I
JUST bulit up my own Xtracycle. I put it on a 62cm Cross-Check with 700 x 38's (48 spoke touring rims). I loved my bike before I put it on. Now I'm not so sure. I'm frankly a little disappointed with the Xtracycle. It's quite a bit heavier than I expected (totally unloaded) and it makes my bike SUPER flexie - I feel like I can't get nearly the power transitioning from my pedals to the back wheel that I could before I put on the Xtracycle. Also, because of the long chain, when I back pedal, the chain just sags instead of rotating my freewheel backwards, so I end up falling forward when I go to pedal sometimes because my chain has to catch back up with it's position before I back-pedalled. It's also big and bulky (I have a little apartment), and I realized this was going to be true before I bought it, and I totally wouldn't care if I felt like the Xtracycle's pros way-outweighed its cons, but it's just another reason I'm having a bit of buyer's regret.
I also don't necessarily like the way it looks - my Cross-Check was so pretty before I put it on
.
That being said, once I make a few adjustments I think it'll be better. I'm going to try to fix the back-pedal-chain-slack issue by taking out a few links. Hopefully my rear derailleur will then tension it a bit better. I'm also going to try to reinforce the connection where the tongue meets the frame (the Xtracycle doesn't fit my large frame as well as I'd like and I think that that's whats causing so much flex.)
Anyway, I didn't intend a possible hijack, I just wanted to share my current experience with my Xtracycle. I hope yours works out the way you hope it will (the 26" might prove to be a little better).
