home built xtracycle...

[badmother]

Cyclaholic- what about using a 26" wheel and some "road brakes" if that can be found? You can buy some special brakes that can be used for two diff sizes of wheels, but hallf the fun is to make it low cost.. Maybe make some sort of extension to the brake arms? Then ofcourse there is the hub breake posibility.

I am lucky, there is a unlimited access to dumpster bikes in the area. I pull them out and give them to the refugees in the area, and I find all I need for my projects. Also wheelchairvheels for trailers.

Do you think your rear triangel would be stronger if you put a seattube innside again? Maybe the top of that seat tube could help you find a way to connect to the main frame, especially if you need to go "weld free".

[roughrider504]

A little update, I built the rack today. It is not completely done, I still need to cut out the sheet metal support that goes from the front of the rack and bolts up to the rear brake hole, and fabricate some bag supports - much like a regular rack. After it is done I can shellac it to make it look sweet. But you can see how a messenger bag can clip on and such, its pretty cool.

[badmother]

Stunning, great idea with the wood!

[Cyclaholic]

Cyclaholic, are you going to raise the second rear triangle any? If you don't the frame geometry will be off and you'll probably need shorter cranks. I have the same sized wheels and I had to raise mine to get the top tube back level. I don't think the 24'' rear wheel is a good idea since its normally a good idea to get as much BB height as you safely can for these extended bikes. Whenever I had the bike mocked up, I used 26'' wheels [frame meant for 27''] with 170mm cranks [165mm now], and that was enough to give me some problems with striking.

EDIT: One solution to your seatstay problem could be somehow using an axle that goes through your bottom bracket to mount the second rear triangle. You can probably find some large washers that fits right in the cups or something like that.

Yeah, I don't want to lose any bb clearance and I've been thinking about just how to best address the geometry question. I also confirmed my suspicion that the stays on the main frame interfere with the chainline and it's worse than I first thought, so they have to go.

The upside is that by replacing the seatstays and chainstays of the main frame with tubing I'm free to position the extra triangle wherever I please. I'm free to arrange the frame geometry to accomodate the 24" rear wheel and give the bb as much clearance as it needs. It just means a bit more work than first anticipated.

Cyclaholic- what about using a 26" wheel and some "road brakes" if that can be found? You can buy some special brakes that can be used for two diff sizes of wheels, but hallf the fun is to make it low cost.. Maybe make some sort of extension to the brake arms? Then ofcourse there is the hub breake posibility.

I am lucky, there is a unlimited access to dumpster bikes in the area. I pull them out and give them to the refugees in the area, and I find all I need for my projects. Also wheelchairvheels for trailers.

Do you think your rear triangel would be stronger if you put a seattube innside again? Maybe the top of that seat tube could help you find a way to connect to the main frame, especially if you need to go "weld free".

I'm fortunate that welding is not a problem. However, I'm a bit more limited in my choice of dumpster bikes and a good find here is a rare find so I want to use what I have at hand. Unfortunately I don't have a spare 26" rear wheel, only that 24" which is in perfet conition. like you said, half the fun is keeping it low cost.

I like your idea of extending the brake arms, I hadn't thought of that! It's the rear rear brake so I'd be willing to give it a try. They're V-brakes made of pressed steel so cutting and welding in an extension on the arms shouldn't be too difficult. I'll put this one away in the memory bank i/when the opportunity arises to onvert it over to a 26" rear wheel.

[diff_lock2]

How do you attach the downer(sp) bikes BB to the main bikes rear dropouts??

And the support bar that goes to the primary bikes BB.

[Cyclaholic]

I made some progress on the frame today, all but one of the new structural members tacked in place. I drew in the missing piece just to see how it looks...



The BB is about 1" above its original height.

[roughrider504]

That looks really nice! With the 24'' rear wheel you can mount your rack lower, lowering the center of gravity at the same time. It should work really well.

[roughrider504]

Here is the final update for my XtraSomething. It rides so great! The handling of a long bike is slightly different than a regular bicycle and very fun at the same time.

[badmother]

Great bikes both!

Instead of ExtraSomething you could call it ExtraLong.

Struggeling with some more pix of mine. maybe tomorrow.

[Cyclaholic]

Here is the final update for my XtraSomething. It rides so great! The handling of a long bike is slightly different than a regular bicycle and very fun at the same time.

I love your work I really like the clean look of the drivetrain and lack of cables. You should show ths one off in the ss/fg forum.

Do you notice more frame flex now?
what's preventing the rack from pivoting back and forward?

[roughrider504]

I love your work I really like the clean look of the drivetrain and lack of cables. You should show ths one off in the ss/fg forum.

Do you notice more frame flex now?
what's preventing the rack from pivoting back and forward?

Thanks! I haven't noticed while riding but the frame is pretty flexy now [like if I wiggled it by the handlebars]. It is most probably the extra weight of the rear end. I don't think it is a problem though, unless you are cranking up hills I guess. Nothing is holding the rack from moving back and forth yet. I am going to run a metal brace from the front of the rack to the rear brake bridge.

[kemmer]

yay for this thread! boo for me not starting mine yet.

And Cyclaholic, the swing bike is very strange at first but you get the hang of it pretty quickly. I haven't quite mastered wheelies, you can't stand up while pedaling at all and it's pretty frightening at high speed but other than that it rides (mostly) like a regular bike once you're used to it.

[Cyclaholic]

I finished all the welding and put enough bits on to take her for a test run (front brake, only front derailer cabled up, rear der set to the middle of the casette)..... well, it works. there's a very slight corkscrew twist in the frame but it doesn't seem to have any adverse affects on the handling. It's a lot stiffer and not as heavy as I thought it would be, although there's still plenty of bits to bolt on and a big rack to build.

It nearly put me on my arse the first time I leaned into a turn. It was the weirdest sensation, I could really feel the extra length. It was like sitting at the front of the bus when its turning and it feels like the whole thing is going sideways. It only took me about 5 minutes to adjust then I really enjoyed it. I cant wait to show up at the mall on this thing all kitted out to carry a week's worth of groceries.

I'm really excited about the whole project now! I'm thinking about color schemes, for some reason I really like the idea of matt olive-green and using some cammo netting to build cargo bags. A real 'urban assault vehichle' sort of theme.

[roughrider504]

If I couldn't get more creative, this is operated by a left side brake lever. Hey, they have to hear me coming when I have a wide load somehow!

[badmother]

Like your description of the screwdriver. Riding a bike like that is like riding a horse- it`s got its own will.

Go for olive. We need personalized bikes.

[Cyclaholic]

If I couldn't get more creative, this is operated by a left side brake lever. Hey, they have to hear me coming when I have a wide load somehow!

Brilliant!

[Cyclaholic]

I wonder if the original xtracycle people have seen this thread?..... what would they make of all these xtracycle mutant spawn bikes?

[badmother]

It is a compliment to them, is`nt it?

[HandsomeRyan]

I wonder if the original xtracycle people have seen this thread?..... what would they make of all these xtracycle mutant spawn bikes?

I think they'd be cool with it; they probably borrowed the idea from someone themselves.

Ernest Michaux invented the first 'modern' bicycle in 1861. I find it hard to believe that it was 137 years before someone thought of extending the rear to add cargo room. Xtracycle was simply the first to make a commercially successful product out of the idea.

Great work to all of you building them on your own though! There are some sweet lookin' bikes in this thread.

[kemmer]

I think they'd be cool with it; they probably borrowed the idea from someone themselves.

On top of that, more of these kinds of things on the street will only help their sales. Most people will opt to purchase something where the engineering is already done over trying to rig up something of their own.

[Cyclaholic]

It is a compliment to them, is`nt it?

I think it is. Nobody would be immitating the concept if they didn't think it was a great idea.

Kemmer is spot-on, if our contraptions generate interest in long bikes then surely the xtracycle product can only benefit from the expanded market interest.

[fordfasterr]

Here is mine... built it tonight, Thanks for the great idea people !

I will post the full build up in a new thread.

[fordfasterr]

I know that this thread will live forever so I wanted to immortalize myself in it..

Here is a pic with the rig loaded up =)

[badmother]

Great bike! Totally new way to do it. I like the big "lugage rack". I could probably put my dog on top of something like that!

[bbwolfy]

here is my first attempt . I,m going to build a better one in the near future.