More short hop large load hauling. Some neighbors two blocks up the street have had a pile of cut wood in their lawn for at least 5 months. I saw them watering their garden earlier in the week and asked if they minded if I hauled that off. They did not. So I saddled up the dummy yet again and got two good loads of wood for the winters burning. I will need to do some chopping and splitting, but that is good fun. It was way more wood than it looked in a random higgledy piggledy pile in their yard.
First load:
Second load:
Maybe a third of a mile each way?
First load again:
All I know is that it is much easier to load (and overload) the big dummy with split lumber as the
last time I scored some free firewood:
6 comments:
Nice! I was daydreaming of Xtracycles yesterday. They have a new pannier rack system for folks inclined to use their existing panniers. It looks like more fun to put a 3-yr old on the wood deck than to use a plain old kid seat on a plain old bike.
I recognize that Nashbar front rando rack. Good deal for $10!
OMG, that's fantastic! I was just telling my coworker about Surly bikes (he's thinking of buying a bike). I've got to show him this!!
The weight of the bike seems like it'd be too much to handle. I'm glad you made it safely.
Nordic68
It is a fun bike. I do really like the big side bags. The front rack is pretty neat, I think I will zip tie a basket to it for now.
getzapped,
Thanks it is fun. Spread the word.
Cullen,
This is what the bike is designed to do. I have had more on it. Safely. No problem. Thanks for the concern, I will sleep better tonight knowing you are glad I made it.
you are officially a hero of mine. I just (finally) bought a BOB trailer. This driving thing has got to stop.
How come you went big dummy instead of bob? Just curious.
Margo,
Thanks!
I have owned bob trailers and liked them. I used them pretty extensively when I lived in berkeley without a car for 6 years, lots and lots of laundromat and grocery store runs. However:
1. They really affect the steering of light 700c bikes with loads over 40 lbs or so. Tail wagging the dog thing. I was hopWork much better on mtb's and 20" bikes (even folders).
2. They top out at 70 lbs or so. They really start to flex the rear dropouts, and even seated pedaling gets sketchy.
I do think they are pretty useful with the right bike and loads under 70 lbs. Easy to store, easy on off, much less expensive than a dedicated cargo bike etc. When I had a small number of bikes it was very good thing. Now that i have lots of room I can have a dedicated load hauler.
The pro's on the big dummy are the 200lbs cargo capacity. Easy people hauling. Surprisingly trail capable. I have a single track long cut to the supermarket. Fits all the xtra cyle accesories. If you don't have too much on em and are strong you can hang them in your carport by the front wheel. I can barely do it now with all the wide loader, center stand and other accesories I have on it, but I can still throw it up there if I need to get it out of the way.
The cons are that while it is stiffer than an x-tra cycle attachment, they could have integrated the rear of the bike to the front better. If you ever are thinking of building one, I can ride the big dummy down to Santa Fe some day and you can ride it and I can show you what I like and what I would change. I am sure you have seen some of the other custom framebuilders longtails that have integrated Vracks and better connection between front and rear.
The other option are the front loader bakfeits and longjohns which are less off road capable but probably better for hauling kids and have higher load limits. They are harder to store than the longtails I think...
Finally, the last option is getting a 2 wheeled trailer which can carry a lot more than the one wheeled one. I did find an old wheeless burly trailer at a garage sale for 5 bucks and will one day tear off all the sun rotted canopy and replace it with a wood deck and rails to make a more cargo capable trailer.
Woo, anyhow, shoot me an email if you have any other questions, I have thought a fair amount about this over the years...
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