Cyclaholic

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

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!

Cyclaholic

Brilliant!

Cyclaholic

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

HandsomeRyan

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

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

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 =)

bbwolfy

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

fordfasterr

WOW ! Looks good.

How about some closeups of the attachment points and such.

=)

Thanks.

bbwolfy

Sorry I didn,t get the attachment point of the seatpost /rear triangle very well, but it is welded. This came together in like an hour with pleasant results , but i prefer a little better frame components .

bbwolfy

Thanks for bearing with me I,m not to adept to posting pics, but here is a second pic. It is hard to see, but the bottom bracket of donor bike( susp mtn bike) is bolted in the rear dropouts of the main bike. A little persuading was all it need to come together , then the crankarm nuts were tightened up. A little something I picked up from building a recumbent is the rear triangle needs to angle downward about 10-15 degrees so the chain don,t interfere in the "joined "area when in the small gears. Last but not least the pipe was held in place and cut,notched then welded ,although this could have been bolted. IMO I like the top tube to face the seat post it completes the d/f triangulation, like i said just my opinion. Cyclaholic, Fordfasterer and Roughrider504, keep up the great work I really like your guys projects.

fordfasterr

Nice job, can I have one more pic showing the welding job to the back of the seat post ?

=)

bbwolfy

Here is my latest build. I,m really liking this one, it is lighter and has better brakes . The plan is to strip it and paint it black wrinkle .I will also be adding sides' made out of conduit, and a top deck with an unwanted skateboard.

diff_lock2

Can we see multiple close ups of how the thing is mounted to the rear dropouts and the main bikes BB?

Thanks.

donnamb 

You guys are making some really lovely longbikes.

graywolf

I think I want to just stick in a little post to say how much I like you guys' long bikes. It is interesting to see how you have went about it differently from each other. Great work!

Juggler2

I think I have "long bike" envy!

bbwolfy

Here it is ready for tear down and paint .I,m workin on either gettin some bags made ,or checking out the local Army surplus. The sides are made out of 1/2in. conduit the top rack is part of a rear rack and some brake tubing added to the front of it.

Sianelle 

Love the work you've done on your bike bbwolfy it's all come together really nicely. This is an amazing thread and I'm sure it's just going to keep on growing
I've got an old Giant 'Boulder' that I started to convert into a long wheelbase cargo bike before I got myself distracted with something else. Perhaps I should haul it out and blow the dust off it and have another look at it.

This was a first try that I setup a while ago using parts from dumped bikes, but I wasn't entirely happy with it.

jmichaeldesign

Careful welding that conduit. It's galvanized. Welding that stuff can make you pretty sick and mess you up for years to come. People have died from zinc poisoning.