DIY: Retractable Shade Canopy for Cargo/Longtail/Box-Bikes!

My Little Guy can travel in comfort and shade now without the umbrella I used to have attached to the middle of the rear deck. This shade folds up easily to be stored behind his seat, plus I can one-handedly raise one side up in seconds to more easily slide him in and out of the Peanut Shell seat.

Tinkering on our Yuba Mundo commences… As the kids get bigger and bigger, I find that space on the back of the bike comes at a higher and higher premium.  I’ve removed both the inner and cross bars of the Monkey Bars rack so that the girls have more space (both side-to-side and front-to-back) and I’ve also done away with the PVC pipe umbrella holder that used to stick up in the middle of the rear deck in front the Peanut Shell seat.

A few months back, I found a pair of awesome and lightweight folding shade canopies made for those folding camping chairs that were all the rage about a decade ago (and still ubiquitous at drug stores, grocers and big box stores whenever the summer months approach).  I bought these for $3 each (they retail for $15-$20), and they’ve turned out to be pretty useful. I simply bungeed the shade to secure it to the rear of the Peanut Shell seat and the Monkey Bars (and, really, you could attach it just about any bike), then pulled it forward and used the sturdy velcro wraps on the end of each adjustable pullstring to secure it to the front of the Monkey Bars.  It took about 2 minutes.

Check out how nicely this folds up, fitting completely and snugly behind the Peanut Shell seat. It’s nice not having the residual drag when the canopy’s not needed (obviously).

Here, here, and here are some sites I found for similar shades (since stalking your local thrift store in hopes of finding them is probably not very practical)

 

Another look at the shade as a stand-alone product. The thin black ropes expand and retract quite easily, making the canopy pretty flexible to fit your needs. Plus, you can use it for its actual intended use, as well, for any chairs you have in need of shading.

A year of DIY projects with our Yuba Mundo

Here’s a timeline of most of my Mundo projects and tinkerings…

Spring-time capacity? 2 child seats, 1 daddy saddle, 1 toddler seat, 1 large basket

4 on the road.  There’s an umbrella stroller bungeed to the long left running board (It’s hard to see, but Baby Boy is riding shotgun, enjoying The Avett Brothers on the sound system.)

2 “Peanut Shell” seats, with 5-point harnesses, footrests, & padding sit just right on the Yuba’s rear bamboo deck (our tall girls fit perfectly well in them!)

The MUNDO is easily customized–I made this large rear basket attachment with vertical rack and large hooks quite easily with heavy-duty zip-ties, all the better for holding backpacks, helmets, and full grocery bags.

If you’re looking for a good baby/infant/toddler seat, the Yepp mini is pretty fantastic.  It has a durable but soft ventilated shell,  5-point padded harness, head protector and pillow, adjustable foot holders with straps, it can be quickly disengaged with one adult hand, and is easily locked and unlocked with the included key.

The side-view of the MUNDO when we’ve loaded it four-people-deep.  This pic was the inspiration for the name of our site.

This was the first shade-heavy configuration I tinkered with…You don’t need to be a mechanic or a tool whiz to customize your bike, trust me.  I am of little use when it comes to fixing complex things around the house, but a little creativity and willingness to experiment are well-rewarded with this bike.  You can accessorize it quite easily as seasons change, kids grow, your needs evolve, you name it.

Front view with the all-weather umbrella, tin-can-cupholder and toddler windshield (total outlay–about $15 after a quick trip to a hardware store.)

Here, I switched out the blue umbrella for a higher-visibility orange one, matching (coincidentally) the umbrella-stroller canopy shade I attached up front for Little Guy.  It’s swiveling joints made it useful as a both a shade canopy and windscreen for my little navigator up front.

Panniers attached to a front wheel rack and a collapsible basket attached to the rear deck make for extra backpack/grocery/whatever-needs-holding capacity

As the heat cranked up this summer, it was necessary to beef up the infant seat shade situation.  This may not be a pretty finished product, but it was effective.  A black mesh UV stroller shade up front and, up top, a flexible shade extension made from vinyl glued to a dog conical collar made the small orange shade clipped to the handlebars much larger without making it too bulky or inflexible.

Our latest configuration, with all three kids on the back!

The “Monkey Bars,” debuted by Yuba this year, are awesome.  This sturdy and light frame comes with adjustable/removable inner bars.  They can span the whole length of the rear deck or–as above–half the length of the deck.  On our bike, the back half of the deck holds one of the peanut shells for our little guy, complete with clip-on umbrella-stroller canopy for a windshield and UV stroller shade to battle the sun.  While Yuba makes a nice cushion for about $30, I used two $3 chair cushions, and they work great!

There’s always stuff that needs holding.  Two $2 IKEA plastic bag holders carry an umbrella and random clothes and small groceries in the rear while front panniers and black wire shelf frame pieces make a large and lightweight holder for tall backpacks and other items.

EMERGENCIES HAPPEN!  While I have bike repair supplies on hand, there are other–kid-related–emergencies that come our way, too.  The picture on the left is of a diaper-change kit (housed in an econo-sized Band-Aid plastic box) mounted with the brazons for a water bottle cage.  The one on the right is of a small travel bandage/first aid kit attatched with the brazons just behind the crankset.

Much like our four-wheeled vehicles, bicycles now have cupholders out the wazoo (well, ours do, at least!).  Two cages mounted just below the top tube hold water bottles/sippee cups and one cage on the handlebar holds a snack cup while a coffee cup holder I made from a mostly used-up packing tape roll screwed to a C-clamp keeps the java close at hand but nice and level to avoid spills.

The bike is lighter and easier to maneuver now than it was a year ago, which is a good thing considering that my kids keep getting bigger while I keep getting older.