[Mr. Jim]

Thinking of building an Xtra up. I'm waffling on what to use for a base bike however. I have an older touring bike I could use or I could grab a Kona Smoke or a CX Bike from Bikesdirect for a decent price. Most Xtras seem to be made from commuter or mountain frames. Anyone have any experience with building one from a CX or drop bar touring bike? (pics would be bonus) I will use this for around town some but plan on touring with it quite a bit which is why I am looking in this direction.

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[roughrider504]

With the rear wheel farther back and most of the weight [you] centered between the wheels, there is more weight on the front wheel than a normal bicycle. This is why you don't see many people using drops, the extra leverage helps.

I'd bet some butterfly touring bars would work nicely though.

[Mr. Jim]

Would it be weird to handle with the Drops then? I'm thinking of CX "dirt drop" type bars

[roughrider504]

The steering might feel a little sluggish, basically heavy, with small [road] bars. Most people run mountain or mustache bars which are wide enough to counteract this. Dirtdrops look pretty wide so you might be ok using them.

[streetlightpoet]

I ran mine on a Bianchi San Jose for awhile before taking it off. The drops were fine most of the time but didn't give a great 'get out of the seat and mash' position when loaded. I think a stiffer frame and gears would have been more important improvements to my experience however. All in all drops worked fine.

[xcapekey]

Hi there...saw this post and thought i'd respond...i've had my xtra for a few years and for the first build, i put it on a trek 520 with drops...

http://www.russroca.com/xtra/xtradvertising3.jpg

It performed well, however, I will say that it's tough to climb standing up with a big load....the rear just swings and it's harder (for me at least) to control it when using drops...the width and the position of the hands just didn't work with a big load....

My current build is with a rigid mtn bike and I'm using albatross bars....at first I felt they were too wide, but now I have grown to love them for cargo applications...

It really depends on your terrain. No hills, lots of wind - drops.....Lots of hills, little wind - swept backs.

[Mr. Jim]

Well no hills and a decent amount of wind is my area. It is dead flat around here, you have to go 50 miles to find anything bigger than a highway overpass.