[quote=“solbrothers”][quote=“Rusty Piton”]I have no idea.
I live in chicago.
There are no hills other than short river bridges.[/quote]
lucky 
[/quote]
Hills are possibly my favorite thing ever. Too bad it’s at minimum 10 miles out to the nearest good one for me now.
I’m in the same situation, but replace 10 miles with 25 miles.
God I miss bombing hills. Parking garages just aren’t the same.
We got hella hills here. Going down is fun, but I’d prefer if things were flat.
Plenty of hills here. I may have a sweet deal on a free radical kit, so I’m dying to know how a long tail does when trying to sprint up a huge hill.
So I just had an idea. Rather than getting one of these, why not just get a cheap used tandem and set it up for one person? I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard to get the back end set up for cargo. This is another project for once the basement is a little bit cleared out and things settle down a bit.
Dude, there is no such thing as sprinting on a loaded longtail.
Dude, there is no such thing as sprinting on a loaded longtail.[/quote]
Psssssshhhh, if I can sprint with a loaded pedicab, a measly longtail is no match!
I fear no load!!!
sprint is a relative term.
“Out of the saddle mashing on the pedals (going really goddamned slow)”
It’s easy to go up hills, you sit and spin.
I’ve been riding my Xtracycle for about six months now, and while I don’t ride it every day, I do ride it at least a few days every week.
We mainly use it, in conjunction with our Wike Moonlight Double trailer, as a minivan substitute for our around-town stuff with our two kids.
The donor bike is a '92 Kona Lava Dome. Everything fit perfectly, it’s like my Kona’s frame was right in the sweetspot for what the Xtracycle designers had in mind. I did all the work myself at the local bike co-op and it was easy and fun.
I had to upgrade to v-brakes because the Xtracycle attachment is not compatible with cantilever brakes. Your options are v-brakes or discs. I used Avids SD-7s and they work great. Our town is not excessively hilly, but almost everything is on some degree of grade or another. You certainly have to plan ahead when carrying weight (especially with trailer as well), but it’s never been a problem. If I lived in the Northwest, however, I would probably go with discs front and rear just to have better wet weather performance.
I am still using the original and well worn Exage 500 drivetrain and it’s working out fine. When carrying a load, you definitely just stay in the saddle and spin up hills, out of the pedal mashing gets things moving around way too much back there.
If you are going to carry any kind of serious load with your Xtracycle, I think you need to have at least 21 speeds with MTB gearing. A lot of people get by with just an eight speed (usually one chainring up front and a derailleur in back), but if you are seriously going to tow loads, you need more range, IMHO. I towed our kids’ trailer for a while with my fixed gear and it was soul crushing up even the tiniest grades. With the Xtracycle, I can easily climb 15% grades (slowly, of course)… “spin to win” 
With a heavier load (150lbs.+) you definitely notice some sway back there and need to keep the speed down. I am a big guy (6’3" and 215lbs.) so I am a pretty good counterbalance to whatever I’m carrying, but I could see a smaller person having more thrills when transporting a big load. Go slow, take your time, and you will be fine.
The Xtracycle kit is pretty expensive, but it’s a real niche product. I personally think you only really need to get the basic Free Radical Kit (currently $489 on the Xtracycle site). Get that setup and use it for a while, then think long and hard whether your really think you need any of the other stuff.
IMHO, the two most useful additions (and the only ones I have ended up using) are the Footsies and the Stoker Bar. I bought the Footsies along with my kit, but had to homebrew the stoker bar because Xtracycle didn’t have theirs available yet. The stoker bar has the added advantage of helping park/walk/shove around the full loaded bike. I use mine all the time for those purposes.
The other major FTW mod I recommend is getting a dynamo front hub and dynamo-driven head and tail lights. Those things turn the Xtracycle into a serious “fuggedaboudit” car replacement… you simply don’t have to think about “are my batteries charged? Can I fit _____ into my messenger bag?” Carry some bungees and compression straps in one of the Free Loader (big side bags) and you are good to go for pretty much anything / everything.
In sum, while my Xtracycle is nowhere near as fun to ride as my fixed gear Cross Check, it’s by far and away the most functional and useful of my four bikes. It’s the one I’d keep if I could only keep one bike, just because it’s the most practical. And it’s damn cool to throw my messenger bag in a Free Loader, my bigass Krypto lock in another, and still have plenty of room for picking up “whatever” while running errands…
Steve
Anything and everything.
two 60 pound cabinet speakers
I’m thinking about upgrading to a front disk.
[quote=“Rusty Piton”]Anything and everything.
two 60 pound cabinet speakers
I’m thinking about upgrading to a front disk.[/quote]
i just rode a bike with discs for the first time about a month ago…
it’s freaky how fast they stop you…
like scary fast. i had a hard time with it actually.
My MTB has mechanical disks.
It’s awesome.
I kinda want hydraulics.
[quote=“Rusty Piton”]Anything and everything.
two 60 pound cabinet speakers
I’m thinking about upgrading to a front disk.[/quote]
Potential Xtracycle buyers: please note that Rusty is carrying those enormous speaker cabinets without the use of Wideloaders. The takeaway is that Wideloaders are not as necessary as they might seem.
I ended up getting Wideloaders as well when I ordered my X kit, and have used them a few times, but they’re really not that necessary unless you’re going to be carrying really bulky loads. The Free Loader bags are designed basically like big tarps, and they are capable of carrying a ton of stuff very securely without the need for the Wideloaders in many/most situations.
You also cannot use the Footies with the Wideloaders, and the Wideloaders stick out far enough that they are kind of in the way, especially when getting on/off the bike and maneuvering it around by hand. I.e. you probably wouldn’t want to leave them on all the time.
That said, there are others (like Devian at http://asanacycles.com/) who have the Wideloaders and use them to great success. However, like I recommended above, just get the basic kit and use it for a while before investing in a lot of accessories. I find my Wideloaders spend most of their time leaned up against the wall in the garage 
Steve
P.S. - Make sure to check out the Rootsradicals group on Yahoo if you’re thinking about getting an Xtracycle. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rootsradicals
Excellent post. Thanks for sharing.
Agreed. Maybe a mod could clean that up for the review section.
Would something like this allow for cantilever brakes on the xtracycle?
yes.
I was contacted by one of the mods on that subject and am working on cleaning it up right now.
Thanks guys, I love sharing what I know and learning from others, best thing about the Internets if you ask me (well, that and the pr0n anyways… LOL) 