My wife and I live in a small apartment with five of our bicycles living with us. The first moment of zen came when I realized I was tall enough to store my lighter road/mtn bikes horizontally against the ceiling, but my Big Dummy still took up a commanding amount of square footage.
We recently shifted the rooms around and need that precious footprint to be reduced. Problem was, I need to store the Dummy on it’s tail, but maneuvering a wheel-less Big Dummy like that was bound to scratch and damage the rear bridge tube. What I need were some casters to allow me easy positioning and storage of my Xtracycle cargo bike in a vertical position.
I sketched up a design diagram, chatted with Ross about some potential pitfalls, and dove right in. Was a bit hasty about the initial two prototypes, but finally ironed out my issues with the third version.
Now I can easily bring the bike inside, hold the rear brake, lift up the wheel, TailWheels make contact, and then I push on my MagicCarpet with my knee while still holding the handlebars to get it into full, mobile and upright position.
It’s also been a boon for use on BART and elevators. No more scratched paint or dented tubes!
Ride on!
The Xtracycle platform’s coolest feature, IMHO, is its modularity and ability to customize the platform for specific tasks. Numerous Xtracycle riders have utilized the plug-n-play features of their X’s for years. Wes Trout, an Xtra owner for 3 years, has taken customizing his Xtracycle to an impressive level.
We’ve occasionally interacted via the RootsRadicals Yahoo! Xtracycle user group, but recent record snowfalls and his newest invention, the Snow Plow, caught my eye and I had to get more details on his projects. Read the full interview below about how Wes started his own business, Shifting Gears, catering to the needs of businesses seeking sustainable solutions for their needs, and his perspective on cargo cycling culture.
Wes Trout with his cargo bike snow plow
Read the rest of this entry »
In the spirit of adventure and following the lead of other Xtracycle bikestars, Pebble Pedalers Seth and Parker Berling are riding from Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego. Their purpose?
raise awareness of and garner support for protecting the Bristol Bay Watershed from the largest proposed open pit mine in North America. Riding through 15 countries—from Prudhoe Bay, the northernmost point accessible by road in Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of Argentina—we work towards preservation, protection and the restoration of watersheds throughout the Americas in partnership with Trout Unlimited. Please join our fight by educating yourselves on this critical issue and taking action with both pen and pocketbook.
Check out their photos of the trip thus far.
Pebble Pedaler Website
The snobbiest cyclist out there lashes Surly’s Big Dummy Xtracycle cargo bicycle after a 6-month ownership:
I do, however, want and need to carry crap, and the Big Dummy immediately proved to be very capable in this regard. In fact, I was surprised to discover that it soon seemed indispensable to me.
Of course, the only thing that makes this decadent orgy of cycling smugness possible is that I have a relatively safe place to store this bicycle at street level, which is not the case for many people in big cities (unless you’re a wealthy person with a hyphenated name–even in 21st century bike-friendly New York, smugness is a luxury). Also, while I’m comfortable trawling the streets of Brooklyn with it and even locking it up occasionally, the stock Big Dummy is an expensive bicycle, and it’s too lavishly-appointed to leave unattended in a place like Manhattan for long periods of time. For the same functionality (assuming you have the room), you can obviously bolt an Xtracycle to a crappy old mountain bike, or just get the Big Dummy frame if you’re one of those people with a bunch of spare parts, since it’s got provisions and braze-ons for pretty much everything.
Read the full review atBike Snob NYC.
Snag your Big Dummy here.
As we dial in our lives and rides we find things that work. When said things work smoothly, repeatedly we can sometimes become complacent and think, “That couldn’t/won’t/wouldn’t happen to me.”
Then, like a jealous, vengeful wrath, Murphy swings in and says, “Ah-a-ah… Let’s ground that ego for a bit,” and leaves you sweating, cursing and futzing with your previously perfect setup.
Vik experienced just that with his recent mega load on his Surly Big Dummy Xtracycle cargo bicycle in Victoria, BC.
Read his post at: Bow Cycle | Vik’s Picks » Murphy’s Law….
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