I bought another bike! I think that I might have a bicycle addiction. My lady definitely thinks that I have an addiction. Behold the QE2:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1319.jpg

I'd passed this beauty by when it first showed up on Craigslist a couple of months ago, despite a heady sensation of Want, and opted instead to buy a Burley Travoy trailer. But while the trailer easily managed loads beyond what a rear bike rack alone could comfortably handle (a full week's worth of groceries from Costco, 30 pound bags of dog food, a full week's worth of beer [like, several 12 packs (what? I'm a craft beer aficionado, not a drunk, I swear!)], a couple of weeks worth of recycling [mostly beer bottles/cans :P ]), it still handled like a trailer: herky-jerky under loaded acceleration and braking, squirrelly when going unloaded over uneven terrain (Anchorage is a winter city, and our pavement reflects that).

The Travoy worked well enough, but when I saw the Xtracycle pop up on Craigslist again, I decided to return the trailer to REI and try out the longtail. Further motivation was provided by the fact that the bike that I'd been using to pull the trailer had been recently hit by a car and was indefinitely out of commission.

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1226.jpg

Two weeks worth of recycling, glass in the bottom two bins, paper, plastic, and aluminum in the top two. Slow under acceleration and while climbing, obviously, but none of the push-me-pull-you sensation of pulling a loaded trailer. It's a little wobbly getting underway, probably due to the lack of a proper top tube, but once you get rolling it's smooth and steady. No no-handed riding while loaded, though.

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1200.jpg

This is how she looked like when I bought her. The bike itself is a small women's MTB, a Kuwahara Mondia Shasta Road (more on this in a moment), and both the seat and the bars were too low for me. I installed a longer seatpost and changed out the wide lady's saddle for my slightly less wide Brooks. I was going to change out the stem for a longer one, but instead opted for high rise handlebars so that I could keep this sweet original Nitto stem:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1254.jpg

The white fenders were, I think, moped fenders? Steel, old, and well battered, which was fine, but I didn't like the fender line so I installed a new set of Bontragers, which BTW are the most stable, least rattle-ey plastic fenders I've seen, as well as the easiest to install. Removed the front derailleur and two chainrings because I want to install a chain guard. Swapped the front wheel because I've other plans for that dynohub. Changed the rear wheel, rear derailleur, and shifter to increase the number of gears (8sp 32-12 instead of 6sp 32-16) to compensate for the loss of the big ring. Changed the rear brake lever to a long pull, to better actuate the BB7 disc brake in the rear. Installed a set of Big Apple tires, because they're awesome, plus a bell (Crane Karen), mirror (German Ultralite), and wheel light (Monkeylectric) because they're useful. Changed out the heavily weathered Xtracycle snapdeck for my old longboard, because I think it looks cool, and it can be removed and ridden home if the bike breaks down:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1294.jpg
(The land dinghy, ready for launch)

and to facilitate bike surfing, a la Teen Wolf:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1296.jpg
("Why do you keep yelling 'Cowabunga!'? I don't see any cows.")

Beyond the pending chain guard, I also plan to upgrade the heavily worn Freeloader bags to Surly's waterproof Dummy bags, build some LED running lights, and possibly build a new front wheel around a dyno/drum hub. The power disparity between the canti front brake and the disc rear is annoying, and the canti is next to useless when there's a load on the bike; but I don't want to change the fork because it matches the frame, and I don't think that one inch threaded disc forks are a thing, anyway. Are they?

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1198.jpg

The Kuwahara at the core of this boat is a Japanese made frame, imported to Switzerland (Mondia bikes was the Swiss distributor for Kuwahara), which was brought to Alaska by an immigrant couple, sold to the bike dork who did the Xtracycle conversion, and then sold to me. The decal on the top tube states that the bike is a 'Mondia Shasta Road', which is confusing as the bike is clearly a MTB, with 26 inch wheels and tons of clearance (I've mounted 2 inch tires and full wrap fenders, and the fork still has half an inch of clearance in all directions). So far I haven't been able to find any info about this bike on the internet, but then again, I don't speak Swiss (or whatever they speak).

The previous owner told me that, other than the wheels and Xtracycle addition, everything on the bike was stock. Suntour indexed/friction thumb shifters, Suntour XCE derailleurs, Nitto stem and h'bars, Sugino cranks, Dia-Compe cantis. I'm keeping everything that I pull off of the bike, in case I ever want to restore it to its original state. Not that I have any plans to do so; I love that at the heart of the weirdness that is this longtail kludge is a Swiss-Japanese, globe crossing bicycle. The previous owner told me that he had several people who wanted to buy just the Xtracycle kit from him, because they didn't like the frame. How could you not love a vintage, Japanese, lugged steel frame with an 80s tri-color fade paint job? Lugs! Pump pegs! Whatever this thing is for!

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1283.jpg

Oh yeah, in case you're wondering why I'm posting this in the Commuter forum, this has become my daily ride to work. My Straggler is still out of commission (rims are at the powder coater, and then it's just a matter of lacing up the wheels), and the Kuwahara isn't really any slower or less pleasant to ride than the Windsor 3-speed that I've been riding, at least when not carrying large loads. It might accelerate a bit more slowly, but my ride is mostly flat, the cruiser h'bars and Brooks saddle combo is wicked comfortable, and, yes, it turns like you'd expect from a bike with a 5 foot long wheelbase, but that isn't an issue on my ride to work. Plus, I built a huge compost bin this summer, and am using the longtail to bring home four 10 gallon buckets of compostable waste from the restaurant every day, two of veggie trimmings and two of spent coffee grounds. My garden is going to rock next summer!

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1252.jpg

Float on, old boat.

That is a work of art.

Almost called on this bike myself. But I don't have a safe place to park it. And with the uptick of bike thefts in town right now outside is a double not going to happen.
Justin

[QUOTE=GriddleCakes;17043976]I bought another bike! I think that I might have a bicycle addiction. My lady definitely thinks that I have an addiction. Behold the QE2:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/IMG_1319.jpg

I'd passed this beauty by when it first showed up on Craigslist a couple of months ago, despite a heady sensation of Want, and opted instead to buy a Burley Travoy trailer. But while the trailer easily managed loads beyond what a rear bike rack alone could comfortably handle (a full week's worth of groceries from Costco, 30 pound bags of dog food, a full week's worth of beer [like, several 12 packs (what? I'm a craft beer aficionado, not a drunk, I swear!)], a couple of weeks worth of recycling [mostly beer bottles/cans :P ]), it still handled like a trailer: herky-jerky under loaded acceleration and braking, squirrelly when going unloaded over uneven terrain (Anchorage is a winter city, and our pavement reflects that).

The Travoy worked well enough, but when I saw the Xtracycle pop up on Craigslist again, I decided to return the trailer to REI and try out the longtail. Further motivation was provided by the fact that the bike that I'd been using to pull the trailer had been recently hit by a car and was indefinitely out of commission.

[MENTION=59587]Lug[/MENTION] Before I moved into a house with a garage, the only bikes that I considered owning were bikes that I could fit in my apartment, and could be carried up a flight of stairs; I've never considered leaving a bike outside overnight in Anchorage. Now that I've got a garage (which is occupied by a pair of pit bull mixes), my bike collection has trebled. I'm also lucky that my bike parking at work is right out front of the restaurant, which is glass fronted, where my coworkers can all see my bike(s) and will often tell me that someone is eyeing, touching, or photographing my bike(s) (mainly the Pugsley, which is a bit of a trip for many of the tourists who come into the restaurant and have never seen a fat bike; I end up getting pulled into numerous conversations about the fat bike). It also happens to be at the west end of 4th Ave, where the courthouses are, and where the police presence is pretty heavy. So, lucky me, I guess.

Griddlecakes, can you tell us more about the rear wheel and hub. There's a fellow on here that might be able to use the information. ;) (Sorry. Couldn't resist that!) Do you have any idea what the load weight rating would be?
Congrats on the score. With your mods, looks like you have made it into a very useful machine.

@downwinded There must be a joke here that I'm not getting, but ok. Rear wheel came stock on my old Kona Fire Mt, which I stripped down to build up my 29er. Rear derailleur is a Shimano Alivio from the same bike. The Wideloader shelves that are under the recycling bins are rated to 50 pounds each, and the top deck is rated to 200, with the entire system rated to 250.

Was gonna do a dropbar conversion, but I wanted to keep it as a low-cost beater, so I went with trekking bars:

http://i.imgur.com/YJ2RBO9.jpg

Nice bike. I have really been enjoying my trekking bars.

I just got this going today. It's a 3-speed internally geared fixed gear hub. I'm thinking it might be good for snowy days.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...2015.57.08.jpg

Congrats on finding one. Have fun with it, it's perfect for NYC street riding.

I got it on ebay for a good price. I could buy a new one. Are you saying new ones are in short supply?

The ratio is 42/16, and the gears step down, so it's geared too low. I'll put on a 52t chainring later.

Cranks are 155mm in length!

Tires are a very cushy 35mm, inflated to about 55 psi. I will probably put 32's on instead, because these are tight.

No, I knew you were looking for a vintage one, and thought you'd found one.

So the congrats are withdrawn, but the best wishes are still on.

My god, I think I know what you're saying. Very arcane. No the thing Ive been lusting after is an AC or AM hub. Now that the S3X is in production, I'm happy to have it, but is it similar to an AM? I didn't even think of that!

Just started commuting to work 20km round trip. Here is my brand new 2014 Norco Indie 3 thanks to Norco's lifetime frame warranty.

I've added planet bike cascadia fenders, topeak bottle cage x 2, topeak explorer rack, ortlieb city back roller panniers, and ergon grips.

Next up, I plan on adding a bike computer and some SPD pedals.

Sorry for the bad pics, it was from my phone on the way to work this morning.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=400589http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=400590http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=400591http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=400592

nice looking bike [MENTION=374910]JLouie[/MENTION]

i have never heard of that brand but I like the disk brakes.

It's bit wider than the AM (free) which had about a 1.37:1 high:low range, vs. the 1.6:1 of yours.

The ASC had a slightly close range and was fixed gear, while the AC was much closer with roughly 7% steps, and freewheel.

For Flatland city or island riding, I still ride my AC once in a while, and would love to see SA Taiwan bring out a 3s with jumps in the 10$ range (maybe as wide as 15%) but no wider.

It is a canadian company based in Vancouver, BC. They are known for their mountain bikes. However, in recent years their road bikes and hybrids are getting some recognition.

I also own one of their road bikes and have nothing bad to a say about either one.

Got the new machine ready for commuter duty.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2v1neh2.png

My commuter for the month of August. :)

http://sheepcamp.com/~ben/pics/TandemCommuter.jpg

Normally with a set of Ortlieb panniers at each end.

Norco has been in the bicycle business for a long time... probably better known in Canada than the U.S. and they were the importer for Nishiki in Canada for decades and offered comparable models with Norco branding.

They are also heavily involved in mtb racing and make some nice road and touring bicycles.

Here's my latest commuter. Finished it up a couple of weeks ago with help from a friend, and now fine tuning it.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5586/...8d2bb33b_c.jpg

Bikepooling? Or is the rumble seat for picking up the ladies on your way home?

I don't think any bikes sold in the US carried the name Norco. The few I've seen were probably brought down by the individual owners.

Complete with beverage service and digital entertainment for the rear passenger. ;)

My wife works in the same town as I do and, though not normally a bike commuter, is motivated by a mileage competition.

This is my new commuter -a 56cm Soma Double Cross Graphite. The frame arrived a few weeks ago, and then was mostly built using parts from my old bike (wheelset, drivetrain, brifters, handlebar & tape, saddle, bottle cage) + some new parts: seatpost & clamp, touring pedals and brakes (Tektro AL926 mini-V). This frame is a bit longer than my old one so I have to switch to shorter stem. I have not had the chance to weight the bike, but it feels significantly lighter than my alloy Felt QX75 bike, the ride is much smoother, steadier, and faster pick-up on any given terrain. Overall I'm impressed and overjoyed with this built, thanks to Soma!! Rack and fenders are in the pipeline, definitely not in a too far future. :)
Sorry for the low quality image, it was taken using a tablet.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...graphite-s.jpg

I really like this.


Just out of curiosity, what kind of bar tape is that?

Norco has been in business for 50 years and has produced and imported bicycles for the North American market... they are a household name here.

My Extrabike is based on a Norco Katmandu...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...etch%20(3).jpg

thanks Marc40a: it's my favorite cloth h-bar wrap made by Newbaums. Cotton Bar Tape from Newbaum's

I've seen a few Norcos here in Florida aka Southern Canada

So do you divide your miles ? ;)