Utility Cycling - Surly BD First Test Ride Report

Is the Surly Big Dummy supposed to be 45 lbs? My test ride impression was this felt like a very light bike that rode fast and rolled very smoothly. I had trouble believing this was a cargo bike! I forgot the Xtracycle was there!

I love mine. If I could only have one bike, it would be a Big Dummy!

(But I'm glad I can have more than one bike...)

To be honest, I rode it at the LBS unloaded. But it should feel a lot heavier with all the rear weight. Its a well-designed bike!

for some reason, I'm thinking in the Dirt Rag issue that had first impressions of The Dummy, their build stated 38lbs.

its a great bike. i love mine too.

it has very wide range of potential use.

i rode with a buddy up in Arcata, Ca. and his Dummy had a fairly lightweight XC wheelset, DT Hubs to MAVIC rims, and running something like a 1.5" lightweight touring slick.

depending on how you build it up, it has a wide range of "characteristic" to it.

i.e. on mine, I'm using a WTB DH wheelset, and a set of WTB Vulpine 2.1's.

i have a tendency to load it up every so often, and in the last 3 or 4 years, using an Xtracycle before, I'm now on my 3rd set of wheels for the Long Tail Cargo Bike.

i've been on mine for about a year now. its great.

here's a big long dribble (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=391518) if you're into reading a ton about The Dummy...

peace...d

Agreed. That's why its called the SUB of the bike world. If I wanted to carry more than just groceries, I would need at a minimum 2 wide loaders and 1 long loader, correct? Plus a pair of footsies for ferrying a passenger.

Agreed. That's why its called the SUB of the bike world. If I wanted to carry more than just groceries, I would need at a minimum 2 wide loaders and 1 long loader, correct? Plus a pair of footsies for ferrying a passenger.

I have 1 Long Loader. The number of times that its been essential to have, i'd say has been minimal. I dont have the occasion to haul things like ladders, etc... that often.

you'd be surprised how much you can haul without Wide Loaders. The Free Loaders handle quite a bit.

a portion of the Big Dummy frame has built in "footrests"

when i got the BD, i sold off the FreeRadical, and Footsies.

I probably don't need the footsies and I suspect I would use the WLs sparingly. Very few of us need to haul very long objects - as in what the LL allows. Big bulky boxes are more common - like boxed goods. I suspect the FLs can swallow up all but the biggest and most of those can be strapped on the snap deck before a resort to the WLs is necessary.

I used to ride my tandem alone all the time. Riding a high quality but heavy bike is no big deal.