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Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike? Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike?
15.42kg Bullitt custom cargo bike

Is this the world’s lightest cargo bike?

Custom machined aluminium, carbon-fibre frame and some trick components make the Bullitt a very light cargo bike
by David Arthur @davearthur
Wed, Apr 09, 2014 10:58
15

At 15.42kg, this special one-off Bullitt is claimed by the German cargo bike shop that created it to be the lightest in the world. We couldn't verify that claim but it is certainly pretty darn light.

Bullitt Bikes are a Copenhagen, Denmark company specialising in cargo bikes. The bike's a modern re-imagining of the long wheelbase cargo bike. We featured them on road.cc a few years ago. To put the weight of this custom cargo bike into perspective, the top-dollar TNT model weighs a claimed 22kg (48.4lb), with a base model in the region of 24kg (52.8lb). So to get down to 15.42kg (33.9lb) is impressive.

Just how did they manage to get the weight down? By sticking with the same basic layout as a regular Bullitt cargo bike, but constructing it from a combination of lightweight aluminium and carbon fibre tubes. Mechanical engineer Marc Poth and Twenty-inch bike shop owner Marcus Stiletto decided to tune a Bullitt to see how much potential there was to shed the weight.

Every part of the frame has been custom machined by examining a regular Bullitt to see where weight could be saved. They also replaced stock parts with lighter components; the carbon fibre fork alone saved 600g. They had to machine a lot of their own parts, including their own bracket for the steering rod to be attached to the fork leg. The aluminium reinforcing struts in the frame were also replaced with custom-made carbon tubes. They machined their own dropouts from carbon fibre. The changes to the frame resulted in a claimed 800g frame weight.

Then they built the Bullitt with some lightweight components: a Shimano Di2 groupset, BrakeForceOne disc brakes with lightweight rotors and a Dura-Ace cassette. Stan’s ZTR Crest rims on Tune hubs with tubeless tyres keep the weight down, a Tune carbon saddle and a carbon-fibre handlebar ensured the bike weighed as little as possible.

Even the kickstand is made from carbon fibre, and when not in use it sits flush with the frame.

And here’s the lightweight cargo bike in action being ridden by its creator Marc Poth.

Thanks to www.cargobike-darmstadt.de for the photos.

Cargo bike
Bullitt
David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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15 comments

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The _Kaner | 10 years ago
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Hope he's better at lifting his cargo (ergo/manual handling) than lifting the bike one handed like that...he'll put his back out even though it's only 15kgs...
knees bent, straight on to the object, low centre of gravity...
his torso/arms are all in opposition for safe handling.... 21

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arowland | 10 years ago
0 likes

"Twenty-inch bike shop owner Marcus Stiletto"
That's either very short or very impressive, depending on whether you're measuring all of him, or not [cough]

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levermonkey | 10 years ago
0 likes

Beautifully finished but what's the payload?

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drfabulous0 | 10 years ago
0 likes

OK my Bakfiets weighs about 60kg but let's see you get 3 kids in this.

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Omnium Cargo | 10 years ago
0 likes

Maybe not THE lightest... we made a 15.1kilo bike complete with the stock steel frame and fork for a 24 hour race.
http://omniumcargo.dk/655km-in-24-hours/

and our team riders won 1st and 2nd place at the very hilly world Cargo Messengers champs in Lausanne in 2013 too...
http://omniumcargo.dk/omnium-cargo-team-rider-wins-world-championship/

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nowasps | 10 years ago
0 likes

I want to see cargo-bike racing...

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bigbluebike replied to nowasps | 10 years ago
0 likes

Here you go - Cargo Bike world champs….Held every year around the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKsjQC4Od6w

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nowasps replied to bigbluebike | 10 years ago
0 likes
bigbluebike wrote:

Here you go - Cargo Bike world champs….Held every year around the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKsjQC4Od6w

Ha! OK. Now show me it with mountains...

Avatar
farrell | 10 years ago
0 likes

I'd love a cargo bike, but I'm currently struggling to justify the spending of the best part of a grand. I think they need to become more popular in order to bring the prices down, which in turn, I think, will attract more cargo bike users.

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kamoshika replied to farrell | 10 years ago
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farrell wrote:

I'd love a cargo bike, but I'm currently struggling to justify the spending of the best part of a grand. I think they need to become more popular in order to bring the prices down, which in turn, I think, will attract more cargo bike users.

It is a lot of money, and I wouldn't have bought one had it not for being hit by a car on a roundabout, suffering a broken ankle, and getting a decent compensation pay out that made it affordable. Now I've got it, I wish I'd bought one earlier. It's fantastic, and really expands the possibilities of what I can do by bike. We don't have a car, which with two kids is sometimes difficult. Having the cargo bike has made it much easier.

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farrell replied to kamoshika | 10 years ago
0 likes

Which one did you opt for?

The Cangoo ones appear to be good value at £700/800.

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Neil753 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Anything that makes cargo bikes cool is a good thing, because for every sporting cyclist there's probably 100 ordinary people for whom a cargo bike might be an option in their lives.

By the way, if you can, why not support Liz Canning's cargo bike documentary Kickstarter project, and help get the message out there.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1887563980/less-car-more-go-the-car...

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kamoshika | 10 years ago
0 likes

That is awesome! 41

Love my Bullitt, but it's hard work up the hills sometimes. Then again it's usually got 33kg of children in the front and I can't remake them out of carbon fibre 3

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Al__S | 10 years ago
0 likes

next level: super light weight aero fairing for the cargo bay, drop handlebars?

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BigDummy | 10 years ago
0 likes

This is delightfully mental. 16

I mean, obviously it isn't really the point of a cargo bike, and things like the Crests would get walloped out of shape with a few ill-timed kerb crossings with a full load. And my cargo bike constantly gets so scuffed about that I'm glad it's heavy steel not light carbon fibre.

But it's pretty cool.

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