables youngsters to support their own weight and hold on to the bike for themselves. The Leg Up pegs also allow smaller children to climb up onto the bike without adult assistance. Combine these two accessories with a Soft Spot seat, and the child ends up with their own cockpit just like Mommy’s (or Daddy’s) up front.

The Leg Up can be installed in minutes on all v4 Mundo’s and elMundo’s, using just a size 5 Allen key. It can be used with Wheelskirts and Go-Getter bags.

Manufactured in Berkeley, California.