You may recall the Saeco-inspired Cannondale Hooligan that Dave wrote about last year, featuring the handiwork of industrial designer Torgny Fjeldskaar. Well, the Hooligan is back for another Joy Rides feature, and this time Fjeldskaar has made the cult-classic urban bike into a cargo-hauling machine.
Fjeldskaar, who has an impressive design resume with projects for Cannondale, BMC and BMW, originally collaborated with Cannondale engineer and friend Chris Dodman to create the Hooligan. The small-wheeled bike that was meant to be ridden “like you stole it” first hit the market in 2007 and remained in production until 2019.
The cargo-carrying Hooligan
However, Fjeldskaar felt that the original production models didn’t quite capture his true vision for the bike, especially when it came to some of the special editions he proposed while the Hooligans were still in production.
One of those special editions was the Hooligan Cargo, a model designed to add more utility to the urban bike with front and rear cargo space. Unfortunately, like other concepts Fjeldskaar pitched – such as a mountain bike-inspired Volvo-Cannondale edition – the Cargo Hooligan never made it to production. But now, 16 years later, Fjeldskaar is finally bringing these concepts to life in limited one-off builds.
This latest resto-mod version, dubbed the Hooligan Cargo, takes the practicality of the original urban bike and ramps it up. And what better way to add urban utility to a bike than a rack? To that end, Fjeldskaar machined and welded a custom front rack bracket onto the frame, along with a larger bottom bracket shell to accommodate internal cable routing, modernising its overall look.
Looking at the Hooligan design, now in its cargo configuration, it’s hard to not draw parallels to modern, small-wheeled e-cargo bikes such as the Tern HSD or even Radpower Radrunner – both of which were launched more than a decade after the first Hooligan entered the market. While we don’t know if the designers of those bikes used the Hooligan as inspiration at all, certainly when looking at their visual similarities, Hooligan was one of the first bikes to create the design language.
The bike’s paint job – a tinted blue clear coat over chrome – pays homage to the early design sketch. “I don’t think this combo was particularly trendy in 2008; instead I blame it on me being young in the ’90s,” Fjeldskaar says.
The eagle-eyed – or those with real good memories – might spot that despite Fjeldskaar saying last year that the cargo Hooligan would have two racks, this version lacks a rear rack. According to Fjeldskaar, this was simply down to not finding a suitable off-the-shelf option, and custom racks weren’t within the scope of this build. However, the front rack, provided by FLYER AG, still has ample cargo capacity for urban adventures.
Drivetrain change
The Cargo Hooligan forgoes the single-speed belt drive that the Saeco-edition Hooligan had, and instead relies on a Shimano Alfine Di2 gear hub and Magura MCI integrated disc brakes with internal routing. Looking at the bike, it could seem that it was made for this setup, but Fjeldskaar says the retromod wasn’t easy – but that they’d learned some lessons with the Saeco edition.
“Compared to last years’ singlespeed setup with Dura-Ace brakes it was quite a bit more complex setting up the Magura MCI and Shimano Di2, but at least we knew where the difficulties would pop up, which is why we welded on a larger BB shell to make space for the cables,” Fjeldskaar admits.
Other revised features include a Specialized Roll handlebar, chosen by Fjeldskaar for its ideal height and 31.8mm clamping interface, and 2.1-in wide Schwalbe Crazy Bob tyres which offer comfort and max out the tyre clearance on the frame. Those are wrapped on Schürmann rims which Fjeldskaar said “add to the utilitarian feel with their sturdy look”.
The pedals are Cannondale Octopus, and the saddle is the Fizik Terra Argo with the moebius rail, which Torgny says he likes because the rail attachment is as far back as possible, allowing for more flex of the plastic base. The grips – also designed by the Norwegian – finish off the setup.
Is there more to come?
Will we see even more retromod Hooligans soon, too?
“There are a lot of ideas, but not all are worth pursuing,” Fjeldskaar says, adding that if time allows, we could see at least one or two more editions of the Hooligan. We’ll keep an eye out for those – whatever they might be.
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