Every Day Adventurers

Now that the 2011 Radish is finding its way into homes and bike shops across the US (and beyond), we thought we’d share some feedback from Xtracycle’s own Nate Byerley, who was one of the very first adopters of the redesigned bike.  We gave him some areas to hit, and here’s what he had to say:

Ride Quality
Radish rides like a city bike.  Thanks to help in the redesign process from Grant Petersen of Rivendell and Bridgestone, the new Radish has quick handling & responsive steering, makes tight turns, and its light weight makes it easier to accelerate.  The Radish Sport (which includes the Hoodie) weighs in at a svelte 43 lbs. (The Surly Big Dummy weighs 53 lbs, while most other cargo bikes are even heavier, sometimes in excess of 80 lbs.)

The 2011 Radish’s geometry is designed to work with a wide range of riders.  I’m 6′ tall and my wife is 5’1″, and we both love the way this bike rides. And not only does the new Radish have 8 speeds on one simple shifter, the gear range spans the most useful 70% of the gear range of a mountain bike – favoring the low end for easier hauling.

Cargo Capacity
Radish is built to carry 350 lbs (rider + cargo), which is the same amount as the FreeRad. You can easily tote two kids and 4 bags of groceries at the same time.

Two-part Frame
Radish is built on the FreeRadical cargo bike extension, with a custom front frame and attachment setup built to interface perfectly with the FreeRadical. That means less twisting when under load than on any other Xtracycle-equipped bike.  All long bikes experience some twisting, but it’s minimized on Radish (while still keeping the overall cost low).

Affordability
Radish is the only chromoly cargo LongTail under $1000! That’s impressive when you realize it has SRAM components as well as an Avid drivetrain and brakes.

If you’re considering going car-lite or car-free, or just want to see how Radish handles, we suggest you try it for yourself.  Give one of the Xtracycle dealers a shout and take it for a spin!