This morning I had several things I needed to get to my office that were out of the norm. I had a couple big textbooks, my normal bag full of goodies (computer, power cord, etc) and a new coffee pot in the box. This would have normally resulted in me taking my car to the office as the bike I’ve been using lately has no where to store all that cargo. On the Surly Big Dummy everything fit easily.
The Surly Dummy is designed around the Xtracycle system and is rated to carry 200lbs worth of gear in addition to...Sconnyboy.Blogspot.comYes, it is decidedly much more like a regular bike than my Xtracycle conversions were. Having a wheelbase about 15 inches longer than the average bike, it's still not nimble, but the folks at Surly really did get the finer points of the geometry right. The steering has a light, normal feel and the frame feels stiffer and more solid than a conversion. Things do get a little strange in low-speed, tight-radius turns, but hey, we're talking about an eight-foot long bicycle.
CogAndChain.com
The very first thing I noticed was that the BD is . . . big. The box was incredibly huge and when the frame was pulled out, it was shocking. I knew that I was getting a cargo bike, but I had no idea that it would be that massive! The build was easy and, aside from having to spend a bit of time figuring out the Xtracycle attachments that went on the back of the bike, it was a standard assembly.
BowCycle.com
I had wanted an Xtracycle for a few years, but the plan never came together. I was worried it wouldn’t fit into my apartment, I didn’t have a donor bike to attach it to, I didn’t really love the 2 piece design, I had other bike priorities, etc… You know how it goes. Then in January 2008 I read on the Surly Blog they were making a integrated cargo bike frame that used the Xtracycle accessories and it was going to be olive drab. It must have been all those years I spent in the army and watching too much MASH, but I couldn’t help myself.
