Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.heyjaffy
11-22-09, 01:55 PM
I recently ordered the Xtracycle Peapod LT child seat (w/tech deck & watchamacollars) for my Xtracycle, which is bolted on to a NOS IronHorse steel MTB frame. I have two kids, a 4-year-old and 20-month-old that I had been previously transporting on my X with the 4-year-old sitting on the rear deck, holding onto some stoker bars, and the little one pulled behind in a Burley Solo trailer. This made for quite a train rolling through town. I thought it would be great to add the Peapod LT to the Xtracycle so as to cut down on my overall length. I mounted the Peapod LT in the far back position on the tech deck (which Xtracycle does point out as needing experienced driving skills vs. mounting the seat toward the front of the deck - so my little one can ride in the seat, and my 4-year-old can sit in her same old spot right behind me, holding onto the stoker bar.
I got out for our first ride yesterday and found starting up and low-speed handling to be a bit unsavory. The bike has a bit of a tail wagging the dog feel to it - I understand this is too be expected with a good bit of weight mounted high and aft on the Xtracycle. I don't know if what I'm feeling is frame, sub-frame, or wheel flex, or, if this is just physics at work. I'm looking to see if any of you have a similar build, but perhaps based on a Big Dummy, instead of donor bike + free radical kit. With the bargains going around on Big Dummy frames right now, I'd be inclined to pick one up if it could mean a less shaky ride, less flexible, more confident ride. In the meantime, I may just go back to the trailer, as the weather gets colder around here, the little one will probably prefer it anyway.
I got out for our first ride yesterday and found starting up and low-speed handling to be a bit unsavory. The bike has a bit of a tail wagging the dog feel to it - I understand this is too be expected with a good bit of weight mounted high and aft on the Xtracycle. I don't know if what I'm feeling is frame, sub-frame, or wheel flex, or, if this is just physics at work. I'm looking to see if any of you have a similar build, but perhaps based on a Big Dummy, instead of donor bike + free radical kit. With the bargains going around on Big Dummy frames right now, I'd be inclined to pick one up if it could mean a less shaky ride, less flexible, more confident ride. In the meantime, I may just go back to the trailer, as the weather gets colder around here, the little one will probably prefer it anyway.