In the mailbag this week : Phil is wondering if the Surly Big Dummy is worth the money, owners of the Big Dummy give him input? Hello there! I was just checking out your website and I wonder if maybe you ever checked out Riding The Spine .com. Three hardy souls modified these bike somewhat…
After a couple months of daily riding the Surly Big Dummy for everything possible (including a 42 mile, over night camping trip), I’m ready to give my thoughts on how the bike fairs in carrying big loads and whether this is truly a car replacement. If you haven’t read my first two installments of this…
I’ve been riding the Surly Big Dummy on a daily basis for a month now and am reading to give my thoughts on how it works from a commuting standpoint. This first segment will focus on how it rides. One of the regular question of longtail bikes is how it rides. In general, it feels…
Replacement spring pins for the pegs of the Xtracycle WideLoader Rack and Xtracycle KickBack Kickstand. They fit the horizontal tube openings of Xtracycle and Big Dummy frames.
Collar-up This small contraption is used to lock down the V-Racks or Xtracycle Pannier Racks to the uprights of your FreeRadical or Big Dummy. 1 pair helps lock a set of racks on while 2 pairs keeps your racks secured extra tightly to prevent rattling on rough road adventures. 2 pairs of Watchamacollars are also recommended when you ride your Xtracycle without a deck. Other fancy functions of the Whatchamacollars include rust prevention. The rubber washers can prevent corrosion of your racks and uprights by keeping moisture out. Whatchamacollars also can act as a theft detterent, being tightly clamped to your valuable set up. Collar-up with the Watchamacollars! Download the Xtracycle Adventure/Pannier Kit Instruction Manual. Having problems mounting your WhatchamaCollars? Check out this blog post by The Lazy Randonneur!
Other than Xtracycle, there were several other developments on note in the arena of bike cargo trailer.
Kona was displaying their utility bike the Ute. The UTE like the Surly Big Dummy is a complete long haul cargo bike. Unlike the Big Dummy it does not utilize the Xtracycle rack system and instead has a built in rack system
The evolution of methods for carrying cargo on bicycles has been quite active in recent years. With a greater interest and need for carrying stuff on our bikes for touring, commuting or errands, there has been a revolution in new products that help accomplish this.
Attach 2007 or newer model Xtracycle FreeRadical Cargo Bike Kit to 2007 or newer model Freeloader Saddle Bags. Includes Bolts (4) and T-Washers (4).
Here at Commute by Bike and our sister site, www.CampfireCycling.com, we get a lot of happy folks who are very excited to share how they use their bikes for tours, commutes, and all other fun adventures. Today, we’ve got a round-up of some of the creative and epic uses of some great gear. DIY Trailers…
Pedaling up to Mama Burger for lunch recently, I noticed a cargo bike parked outside, unlike any cargo bike I’ve seen. This was an electric, cargo, single-speed, fatbike. I went inside and scanned the tables — there aren’t many of them to scan — thinking I’d be able to guess the owner of this bike…
Bike-Powered Piano Folk Rock Tour
BluesCat is a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, who originally returned to bicycling in 2002 in order to help his son get the Boy Scout Cycling merit badge. His bikes sat idle until the summer of 2008 when gas prices spiked at over $4.00 per gallon. Since then, he has become active cycling, day-touring, commuting by…
A few weeks ago, I posted a video about a Bike Move in Bozeman. I had found the video when I was watching another video about cargo bikes on YouTube, and I didn’t have any specifics about it. So when a reader asked a few questions in the comments section, I had no useful response….
There is more than one way to skin a cat just like there is more than one way to transport such unfortunate cats or other things on your bicycle. To be exact, there are three widely used, reliable ways to carry stuff on you bicycle. We’ve looked at carrying stuff by bike in Bicycling Bags…
Last April, we covered the most common methods for transporting goods on a bicycle in Stacey Moses’s article Carrying Your Stuff: Bicycle Bags and Racks. Now it is time to turn our utility cycling obsessed brains in the direction of a less frequently used method for transporting goods by bicycle, bicycle cargo trailers. Though used…
A late addition to our trailer series for a couple weeks ago. An amazing new trailer design from Surly, this will allow you to move your bed, fridge and kitchen sink by bicycle!
Xtracycle is a name that has long been associated with utility cycling. With the introduction of the FreeRadical, the longtail movement was born. Now, Xtracycle is a household name, associated with putting your car keys down and putting your bike helmet on. The longtail revolution has become a not-so-uncommon scene on city streets with specialty…
Come on now. I know that you think of yourself as a bike commuter. But all too often something gets in the way. As a small business owner who also likes calling himself a bike commuter, I’ve become quite familiar with all of the reasons (excuses) that it often seems much easier to take the…
Bike commuting is all over the news and maybe your work place has signed on for the commuter tax benefits.. We want to help you get on that bike and out using this amazing piece of transportation.. The more cyclist that are out on the road, the more we will be taken seriously and moving…
Going into the year of 2009 there was high hopes for the alternative solution to automobile use. The 2008 Interbike was full of transportation bikes, electric bikes and all levels of accessories to get people to use their bike daily. Once the gas prices settled back down most people also stopped using their bikes, and…
Xtracycle is a an amazing product that has changed a lot of people’s lives for the better. Their system allows you to take any bike and convert it into long bike to carry a big load. However, there have been some gaping holes in their offerings. Thankfully they’ve addressed many of these concerns with their…
I was browsing through Xtracycle’s 2009 catalog and saw a familiar bike — Anthony Stout’s Surly Big Dummy equipped with his custom rain cover. I profiled the Stouts family and their Sport Utility Bike here at Commute By Bike last August. If you take a look at Xtracycle’s new catalog, you can see Anthony and…
Trek World is Trek’s annual show where they show dealers what to expect over the coming year. I’ll have more about some exciting new bikes like the Trek District, a redesigned Soho (with belt drive) and others later, but first I want to mention Fisher’s El Ranchero cargo bicycle. The El Ranchero looks superficially like…
SF Bay Area firm pays 58.5 cents per mile for employees who bike for their jobs. “Schools move to eject cars from campuses,” USA Today. Dutch Bike Company Seattle to open a store in Chicago next month. They’ll sell Bakfiets, Velobris, Retrovelo, WorkCycle and other European utility bikes in the Windy City. Check out this…
on orders of $149 or more ***exclusions apply