Here’s an initial post to satisfy some of that curiosity, though it is by no means the definitive and final product information for these products. That is to say, there is more to come.

2010 Hoodie

Redical Hoodie on 2010 Radish

The Hooded Sweatshirt - jacket, gloves, hat, in one! Reasonably priced. Great value.

Simultaneously, we were seeking a different aesthetic than the FreeLoader/SnapDeck combo - something more sleek, unified and integrated. Less of the straps-a-plenty look and feel, and more of the wheel fairing or engine cowling look. A true cover, hiding all the mechanical intricacies, and leaving only a pure form - function and fashion. Okay, so no one would say that a Hoodie sweatshirt is the essence of form meets function, but there is something casual yet cool about wearing a Hoodie out to brunch.

Hoodie Features:

• Hoodie has two bags that open out to accept objects large and small, soft and hard (max box size seems to be a case of 24 bottled beers).
• Hoodie has an integrated ABS frame sheet that acts as a deck for light passengering, and carrying items on top of the Xtracycle
• Hoodie is made of 600D polyester, and reflective webbing.
• Hoodie will work with V-Racks and P-Racks
• Hoodie has a U-lock pocket, which could also be used for keys, cell phone, tools, etc.
• Hoodie has a 6 point attachment system to secure it to Xtracycle
• Hoodie is not compatible with Big Dummy
• Hoodie has a small silkscreened Xtracycle logo at rear bottom, and 2 Xtracycle tags on either side.
• Hoodie is compatible with all FreeRadicals produced by Xtracycle
• Hoodie, though not yet tested, should be compatible with Terra Cycles Cargo Monster
• Initially, Hoodie will come in two colors - Charcoal and Redical
• Hoodie is not compatible with any Xtracycle decks or PeaPodLT.
• Hoodie Kit (1 Hoodie, 2 V-Racks) estimated retail price: $125
• Buying an Xtracycle FreeRadical and Hoodie Kit estimated retail price: $364

NOTE on Big Dummy compatibility: The Hoodie was not intentionally designed to be BigDummy non-compliant. The design of the BigDummy (with one large boom style seat stay coming down from the seat tube) is fundamentally different than that of a bike + FreeRad. To make the Hoodie work with BigDummy, we would have had to alter the design, losing our beloved LockPocket, the easy install, and full fairing coverage. Furthermore, we were focused on making the Hoodie an entry level solution. BigDummy customers we felt were already stepping out of ‘entry-level’ sphere, looking for something more, so we ultimately resolved that the Hoodie would not work with Surly’s product, by circumstance not by design. Much love to the BigDummy! We made some new FreeLoaders that you Big Dummy customers are going to love! Hope to post info on those tomorrow…

Hoodie Pictures:

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9/9/09 // Really, what more can I say?  My mother sent me these photos - taken from her front yard in Tucson, AZ.  I am seeking more information about this sighting.

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I’m excited to announce Xtracycle’s official release of our flagship chromoly LongTail, Radish, new for 2010. We want to send a special shout out to legendary bike designer and kindred sprit Grant Petersen from Rivendell, who played a key role in helping us nail the “sweet spot” cargo bike handling for what we believe may just be the perfect family cargo bicycle.

This post will attempt to unveil some of the thinking, rationale, and motivation behind choices we made to upate Radish for 2010. Special mention needs to be made to those who have played a hand in Radish’s re-creation: Ross Evans, Peter Kinne, Madeline Gradillas, Rick Pickett.

Materials

Just like its younger cousin, the FreeRadical, 2010 Radish is 100% Chromoly. A number of other longtails on the market are built from high tensile steel. What’s the difference?

Chromoly steel, also known as 4130 steel, is 60% stronger than high tensile steel, also known as low-carbon steel, or low-alloy steel. While there is no weight difference per unit volume between these two alloys, because of the strength difference, it takes more high tensile steel to yield the same strength of Chromoly. The result? High tensile bikes are heavier, for no good reason (generally only to save cost). Chromoly is used for automobile roll cages, aircraft construction, and other structural applications. Chromoly is the choice for many bicycle handbuilders and fewer and fewer larger production companies, including our friends at Surly. Why the demise of Chromoly in the mainstream marketplace? Mainly cost, but also, the level of skill required to weld - see next section.

What about aluminum? Aluminum is generally regarded as a light, stiff, but often brittle and unforgiving material for bicycle construction. As a bicycle is lengthened to increaese it’s usability and ride quality, the stresses placed on the frame increase. Aluminum is less suited to perform for the long run, under a wide variety of loading conditions. The benefits of aluminum, aside from weight considerations alone, include cost - Chinese aluminum frame production has reached economies of scale, and the training process for aluminum welders is less costly than that of steel welders. All of these combine to offer a potentially lower cost on aluminum bicycles, but it is unclear if the lower cost also translates into lower performance. Because of the need for aluminum bicycle frames to be heat treated (brought to a certain temperature, and then cooled at a specific rate), they generally cannot be repaired. Any failure means the life of the entire product has ended. Radish, by contrast, is built of modular parts, the most costly of which are built to be durable, and built to be repairable.

Xtracycle builds several modular parts that are not under as great a stress, like V-racks, TekDecks, Whatchamacollars, out of weight saving, cost saving aluminum.

Construction

Radish frames are tig-welded in small batches (usually 50 - 100 units at a time). Tig-welders are some of the most skilled workers in our Taiwan factories - they get paid the (in US currency) around $15 - $20/hour and enjoy excellent job security. The same woman, Ah Huey pictured below, has been welding Xtracycle FreeRadicals, and now Radish frames, nearly since their invention 10 years ago.

Ah Huey humors us for a photo. Ross humors himself in a helmet.

Handling/Geometry

By way of comparison, I find the 2009 Radish to handle remarkably well under loads of 50lbs or more on the SnapDeck or in the FreeLoader bags. When the deck/bags were unloaded the handling becomes noticeably more ‘floppy,’ which appealed to some riders, not so much to others.

The 2010 Radish nails the sweet spot where handling unloaded is crisp and sporty, yet remains responsive and stable under load.

What’s more, the longer effective top tube length on Radish yields a roomier cockpit enabling riders like myself, pushing 6′1″ with my Keens on, to feel totally at home behind the wheel. My wife, pushing 5′1″ in her clogs, feels no loss of comfort. The Radish pictured below is piloted by Madeline Gradillas, an architect turned product designer who played a large role in bringing 2010 Radish to market.

Madeline is 5′4″ and likes the 2010 Radish just as much as her 2009. She’s particularly happy with the increased ease in getting her leg over the top tube. The 2010 Radish frame is more than 2″ lower, where it counts, easing transitions on and off the bike.

Components

Across the board, components have been upgraded while we have kept the overall cost of Radish down.  Here are the highlights.  A full list of components can be found under the “Specs” tab here.

• Cranks: The new alloy crankset (34t) features an  dual-sided aluminum chainring guard to both protect the rider’s clothing from the chain, and to protect the chain from dismounting unexpectedly from the chainring. Owners of 2010 Radish will have the option of installing the included full-protection chain guard (a la Radish 2009) as well for total coverage.
• Brakes: Xtracycle upgraded brakes and levers on 2010 Radish to entry level performance Avid FR-5/SD-3.  To accommodate numerous upgrades and cut costs, we decided to jettison the rear disc-brake.  In conversation with customers, we found that few felt this to be a critical component, and internally, we agreed that V-brakes worked well for 90% of practical applications.
• Drivetrain: Rear 8-sp cluster remains the same (11-32t), but we’ve upgraded to a SRAM X-5 rear derailleur, and SRAM 3.0 twist shifter.  SRAM X-5 rear derailleurs are found on $1000 mountain bikes and we found, has the necessary spring tension to provide crisp clear shifting on Radish.
• Handlebar: Xtracycle worked closely with handlebar manufacturer Zoom, in Taiwan, to develop a bar that provided a comfortable yet nimble, upright riding position, for a riders ranging from 5′0 - 6′2″.  This alloy bar is not found anywhere else than on Radish 2010.
• Grips: Grips on the 2010 Radish are made by industry leader Velo.  We opted for round grips, with plenty of length, and a bolt-on feature that would allow customers to easily move/remove/replace them with no damage to the grip.
• Quick-Releases: All quick-releases have been updated on 2010 Radish for improved look and feel, but most importantly, function.

Kits

2010 Radish will become available with a host of new and existing Xtracycle Accessory Kits.  My next post will cover our new kits in depth.

Subscribe to our blog here, and be alerted about our next posts.

Presale

2010 Radish are in production, and are currently available for pre-order.  You may learn more about Xtracycle’s pre-order process here.

We only have 50 available at this time for pre-order, if you decide to be one of the few new Radish riders, you may place your order here.

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Here’s where to get replacement SpringPins for your WideLoaders, or any other Xtracycle DIT project you’re working on:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#pins/=6397fh

But wait, that link doesn’t get you all the way there - here’s the exact part number: 92988A730

Enter this number in the “Find” search bar - and it will take you right to the part you need!

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With the help of Google translate, you can read this guy’s blog here.

But really folks, check out that Red Big Dummy! Holy cats. That’s fantastic. With matching hat, jacket and Crocs. What’s funny is I told my wife this week that I want a pair of Crocs. The look on her face was a mixture of disgust and disdain, which then quickly dissolved into pity. Wait until she sees this! This guy Rocs the Crocs! Among many other mysterious things, on his blog he claims:

I was very happy to hear me talking excitedly at the sight of their fellow Doru eagles live on television in the distance…

And speaking of mysterious, check out these stream of consciousness poem-blog-entries about how Xtracycle solves all kinds of real-world problems. I’ve pulled out a few important quotes that bear repeating for your amusement.

Important cultural sensitivity note: of course these are not written how the writer intended them to be read - and I mean no disrespect to anyone. What I’m calling attention to is a Google algorithm’s attempts to unravel the nuance of language and translation resulting in some of the most profound, and unusual critique/praise of Xtracycle ever found. If a real live human out there is inspired to help translate these, I would love to know what’s actually being said. Each of the following posts is from this Japanese bike-shop blog.

Successfully solved a problem in the run up to the level of cases was found in some more cash.

It may be the fastest long-tail bike for now and possibly Japan. M-like, welcome to life long tail bike fun!

God certainly is, “Oh, I’m out of the one diaper bag waste.” It is sad to hear the shouts of joy.

I think the man is brain. Two bags in one side can not afford.

Xtracycle Longtail bikes are the perfect fit for diapers.

Long tail runs without a hitch a ride with a smile and a lot of luggage and children in such turmoil.

French bread and drink to raise, many generations back to the park trees.

It is recommended that you use a bike guy is raising a family picnic really like.

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Turns out, it’s a simple way to connect bicycle riders, those “willing to transport goods” and those “needing goods transported.” You can sign up to be a courier, or request a wire without needing to sign up or create an account.

You set a start location, end location, time frame, load description, trade/price offered, details and contact info. Make a little extra cash, donate your time for non-profits in you area, or just meet new people who appreciate the usefulness of bicycles.

We look forward to offering our cargo bicycles up for use, will be cool to see where and how BikeWire grows.

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RockyMounts' Xtracycle Length Tray

We don’t sell this Xtracycle-length bicycle tray for your car, but we probably will again soon. In the meantime, you may order it direct from RockyMounts. It’s not listed on their website, so you have to call 800-873-1871. The product in their catalog is called the “Lariat Recumbent”, and it’s only available in black, but if you want it in a color, perhaps they’ll make an exception. Tell them Xtracycle sent ya’!

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Many folks have called in wondering what happened to the TrayBien. It’s no longer listed in our online catalog of products. We love the Tray Bien. We use it, and it works great to do this:

The TrayBien helps Xtracycles carry other bikes.

However, as a product, it wasn’t performing as well as we would have liked. It was a hybrid of the three parts from three different suppliers, and when we moved to a distribution facility, TrayBien didn’t make the cut.

As a result, for the near future, the TrayBien will officially become a DIT project designed to rescue old roof rack trays with the help of a little scrap garden hose or PVC shim.

Here’s how to make your own:

What you’ll need:

1. Xtracycle Wideloader (or a couple 7/8″ tubes,rods,dowels)
2. A bicycle tray for a car roof rack (old school kind, that has the clamps to go around ~1″ crossbars). Thule, Yakima, and Rocky Mounts make them. We used to sell this one from Rocky Mounts.
3. Some old garden hose (about 6″ will be fine)

OR

3. Some 3/4″ PVC tubing (this mod courtesy of Jason Eddy)

How to make your own TrayBien

Essentially the WideLoader or tubing sections you substitute act as the cross bars you would find on your car roof rack. Now, the only challenge is to attach the tray to your bicycle based cross bars. Most cross bars are 1″ or more in diameter. The WideLoader rack is 7/8″. Use sections of garden hose, cut lengthwise, to act as shims to increase the effective diameter of your cross bar, then clamp the tray to the shimmed sections.

Simple, easy, cheap, and a way to rescue defunct stuff into useful tools for Every Day Adventure.

Now, check this out. Thanks again Mr. Eddy!

1. I have chosen to use 3/4 PVC slit down the middle to attach the 1″ Yakima carrier to the wide loader.

2. I acquired a 12″ piece of 3/4″ PVC from my local hardware store. The PVC was a free scrap piece.

3. I cut the width needed for the front Yakima SLR mount (3″)and the rear Boa tray(2″).

4. Then I cleaned the ends and slip length wise with a hacksaw. I cleaned up the rough edges with a file.

5. I put the 2 cut and slit pieces in boiling water for 3-5 minutes to open the pipe to roughly 3/4 ID.

6. Then I let them cool and snapped them around the wide loader bar and attached my Yakima bike rack.

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On my own Xtracycle, a Surly Big Dummy, I’ve rocked out a Down Low Glow for over a year and love it. But, it does have its drawbacks. I have to charge the battery after two-hours of use, the brightness dims after about 75 minutes of use and The lights last a useful four hours on a full charge, with the lights dimming around 3 hours*. The only downside? The transformer/battery/cables add visual clutter to my already over-cluttered rig, but I don’t lose sleep over it.

I wanted to see if another option existed for sweet ground effects that did away with the cluttered look, gave me longer battery life and still made me visible to others on the street. I figured an LED setup would be the way to go considering their low energy consumption and bright light output. A couple Google searches landed me on Bike Brightz. Their lights feature 6-LEDs, three functions (steady, slow blink, fast blink) and come in a variety of colors. Would this compare and offer a good replacement for my Down Low Glows? Well, I had to get some to test first!

After an email to the company, Ron mailed me two units to test (green to compare to my DLG green tubes). Here’s the packaging breakdown and instructions. Very straight forward and easy to install. Think it took me about 2-minutes tops.

Of course, installing isn’t the fun part, riding around with green light emanating from your longtail is! My beau and I hit the Oakland streets to put my Down Low Glow and the Bike Brightz head to head.

Bike Brightz & Down Low Glow - Side View

Front View of DLG & Bike Brightz

The Bike Brightz have a slightly brighter light intensity and project light a greater distance. Mind you, they’re brand new versus the 1-year+ age of the DLGs. The DLGs have a larger glow area, but only when close to the ground. The farther away the more the light effect dissipates.

The flashing functions on the Bike Brightz are a bonus since it’s been proven that flashing lights are recognized by drivers sooner than steady lights. The flashing kills some of the glow factor I love from ground effect lights though, and if you stare down too much you start being thankful for not suffering from epilepsy.

Based on the photos, you’d think the Down Low Glow has seen better days, but seeing it in a video (0:40) you realize how much of a beautiful light cloud is produced by their 180-degree cold cathode tubes. You lose some of the ground effect glow when you mount the tube on the bicycle’s down tube, but you’re also exposing more of the tube’s face to other drivers.

I didn’t like the on/off action of either lighting setups. While the Bike Brightz has a one button option, it’s too easy to set it to the non-steady mode as the switch is very sensitive. The Down Low Glows are a plug/unplug operation that is difficult to operate while riding, especially if the system is mounted low.

Regarding weather proofing, I’ve yet to experience a weather-related malfunction with the Down Low Glows. I can’t attest to the water resistance of the Bike Brightz, but it seems if it got direct and constant water exposure, moisture may seep in through the battery cover.

Verdict? They’re different beasts trying to achieve the same effect: bright, colorful light that not only looks cool, but alerts drivers and others on the street to your presence. If cost is a factor, the Bike Brightz win hands down. At $19 each, you can have 7 of them on your bike for the price of one trickle-charge (the fast charge is more expensive) dual tube Down Low Glow ($149). But, you’d have to press 7 different on/off buttons to get them all to turn off. If a steady, full glow is your desire, then the Down Low Glows are a great choice.

I’m going to keep rockin’ my DLG setup, but am going to augment it with one unit of the Bike Brightz to better catch the attention of my fellow humans as they motor around in their cages. Ride on!

Alicia rockin' out two Bike Brightz units on her road bike

*Update

I had mentioned in the first draft of this post that my DLG’s were fading after 1.75 hours of use. Paul Freedman, of RockTheBike.com, wrote me asking to see my unit because that time was especially low for my setup. Not wanting to spread falsities, I setup my camera, bike and Down Low Glows to test their brightness using time lapse photography.

I started the test at ~11:48PM and the camera finished shooting at 5:35AM. The interval shooting was set at 3 shots/minute, it stopped at 998 frames = 333 minutes, or 5.5 hours. I then imported the image sequence into After Effects at 30 fps, shortened the time duration by 50% for a final playback time of 16.2 seconds with every 3″ = 1 hour elapsed time.

From the footage, it looks like the DLGs are performing great, lasting a full 3 hours instead of my initial, crude, observation of 1.75 hours. Cheers!

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Another Xtracycle rider on a Radish embarking on a grocery store run

So if you haven’t heard, we have been suffering through the Snowpocalypse. Washington DC has had something like 30 to 50 inches of snow during the past week. I haven’t had much of a chance to take the BD out (no snow tires), but have gotten out twice and can give everyone a testimonial of winter longtail riding.

I can say with confidence that the longer wheelbase of my Big Dummy really, really helped in the slippery stuff. I rode once with about three fresh inches on the street and again a couple of days later after the streets had been plowed under much worse road conditions. On the second trip, I carried a small load back from my local package store (two sixers and a half case of wine). The extra weight in the back really locked down the rear end despite the ice, snow and slush. I had next to no tire slippage as I carefully tread my way back home (with bottles cheerfully clinking along the way).

I’m looking forward to getting back on the streets after this round of snow finishes. I think we’ll end up with only eight inches this time.

Scott
Washington, DC

FreeRadical + Surly Endomorph Tires = Fun in the Snow

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