Every Day Adventurers

Xtracycle’s beloved Japanese distributor turned me on to a new Japanese site linking together people who love their Xtracycles in Japan. Like this gentleman:

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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A recent post on our Facebook fan page by Andy Zimmerman, founder and creator of BikeWire, caught my eye. At first I thought it spam, he didn’t share anymore info than the link to the beta version of his site, and I clicked.

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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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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AUTHORS NOTE: As of 3/5/10, Xtracycle.com is out of stock of WideLoaders.  Our dealers can source them through our US distributor.  Check out a dealer in your area (and many will likely ship these to you) here.

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:

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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Owning an Xtracycle means more real estate for fun gadgets like air horns, electric motors and lights. One of our perennial favorites is Rock the Bike’s Down Low Glow. Their dual tube offering meshes perfectly with an Xtracycle’s long wheelbase, casting a fun glow that is guaranteed to excite passersby.

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!
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