Sun Bicycle Atlas Cargo

Sun Bicycle are known mostly, I think, for their industrial trikes and bikes for warehouse use, along with their line of low cost recumbent bikes designed by Easy Racer.

I didn’t realize until today that Sun is the cost leader in longtail cargo bikes with their Atlas Cargo, which is available (complete) for $679.

Sun Atlas Cargo bicycle

For that price you get a decent, Xtracycle-compatible frame and low-end components. Joe’s Bike gives you the run down of Sun’s Atlas Cargo positives and negatives. Clever Cycles also took a look (read the comments on that post). Some of the takeaways:

  • This is a really inexpensive cargo bike!
  • Xtracycle stuff plugs right in!
  • It’s ugly – paint, welds, frame design.
  • Handles pretty nicely.
  • A little bit heavy, maybe, compared to some other more expensive longtails.
  • 400 lb load capacity.
  • Too bad it doesn’t have side decks.
  • Low end components, but they’ll do the job.
  • Kickstand could be better, but at least it’s standard equipment on this bike.
  • Dirt cheap!

More about the Sun Atlas Cargo Bicycle here. I think Sun is still a part of J&B Importers, one of the big bike part distribution channels, so you can probably order one from any bike shop that has the J&B catalog. H/T to Chris.

11 Comments

  1. I’ve built one of these out of the box, not impressed. You can spend $400+ getting this thing dialed in with accessories, repairs and upgrades and it will still be substandard. I’d recommend a Yuba Mundo at $1,099. The only thing Sun got right on this bike was using the Xtracycle standard, but I’d still rather have a regular bike converted with the Longtail kit. Sun is a J&B house brand.

  2. Hi Richard, nicely summed up. One correction, though: it’s actually a 400 lb *total* capacity (rider plus cargo), which puts it in the same league as the Big Dummy. The Mundo, on the other hand, is rated for 440 lbs. of cargo in addition to the rider. Not that anyone actually uses it to that potential, but the more weight you put on either bike, the more the one stands apart from the other.
    Joe (from Joe Bike, joe-bike.com). 

  3. Something tells me that “Handles pretty nicely.” is a relative term compared to strapping on a few hundred pounds to a BSO. Reviews still point to the Frances Smallhaul as way better than any other cargo bike, though of course at a cost. But I fully intend to spend my money on the right bike when that time comes when I have to schlep a few runts around. Even a nicely equipped Frances is much cheaper than a car.

  4. Thanks Joe!

    There’s are at least two instances I’ve heard of people using the Mundo to its rated limit (and beyond). Ben Serrazin (the guy who started Yuba) hauled something like 700 lbs of food on his Mundo in the San Francisco Supermarket Street Sweep. In a following year I think somebody else beat that by hauling nearly a half ton on a Mundo, though maybe a trailer was involved too.

  5.  To me this seems like the best longtail on the market. They made the geometry right, with a trail of 39mm. Every other longtail has a high trail which promotes more wheelflop and makes them harder to handle at lower speeds. You can even add a front rack without losing too much handling, considering butcher bikes and porteurs have a similar trail (20-40mm). I wish it was sold as frameset only, though.

  6. bought one and built it up. Great frame, functional bottom end components. stock drivetrain right now. Have a nuvinci n360 and patterson going on it soon as i can mod the adapters for the rear axle. home made sideloaders from seatposts and wood, rear truck fork hitch for hauling another bike. Hydro front disc, rear mech disc, 160 rotors stop it fine with a curb weight at 250 lbs of rider bike and cargo.

    its got super quick responsive handling at the front that takes a moment to execute. I’ve ridden it with a 50lb Yuba gogetter cargo bag, 110lb girlfriend, and her bike. slow and long, but less wiggly than I thought it would be at 400+ lbs.

    I only have the rear loaded right now so cant comment on how it feels with an evenly distributed load. For the price, cant beat it; just expect to pump some money into it or scavange for upgrades unless the super basic drivetrain works for you

  7. I agree with your post 100%. I bought an Atlas Cargo and built it up as well. The frame is great, the drivetrain is adequate but the hubs and rims are terrible. The rims are single walled and the hubs and bearings wore out on both front and back in under 1000 miles. The old style screw on freewheel was low end as well. I built up a NOS pair of Shimano Exage hubs with shimano 7 speed cassette and Alex Adventurer rims 36H and swapped out the heavy steel freeloader rack for some Extrawheel aluminum racks, wide loaders and long loader. This thing is really quick now and has the same inherent handling as the stock bike only faster and lighter. Overall, I give the Sun Atlas a rating of 8 out of 10. For the money, you can throw another $300 at it to upgrade a few components and still have a nice cargo bike for around $1000. And for the record, I like the way the Atlas frame looks. It is also easy to step through and the crossed frame tubing adds a lot of stiffness giving it the feel of a much shorter bike. Just my two cents worth. 🙂

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