Originally Posted by
bmike
Well, your initial post sounded fairly accusatory, as if people we just throwing money away.
No, jeffbeerman2 asked how to transport large quantities of toilet paper, etc. to which I replied you can already do this with an Xtracycle, you don't have to use a Big Dummy. In that case, if you already own an X, a Big Dummy is not so much a need as it is a want.
Originally Posted by
bmike
You're comparing this to a Yuba?
Why not? The need for extra stability seems to have prompted the whole Big Dummy idea. But most of us already know that carrying tons of weight on the rear of a bike makes for lousy handling in general. I think if Surly were to do this right from the ground up, they'd create something more akin to a bakfiets. Yet they were forced to conform to the Xtra style in order to use Xtra bits and parts because, well, the Free Rad was already in the marketplace.
The Mundo purports to have the same carrying capacity and is more compact so the load does not have to be so far back. Yeah it's not X compatible, but people are showing that making their own bags can rival anything Xtra has to offer, plus I think Ortlieb (or some other well known manufacturer) is going to come out with compatible bags soon.
As far as drive train, even if you were to buy a single speed Mundo, you could at least ride it. Buying a Big Dummy frame only gets you the frame. But I think the $799 Mundo version is a multi-speed version.
And as far as disc brakes go, if you've read Surly's initial spew, you would have read Surly acknowledging that the rear disc brake will rub against a Free Rad Freeloader, wearing it down, so you have to watch that area. My impression is that this wasn't a first iteration flaw either, but something inherent in the Big Dummy design.
Lastly, you know the Big Dummy is NOT ready for prime time because neither X nor Surly has a viable kickstand solution. Good luck trying to load you Big Dummy to the max! For goodness sake, that damn kickstand shown at Interbike should have been the first thing to have been produced. For now, I will conjecture that most Big Dummys will only be ridden for show. Can't use it fully if you can't hold it up fully. At least the Mundo comes with a Hebie Bi-Pod.