My New Truck

My new truck cost $250, or just five old tires. (converted to belts
and traded for cash)

gloat
It's a very lightly used demo unit Xtracycle "Free Radical" that came
with the bags, kick stand and a Surly Singleator attached. It also
included an extra kickstand, extra "snap deck" and the "rock steady"
four legged auxiliary stand. All in all; an outstanding bargain.
/gloat

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

With its two hundred pound payload capabilities, in addition to its
trailer load, I can easily visualise an electric motor in its future.

Time to go scrounge some more tires.
--
zk

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:
My new truck cost $250, or just five old tires. (converted to belts
and traded for cash)

gloat
It's a very lightly used demo unit Xtracycle "Free Radical" that came
with the bags, kick stand and a Surly Singleator attached. It also
included an extra kickstand, extra "snap deck" and the "rock steady"
four legged auxiliary stand. All in all; an outstanding bargain.
/gloat

Congrats on your newest bike (well, half-bike) adoption!

It sounds very pretty indeed.

Whutza snap deck? Something that provides for passengers?
That'd be Xtra kewl.

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Maybe a scary one grin

With its two hundred pound payload capabilities, in addition to its
trailer load, I can easily visualise an electric motor in its future.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^

I dunno. I suspect that you, like myself, are of two minds about that.
Those garbage-can-lid hub motors are intriguing. But it's /so/
mixed medium.

In continuation with my bike -- canoe analogy, XtraCycles remind me
of the Hudson Bay Co. spec'd cargo canoes of yore. Or York boats.

Time to go scrounge some more tires.

Pitter-patter, better get at 'er.

I just scored a li'l trailer from my across-the-lane neighbour.
Except he's got the chainstay-attaching arm somewhere in storage.
He'll get it to me later this week.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Zoot Katz wrote:
My new truck cost $250, or just five old tires. (converted to belts
and traded for cash)

gloat
It's a very lightly used demo unit Xtracycle "Free Radical" that came
with the bags, kick stand and a Surly Singleator attached. It also
included an extra kickstand, extra "snap deck" and the "rock steady"
four legged auxiliary stand. All in all; an outstanding bargain.
/gloat

One of us! One of us!

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Interesting combination. I'm actually finding myself only using my
smallest chainring on very rare occasions. But I'm really wishing for a
higher gear fairly often. I figure I'll grind the large chainring to
dust and then replace it with something with a couple more teeth.

With its two hundred pound payload capabilities, in addition to its
trailer load, I can easily visualise an electric motor in its future.

My wife has expressed interest in converting her bike to an Xtracycle,
with the proviso that a stokemonkey would probably be part of the deal.
If it gets her on the bike more often, I think it would be worth it.

Time to go scrounge some more tires.

Have fun, and try not to buy too many accessories [1]. I just made up a
set of footies for my bike. I had some of my wife's relatives visiting
and I wanted to drag her nephew out on the Xtracycle. Fortunately, a
visit to the hardware store and $6 later, I was able to fashion a very
servicable pair. Now to sand, paint, stencil and seal them. I'm
thinking a gecko stencil would be nice.

Which reminds me, I need to go take some better pics of mine and post
them.

[1] Though in moments of madness, I am tempted by the blender.

--
Dane Buson -
"When the universe doesn't give a ****, don't be mad:
it's being as friendly as it ever gets"
-Slovotsky's Law #16

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:21:33 -0500, Kevan Smith
wrote:


Sweet. You can find old F150s around these parts for that price, but you
still got the better truck.

I'll bet I get more miles out of it.
It's nice to know that I am the tow truck.
--
zk

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:59:59 -0700, (Tom
Keats) wrote, in part:


Whutza snap deck? Something that provides for passengers?
That'd be Xtra kewl.

It forms the top of the rack and just snaps in place. People can sit
or stand on it. The molded plastic hooks on its underside are the
same fittings used for mounting the accessory foot boards. The foot
boards are primarily what makes it useful for passengers.

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Maybe a scary one grin

Really it's all about the aesthetic. I'm trying to decide which frame
will permit the neatest cabling with the fewest additional braze-ons.
There are a few factors encouraging me to use the Univega mixte
frame. It looks neat though it probably won't accommodate an eventual
Stokemonkey conversion. The step through design is undoubtedly
handier if the top rack "snap deck" is loaded. It's a hybrid frame
that after a few file strokes will accommodate the XtraCycle. I might
end up either swapping the front fork or running the larger 700C
front wheel. Schwalbe's Big Apple come in both sizes

I found a nice*, lockable, HD plastic, modular shipping box that
holds 2.5 times as much as a milk crate. It may become the default
cargo loader permanently attached to the spare snap deck. The bags
themselves provide no security.

I can easily visualise an electric motor in its future.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^

I dunno. I suspect that you, like myself, are of two minds about that.
Those garbage-can-lid hub motors are intriguing. But it's /so/
mixed medium.

A rear wheel hub motor appeals to my eye more than the front wheel
one. It would be hidden by the bags. Thread on a 7spd free-wheel.

In continuation with my bike -- canoe analogy, XtraCycles remind me
of the Hudson Bay Co. spec'd cargo canoes of yore. Or York boats.

Yep, it's definitely a freighter and turns around like one too.
Getting it inside is trickier portage.
\
I just scored a li'l trailer from my across-the-lane neighbour.
Except he's got the chainstay-attaching arm somewhere in storage.
He'll get it to me later this week.

Hey! that's the right price. The hitch is the critical part of
trailer design. Stronger ones can generally be cobbled up at home.

*The box belonged to Toyota Canada. I found it in the park bin when
discarding some trash on a MC3 ride/stop. Yorick wasn't equipped to
carry it so I stashed and camouflaged it until the next day.
--
zk

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:00:57 -0700, Dane Buson
wrote:

Zoot Katz wrote:
My new truck cost $250, or just five old tires. (converted to belts
and traded for cash)

gloat
It's a very lightly used demo unit Xtracycle "Free Radical"
\szip

One of us! One of us!

There will be at least one other at tonight's BBQ, (the host's).
Possibly 2 more, depending on what bikes they ride.
I don't _have_ take the truck. The chopper or a fixie would be more
socially stylish. I'm enjoying the "new bike" rush. New bikes, and
even old ones reborn, are always faster.

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Interesting combination. I'm actually finding myself only using my
smallest chainring on very rare occasions. But I'm really wishing for a
higher gear fairly often. I figure I'll grind the large chainring to
dust and then replace it with something with a couple more teeth.

The 3X7 hub gives me 4 gears higher than the straight 48-13 combo
would otherwise. Top gear is ~125".

I can live with 21 speeds but having 63 available didn't slow me
down. It was Q&D to leave on the two thumb shifters and only add a
twist shifter for the 3 spd. I think the better way to go is with two
twisters and a thumbie for the front derailleur. Maybe get a top-pull
FD and mount its shifter on the seat tube.

While other things about the bike are still unsettled, I'm sticking
with the internal gear hub. It proved its versatility today with the
cargo laden test run. (My first BIG bag of kitty litter since selling
the station wagon 1996!) Shifting into a lower gear while stopped is
very handy for starting off. One chainring is really enough when
using the SRAM dual-drive hub.

With its two hundred pound payload capabilities, in addition to its
trailer load, I can easily visualise an electric motor in its future.

My wife has expressed interest in converting her bike to an Xtracycle,
with the proviso that a stokemonkey would probably be part of the deal.
If it gets her on the bike more often, I think it would be worth it.

If it keeps her from using the car more often it's probably worth it.

Time to go scrounge some more tires.

Have fun, and try not to buy too many accessories [1]. I just made up a
set of footies for my bike. I had some of my wife's relatives visiting
and I wanted to drag her nephew out on the Xtracycle. Fortunately, a
visit to the hardware store and $6 later, I was able to fashion a very
servicable pair. Now to sand, paint, stencil and seal them. I'm
thinking a gecko stencil would be nice.

The steel handle bars off a trashed cheapo folding scooter fit
perfectly into the foot tube so there's a start for my footrests.
Since most of their accessories are simply bent tubing, I'm not
rushing out to buy anything. I'm just keeping an eye open for useful
scrap tubing.

Which reminds me, I need to go take some better pics of mine and post
them.

[1] Though in moments of madness, I am tempted by the blender.

That was my first thought when I realised that my Xtracycle came with
the auxiliary stand and a spare snap deck. Then I started thinking
about generating electricity with it.
The auxiliary stand has already proved quite useful for setting up
the gears and brakes because the thing won't hang on my repair stand.
--
zk

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Maybe a scary one grin

Really it's all about the aesthetic. I'm trying to decide which frame
will permit the neatest cabling with the fewest additional braze-ons.
There are a few factors encouraging me to use the Univega mixte
frame.

In my own experience, mixte frames can get kind of whippy when
it comes to carrying cargo loads. But that's with the top-heavy
milk crate approach; maybe the more linear Xtracycle design with
its lower weight would fare better than a rack-mounted milk crate
with a bunch of weight sitting on top of the rear wheel. I can
see the appeal of the step-thru config. I still can't help
thinking something with a severely sloped single downtube might
make a stiffer front-end than a twin-tubed mixte, while providing
some of that step-thru accomodation. Or even an old-style
"girl's bike" frame with parallel S-curved top/down tubes.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:

I'm hooking it up to one of three frames laying around and running
the SRAM 3X7 rear hub that's been gathering dust. Sixty-three speeds
is a distinct possibility

Maybe a scary one grin

Really it's all about the aesthetic. I'm trying to decide which frame
will permit the neatest cabling with the fewest additional braze-ons.
There are a few factors encouraging me to use the Univega mixte
frame.

In my own experience, mixte frames can get kind of whippy when
it comes to carrying cargo loads. But that's with the top-heavy
milk crate approach; maybe the more linear Xtracycle design with
its lower weight would fare better than a rack-mounted milk crate
with a bunch of weight sitting on top of the rear wheel. I can
see the appeal of the step-thru config. I still can't help
thinking something with a severely sloped single downtube might
make a stiffer front-end than a twin-tubed mixte, while providing
some of that step-thru accomodation. Or even an old-style
"girl's bike" frame with parallel S-curved top/down tubes.

I suspect you're underestimating the strength of the widely separated
twin tubes of a mixte. I'm pretty sure the near-universal consensus is
that those skinny tubes, extended straight to the rear dropout, make
typical mixte frames at least as strong as a standard frame by most
measures.

In the case of your milk-crate experience, you would be giving the mixte
frame the worst workout possible: the seatpost is relatively
unsupported, and you're using the top of it as a stabilizing mount for
your load in the milk crate. It's gonna get a little whippy.

The BikeXtra does all its connecting-to-the-frame magic way down by the
bottom bracket and the rear dropouts. I think Zoot will be just fine.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 21:41:45 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In my own experience, mixte frames can get kind of whippy when
it comes to carrying cargo loads. But that's with the top-heavy
milk crate approach; maybe the more linear Xtracycle design with
its lower weight would fare better than a rack-mounted milk crate
with a bunch of weight sitting on top of the rear wheel. I can
see the appeal of the step-thru config. I still can't help
thinking something with a severely sloped single downtube might
make a stiffer front-end than a twin-tubed mixte, while providing
some of that step-thru accomodation. Or even an old-style
"girl's bike" frame with parallel S-curved top/down tubes.

I've found the bike that I think I want for Xtracycle duty; a 2004
Norco "Blacktop Bomber". I don't like the newer ones where the top
top-tube is a tank.
http://www.norco.com/bikes/2004bikes...pec_bomber.jpg

Or an older Kona "Humuhumu Nukunuku Apu'a"
http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/HUMUHUMU/index.html

I think the Norco might be aluminium and that puts me off a tad.

Both bikes being coaster braked single speeds, there are no unsightly
extraneous braze-ons to be ground off.

A Shimano roller brake Nexus Dynohub for the front is on the spec
list too. The bike must have "real" lighting to be serviceable.

I've been riding the bike lots to get accustomed to its quirks and
sort out the cockpit. I've not yet trimmed the cables because I'm
still swapping around handlebars and stuff. It definitely needs its
own Brooks boinger saddle and AirZound horn for my comfort.

This next week I plan to try it on the mixte frame and later on the
Maruishi polo-bike with its radically sloped top tube.

But I'd forego the convenience of the step-through, or _almost_
step-through, for one of those horny lookin' Norcos or Konas.

I'm pretty sure this bike is going to be red like a fire truck.
--
zk

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:
On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 21:41:45 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In my own experience, mixte frames can get kind of whippy when
it comes to carrying cargo loads. But that's with the top-heavy
milk crate approach; maybe the more linear Xtracycle design with
its lower weight would fare better than a rack-mounted milk crate
with a bunch of weight sitting on top of the rear wheel. I can
see the appeal of the step-thru config. I still can't help
thinking something with a severely sloped single downtube might
make a stiffer front-end than a twin-tubed mixte, while providing
some of that step-thru accomodation. Or even an old-style
"girl's bike" frame with parallel S-curved top/down tubes.

I've found the bike that I think I want for Xtracycle duty; a 2004
Norco "Blacktop Bomber". I don't like the newer ones where the top
top-tube is a tank.
http://www.norco.com/bikes/2004bikes...pec_bomber.jpg

Or an older Kona "Humuhumu Nukunuku Apu'a"
http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/HUMUHUMU/index.html

I think the Norco might be aluminium and that puts me off a tad.

Both bikes being coaster braked single speeds, there are no unsightly
extraneous braze-ons to be ground off.

A Shimano roller brake Nexus Dynohub for the front is on the spec
list too. The bike must have "real" lighting to be serviceable.

I've been riding the bike lots to get accustomed to its quirks and
sort out the cockpit. I've not yet trimmed the cables because I'm
still swapping around handlebars and stuff. It definitely needs its
own Brooks boinger saddle and AirZound horn for my comfort.

This next week I plan to try it on the mixte frame and later on the
Maruishi polo-bike with its radically sloped top tube.

But I'd forego the convenience of the step-through, or _almost_
step-through, for one of those horny lookin' Norcos or Konas.

So howzit workin' out? Have you settled on a config that suits you
to a tee, or are you experimenting, seeing what works best? And have
you encountered any XtraCycle -- bike frame compatibility issues?

I'm pretty sure this bike is going to be red like a fire truck.

I'd bet this snap deck thing is pearl white :-)

I'm not much into gold (colour,) but sometimes to my eye a
tasteful li'l smidgeon of it looks pretty good against hot red.
As does a little bit of black and/or insanity-yellow detail.
Or pearl white.

If ya wanna create a dramatic, heretical colour clash, a certain,
careful amount of olive (shaded) green + dull black might do the trick.
On second thought, maybe not. Green isn't a dynamically violent
colour, since it prefers to either siege & attrit, or to guerilla,
while hot red comes at'cha like a battle-axe wielding Berserker
or Baron Von Richthofen.

I guess the workability of hot red + olive green depends on the
implementation & approach. Maybe it's something to mess around
with, and see if it works or not.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca