Every Day Adventurers

In a recent How-To post about carrying passengers on your Xtracycle, Don tossed a tip our way about using Razor scooter handlebars to get an ‘xtra 2″ of peg space. Intrigued, and always excited for new mini-projects, I started scouring the local 2nd hand stores and re-use depots looking for forlorn Razors.

Scooter's got some chic factor and I've got some pegs

Sadly, working scooters, let alone busted, broke-down ones were either in happy use or languishing under 10-years of other fads. Figuring that one would land in my lap at some point, I decided to leave the pot to boil on its own.

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Footsies have an image problem. Not only did KickBack relegate Footsies to second most popular Xtracycle product, KickBack also kept Footsies from coming along for the ride.

RootsRadical, Josh Larios, not content to let his passengers use KickBack’s foot posts, modified his well-loved Footsies to play nice with KickBack. Here’s his advice and info should you want to get Footsies back on their feet:

Footsies and KickBack, Happy At Last

Using 7/8″ OD aluminum pipe salvaged from a broken jogger/stroller I found at the side of the road, I’ve modified my Xtracycle’s Footsies to be compatible with the Kickback center stand.

If I had any decent plywood, this would have been a completely new build. As it was, I reused the platforms from the original Footsies and fabricated everything else. I have plenty of tubing left over, though, so I may build a new set later, completely from scratch. There are some elements of this prototype that I’m not particularly happy with (spacers, loose tolerances leading to difficulty attaching/removing).

Note: Due to the farther standoff caused by KickBack, the heels of your existing Footsies will need to be angled in to reach the FreeRadical chainstay to properly velcro in place.

Visit Josh’s flickr page for all his build photos and share-away your own Footsie DITs!

Ride On!

Maker Faire Bay Area 2009 is the World’s big DIY (Do-It-Yourself) event. Each year over 600 do-it-yourselvers get together to show off their stuff – things they’ve created and invented on their own.  The event started in 2006 and is in its third year of existence

Sponsored by Make Magazine, the event is DIY creativity and resourcefulness at its fine-ist!

In our neck of the woods it was hosted on the San Mateo County Expo Center grounds in California for two full days (May 30th and 31st) of play and innovation. Certainly not enough time to see how much resourcefulness and creativity there is here in the Bay. But so inspiring none the less. You leave wanting more – with your own creative juices fully flowing.

This year’s theme “ReMake America – Building a Sustainable Future,” was based on President Obama’s call to action to become part of a new era of Do-It-Yourself.

Some of the DIY themes and projects this year included bicycle powered spin art, hydrogen powered rockets, creating power from everyday waste, making your own robot from recycled products, building electric go carts, building bikes with discarded stuff, how to grow your own mushrooms and food! Glorious food!

Xtracycle donated the use of our Fleet of Radishes for the crew of the Maker Fair to help them move their stuff and people around. From the smiles and hooping and hollaring – we sure could tell they were having fun, while working it  – thanks to the Radish!

More fun then a barrel of monkeys and a faster than your averaged life sized snail.

LongTail Technology’s (LT) modular system allows for creativity on many levels. Some users are fine with using our production model products and trim, but others see those tubes and imagination sparks go flyin’.

Galen (flickr: Muleteer) is just one of many creative tinkerers taking his Xtracycle to new levels. He recently wrote us, and posted photos on his flickr page of a rear trailer hitch for towing a bicycle behind your Xtracycle (as opposed to using a TrayBien, which mounts on the side). We’re calling it QuickHitch, for short.

Here’s Galen’s feedback on towing a bike using a QuickHitch:

“The bike in tow can pitch on the hub, and yawl on its own headset. Works great until the bike is at a right angle, and then, with no bike behind the fork anymore, the entire thing falls less than gracefully to the ground behind the big dummy. So, for those of you looking to replicate, make sure you don’t turn too slow too tight.”

Carting a second bike happens for a variety of reasons: A friend arrives on public transit, tow a spare bike on the way to greet them. A riding buddy flats or has mechanical breakdown, tow the crippled steed home with owner riding too! Or, you buy/sell/trade/barter/find a bicycle and need to transport it to its new home. Sure there’s more reasons, but that covers the usual fair.

Front View

How to get yourself setup with a QuickHitch

Top View

1. Installing Lamp Mount

Your QuickHitch attaches to the rear bridge of your Xtracycle. Clean the horizontal bridge before installing the Nitto lamp holder. Make sure the clamp plates on the bridge end of the clamp are on top, this keeps the hub end closer to the ground reducing wobble effects of the trailing bicycle. Use the 4mm Allen key to tighten the clamp bolts. Clamp should be horizontal to the ground, you can dip it a bit more if wobble is a factor in your test run. But, note that the lower the lamp holder is angled toward the ground, the more likely you’ll drag it when lifting the front wheel.

Side View

2. Prep towing bicycle and mount

Undo the front brake (ignore for disk brakes), remove the front wheel and stow in your FreeLoader. If you are using Adventure Racks or the Adventure Kit, snug to the side or your deck wheel using a CamStrap.

Insert fork onto QuitchHitch, be sure it’s just as snug as when you install your front wheel.

Turn on a blinky on the towing bike or tie a red flag on the saddle rails and roll!

Sal carries Sir Issac Newton (bike lovers give good names)

Post any photos/videos of your DIT QuickHitch here or on our Facebook fan page. Ride on!

P.S. Some people like having a larger footrest than the pegs KickBack has built in. Galen solves this with a simple solution: folding footpegs!

UPDATECarl followed the tutorial and fashioned his own tow-hitch setup. He also suggested something that we forgot to mention, using CamStraps or some other lashing device (Joel mentioned bungees in the comments section) to keep the sway of the towed bicycle to a minimum.

UPDATEJnyyz commented with his HitchBack rear fork mount, check it:

HitchBack: Won't rotate down like Nitto clamp might

Xtracycle rad-dad, Anthony's customized KickBack legs

Customizing our rides is one of the many things that draws us further into cycling culture. Sometimes it’s the perfect paint job, a well-worn leather saddle or that crazy doll you found in the gutter that now rides with you every where you go to help you identify with your bicycle.

For those rockin’ out KickBack, you can customize your ride some more. Use any tubing with a diameter of 7/8″ to replace the stock legs, but please use high-strength aluminum or steel if you’ll be carrying precious cargo like passengers, children or Fabergé eggs.

In the tutorial video below Nate demonstrates how to achieve a wider stance for your KickBack using steel cruiser handlebars. If you happen to customize your KickBack, please post some photos here or on our Facebook fan page. Ride on!

Xtracycle Dad, Anthony, chopped the ends of his Stoker Kit and used the ends to widen his KickBack stance to carry his two boys with added safety