WorkCycles Fr8 “Massive Rack”

Passing through the workshop the other morning I noticed there were four Massive Rack equipped WorkCycles Fr8’s being serviced, all from different Amsterdam customers. Each were quite unique bikes as well. Electric assist via a hub motor was being installed on the black and froggy green one. The battery will go under a false floor in the wooden crate.

The China green and green bike distributes books (can carries a bulldog) “De Wolleff en de Seve Geitjes” refers to a hilarious book he wrote and illustrated with Sacha Serano. The wolf and the seven goats is twisted version of a Grimm story told in pretty much the roughest possible “Plat Amsterdams” (Amsterdam dialect) language and style. My 8 year old son and I laugh ourselves into tears reading it aloud to each other.

The silver grey one is ridden by a local artist. The parts were actually hot dipped in zinc to galvanize them. It looks awesome and will never rust but it was such a pain in the butt to build it up afterwards that we’ll never, ever do that again.

The black and red Fr8 is just wicked cool. Just about everything on it is black… unless of course it’s red. Its owner also has a nearly identical bike in grey and orange. Just because he loves them.

Anyhow back to the Massive Rack. In principal it was designed for delivery and industrial transport but it’s just super handy so a fair number of them are being used by parents (compact bakfiets), artists, photographers and other small business owners.

The Massive Rack is securely mounted (with six bolts) to the Fr8’s frame. It doesn’t turn with the handlebars and front wheel when you steer so it has almost no influence on steering and handling. It fits either Fr8 Universal or Cross frame and can be combined with other Fr8 accessories such as the front child saddle and advertising board.

Any standard Euronorm 60x40cm crate or box fits perfectly in the Massive Rack and you can either bolt the crate down or secure it with a strap or clips to make it removable. Alternatively you can make a deeper crate to increase the volume. As for a maximum load capacity we’re not really sure. 100kg is absolutely no problem. 150kg won’t break it either but you’ll have to pump the front tire quite hard to steer well.

Maybe the most brilliant part of the Massive Rack is its integrated parking stand. At 65cm wide the bike stands as solidly as a house when parked. To deploy the stand just push it down with you foot and roll the bike back a little. Roll the bike forward and the spring-loaded stand folds up automatically behind the front wheel. It’s far enough from the pedals that you’ll never hit it with your feet and high enough from the ground that it cannot bottom out when cornering.

14 Responses to “WorkCycles Fr8 “Massive Rack””

  1. Opa1 Says:

    Wow, Bakfiets En Meer rises from the dead. Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing your plans for the future.

  2. Robert Linthicum Says:

    My next bike will have the Massive Rack.

  3. Jeff Says:

    These could come in handy annnnnnd you just have to love the name haha

  4. Emerson Says:

    These racks look good. I will try to buy one for my road bike!

  5. henry Says:

    Yeah, good luck fitting the Massive Rack to your road bike spammer dude.

  6. Anonymous Says:

    Hello there, is the massive rack wider than the handlebar? somewhat difficult to tell due to the perspective of the pictures – thanks

  7. henry Says:

    Hi, No, the Massive Rack is just over 60cm thus narrower than the handlebar.

  8. Anonymous Says:

    Thank you henry

  9. Dave Henly Says:

    I’m hugely in love with this. I’ve not seen anything even remotely close to this design in the US. Surly has some cool rack based bikes, but they are all rear racks. This could be very handy especially in the urban environment where tight turns are a must.

    #need

  10. Otto Says:

    As I discovered after years; it is possible to sit on the bike while parked on the stand and with a little move forward to unpark it and ride away straight away.

  11. Sarfraz Khan Says:

    That’s very innovative to be honest. Is there any video of how it functions?

    Thanks
    Sarfraz

  12. Otto Says:

    Hi Sarfraz, a video doesn’t exist. If you are safe on a bike you can just try: sit om it while parked an move forward and keep paddling.

  13. Zoekjaar Girl Says:

    Side question: What bike would you recommend for someone new to the country and to the Dutch cycling scene/practices?

  14. henry Says:

    Zoekjaar Girl, That’s too broad a question to answer in blog comments. You can better visit us in the shop to discuss your needs.

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