City Hauler
Our Utility bike is optimised for speed, comfort, safety and front loading. A very functional machine, wrapped in some of the features our custom town bikes have won multiple awards for over the years.
Doing a mid week shop? You're daily commute? Or you need to load up for a weekend pic nic? If you think a cargo bike is more than you need, then this is about as functional as you get before needing to make that jump.
At the bikes heart is its geometry. We slapped our hands together, breathed deep and took a nice long, deep, dark, dive into the geometry rabbit hole for this one. By building a fully adjustable “test" bike, we could look at steering geometry and handlebar shape as a complete package. We could adjust the fork geometry, head angle and chain stay length, as well as the height, width and sweep of the handlebar and adjust the stem length too. Through iterative testing, we dialled in the geometry and handlebar shape to what we deemed to be the best balance for a bike of this nature. By pushing things too far in each direction we could locate the boundaries and find the sweet spot! For more on this, check our news story here.
We've come up with a stable machine, that still has a lively side when you ask of it. It can steer quick at slower speeds, but isn't unstable at higher speeds. It's optimised for front loading and handles well with heavier loads. Accelerating away from the lights, or attacking a climb on a weekend ride? Out of the saddle it handles itself really well too.
Specification
We offer the Utility as a frame set, complete or custom build. The frame set includes the frame, fork and handle bar/stem combination. Our complete offering is a cost effective solution using solid entry level components. And of course we can offer this with a custom build package for those that want to dial the bike further to their exact needs.
Frame Specification
- Front load optimised geometry
- Optimised for 650b wheels with large volume tyres. (Can also accept 700c wheels)
- Can be set up single speed or geared
- Reynolds 525 double butted tubing
- 135mm rear spacing
- 27.2mm seat post
- ISO disc mount
- 68mm BSA bottom bracket
- 1 1/8th headtube
- Bolt on cable guides for clean cable routing, however you set the bike up
- Entry for internaly routed dropper post (needs drilling)
- Downtube bottle mounts
- Stainless steel retention washers
- Rack mounts
- Mudgaurd mounts
- Kick stand plate
- Option for stainless steel top tube badge
Bike Specification
Fork - Donhou segmented style fork, cromoly steel, built in house
Handle bar/stem - Donhou flat bar, cromoly steel, built in house.
Bar Tape - Grepp Gripper
Wheels - Shimano Deore/Ryde Rival 23
Tyres - WTB Horizon 650x47b
Gearing - Shimano Altus 9 speed
Brakes - Shimano MT200
Cranks - Stronglight Impact
Bottom bracket - Stronglight sqaure taper
Pedals - N/A
Headset - Sealed cartridge
Seat post - Aluminium two bolt
Saddle - Brooks Cambium C17
Bell - VeloOrange
Please note: Parts specification is subject to change.
Its in the details...
Geometry optimised porteur style handlebar with integrated bell mount for better acoustic properties... Ok maybe not, but it does look very cool!
We also offer the bike with a flat bar, for those that prefer a more aggresive ride.
Bolt on cable guides, allows the bike to be cabled cleanily, whether you run it single speed or geared. You can even run the bike with a dropper post with an entry port for an internally routed dropper post.
Horizontal dropouts allow you to build the bike geared or single speed, or change it as your needs change. Donhou retention washers allow the use of a QR wheel, without the concerns of it moving in the horizontal dropout.
Geometry and fit
Designed to be safe and stable with a front load, but still have a fun factor, you can see the full geometry table here.
We offer 3 sizes, small, medium and large. Please get in touch if you are unsure of your size and we can advise.
Colour and finish
We have two colour options:
Choose between Mustard Yellow or Motorcycle Blue. Both come with black top tube decals as standard. With an option for stainless steel badges also.
Further options
Ok so we couldn't not give you some options!
- Choose between porteur or flat handle bar
- Choose between stainless steel or vinyl top tube badges
- Colour matched front porteur rack + £TBC
- Colour matched mudgaurds + £TBC
Sustainability
Where possible we have tried to reduce the environmental impact of the Utility bicycle.
We opted to go with a steel fork and handlebar/stem combination, as opposed to the other options of aluminium and carbon. Out of the three main "bicycle materials", when taking the impact of processing, recycled content, recyclability and life cycle into account, we deem steel as the best choice.
The recycled content of the steel tubing is no less than 80% accross the grades used to produce the Utility bicycle. (Please note that this is not unique to us, most steel alloys will have a high recycled content).
The bike is designed to be capable and adaptable, so it can take on several tasks that you may ask from it. Its adaptability also means that it will grow with you, as your lifetyle or needs change. In this sense we hope that it will serve you for a long time and in many cases that it will be your 'only bike'.
When specifing components, we also gave consideration towards their environmental impact. Some things, like drivetrains, our choices are very limited, but where we could we specified Grepps reusable bar tape. Schwalbe Green Compound recycled/recyclable rubber tyres, recycled plastic pedals and Brooks natural rubber saddles.
For more general information on Donhou and sustainability you can also see here.
Utility // Explore your urban landscape
