Utility Cycling - My Big Dummy Build is almost complete!

The LBS called and said that all they had left to do was to make the final adjustments for which they needed me there.

I chose a set of bars and a seatpost that will give me an erect "Dutch" style seat. The saddle is an Easyseat. I asked for the strongest wheels they could get. Mechanical disc brakes (hydralic seemed excessive.) A Rolhoff 14-speed rear gear hub. A Shimano hub generator in front with a good bright light. Stoker bars mounted behind the seat for a snapdeck passenger. I got a new snapdeck which I refinished with marine-grade polyurithane (sp.?), but the other Xtracycle components will be transplanted from my X-ed Fuji Montero.

I'll submit a picture as soon as I have one.

The Fuji I will have stripped to the frame and built up again for my cousin.

Hey congrats! Be sure to post up pictures when it's done.

Naturally!

Suh-weet! Unveil the Dummy!

It turned out that my previous post was a little premature; there was a bit more to do than just the final fitting. However, the owner called me this PM and said that it is ready, really this time. I should be picking it up either tomorrow or Tuesday (the shop is closed Mondays.)

It has been more expensive than I thought it would be, but I think/hope it will be worth it. I got top-quality parts, and with decent maintainance it should last me for years.

1. Rolhoff hub gear.
2. Shimano hub generator with powerful floodlight on front.
3. I'm not sure of the brand of wheels, but I told them the strongest they could get; ditto with tires.
4. Electric horn; no more "Oh, I didn't hear you!"
5. Back-swept handlebars (I asked for Albatross bars; those wouldn't fit on the stem, but they got something along the same lines.) Stoker bars behind seat.
6. A Surley rack on the front for panniers.
7. It is simply bristling with bottle cages, either for bottles or for other accessories.

I'm hoping to get a Stokemonkey if/when they come back on the market; I've a friend who is an electrical engineer and he assures me that he can install it. WV is not called "the Mountain State" for nothing; Charleston is in, essentially, a canyon, and there are streets up which cars labor, let alone a bicycle!

Sounds like a very nice build! Would love to know a little more about that hub/generator and the electric horn.

And, of course....PIX, man!:twitchy:

http://www.axcessmypics.com/photo/photo05/29/91/815aa9889f40.jpg?th=100&tw=100&s=false

Elkhound, you tease. That pic is a postage stamp, bro!

Elkhound, you tease. That pic is a postage stamp, bro!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SMyJLbD8E1I/AAAAAAAAGDA/lUFPucHCt-g/s400/Me+with+Big+Dummy.JPG

The horn is electric, and very loud and very obnoxious. I was so sick of coming up behind people on the MUP and ringing my bell until I was practically on top of them. "Oh, I didn't hear you!" No way can they say that with a straight face--not unless they're deaf!

Also, no more having the batteries go out at the Most Inconvenient Moment when I'm nightriding, thanks to the Shimano generator hub.

I haven't actually tried any of the steep hills here with the Rolhoff, but I can at least imagine tackling them.

Nice setup, I am jealous. Maybe one of these days I can afford one.

After a week or so, I can report:

1. It is much more comfortable than my old Fuji Montero+Xtracycle. I hadn't realized how much the flex bothered me. Not to mention the almost Dutch upright seating position that the swept-back handlebars afford.

2. The Easyseat II is even more comfortable than the Easyseat I.

3. I mostly operate between gears 10 and 12 out of the 14; I've not been on a hill that required me to go lower than a 6. The Rolhoff does have a little trouble around gear 7--going into or out of it, one has to give just a little more OOMPH to turning the shifter. I do like the internal hub's ability to shift when stopped.

4. It is heavy, but once one gets started, one does not notice the weight, and in any case who rides a Big Dummy for speed anyway?