I've been keenly reading your threads here on your various longtails and am nearly 100% sold on getting one. Being a surfer and a musician makes some sort of longtail cargo bike almost a necessity for me.

I'm just not sure which one will be best for me. Could someone talk about the pros and cons of each one?
Also what wheels work best with Heavy loads?

Big dummys look good but exxy...but what about all the other types?

Also where would i go about buying one in Australia. They dont sell these in the bike shops here

Cheers

Just to put things in perspective, I've never actually seen either a Big Dummy or Xtra-cycle bike in person. They don't sell them in the bike stores around here, either. That may be a little different up in Portland or NYC, but they're not as common as you might imagine from reading the forums.

I live in Surly country, and the longtails/xtracycles aren't the kind of bike you walk in and buy off the showroom. They're special orders. Talk to your local LBS about what they can set up for you. They tend to be custom and pricey (relatively speaking) no matter which model you go with, which is why you don't see many pre-built and waiting for a buyer. You can control costs by knowing in advance which features you want or don't want and working your order from there.

I have yet to walk in and order mine - still making do with panniers and such. But I know of several shops I could go to place my order when the day arrives that I can put money down on it.

I bought mine off the shop floor at Freewheel cyclery. There's are at least a couple at various bike shops in Minneapolis. It's most definitely a Surly Nation around here. I have three Surlys at home.

I had seen longtails (West Philadelphia) before I got interested in one (after my move to Spain). when choosing one, I concentrated on three things:
1- Big dummy
2- Xtracycle free radical kit to convert my old MTB
3- Yuba Mundo
4 - Others like bakfiels & box-bikes, trailers and such
I went with Yuba Mundo because :
option (2) required construction and I am mechanically impaired, I did not know enough spanish to explain everything to LBS to get it done there. Also, my wife is a lot shorter than me and I would be the only rider. Option (3) costs nearly same.

option (1) is >1500 euros, way too expensive for me. and I think I would still be the only rider.

option (4) was interesting but I decided against box-bikes and most were too expensive. trailers could have been a good options, we could have attached them to either of our bikes. but then, they are wider and I am always worried about climbing bridges and such with them. with long-tails, the width is nearly the same.

option (3), yuba mundo was fully assembled, it was 26 euros for shipping, available in many countries, 540 euros. it can be used by myself and my wife by just adjusting the seatpost. drawback is that it is not a great bike, it is also less popular so less accessories than xtra cycle & big dummy. it is a heavy bike so I am not sure I can board trains with it etc. it does the job for me though. In fact, it works really well. I love it. I was also lucky that I got the 6 gear one for same price as the single-speed one. well worth it.

You can compare different models and prices at:
https://www.practicalcycles.com

If you already have a bike you can convert and you are able to do things like adding/removing links to a chain , then I would say go with a free radical conversion kit. You can get an LBS to do this too but check the cost.

Otherwise, if price is an issue and you do not care too much about customizing a bike with different brakes, etc then Yuba Mundo is quite affordable and does the job.

At the top of the tree is the Big Dummy, it is probably the most capable longtail. It is also the priciest. An Xtracycle a cheaper way of getting nearly the same abilities, and you have the advantage being able to strip it off, and get a standard bike. Yuba and Kona Ute are cheaper ways of getting pretty much the same thing, but for the most part have lower grade frames and parts, not bad stuff, just not as top end. Would make a nice longtail and probably do what you want. This is all assuming you get them prebuilt. With the BD and Xtra kit, you can get them "naked" and put existing components on them to save money.
Sourcing them in Australia will probably be a bit fun, i do note that Yuba has an Australian/NZ contact.

big dummy's just look really cool

I get the impression that the Surly LHT is readily available in Australia, so I would think the Big Dummy wouldn't be too hard to get over there.

here's more stuff to read...
https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=391518

as to wheels, it depends on your cargo load.

the thing with cargo bikes, is that often you get on a kick where you're hauling all sorts of stuff.

as for myself, I'm on my 3rd wheelset for a longtail.

at the moment I'm using a DH wheelset.

WTB LaserDisc DH, 36H, laced 4 cross, to XT hubs.

i probably should have simply started at this point, rather than go thru the 2 wheelsets prior.

depending on how you use the bike, you'll wear out tires.

if you use knobby MTB tyres... they wear out fast. especially any type that is designed for XC racing.

i kind of get a kick off of burning up these types of tyres. often times, my buddies have XC tires that they don't like, and/or have some personal dislike, so i grab them up, and use em up.

at the moment, I've got a set of Serfas Drifters mounted up. they are pretty good tires. possibly the best combo of weight/durability/puncture resistance/cost.

Conti town and country tires are the original in this design, and for years have been the standard, but it seems that in the last couple of years, the manufacture quality has diminished.

basically the deal is, more weight is obviously more wear.

a buddy also has a BD but his build is on the "light side", he uses light touring type tyres, and light XC rims, but he also rarely carries a heavy load. mostly he uses his BD for grocery runs.

Thanks for the help people. I am also not very mechanically minded so maybe the yuba is the right bike for me.

General Ho Chi Minh of the North Vietnamese Army had ten of these longtail bicycles.

Five had mortars, and five had ammunition.

They went down the Ho Chi Minh trail every night and shelled American troops.

The Americans never knew what hit them. The troops were never told, not because it would be bad for morale, but because it would be bad for sales of GM cars. It was kept a secret until after the war.

There are a lot of shell shocked Vietnam veterans, walking around homeless, who don't even have a car to live in.

Whu?

^^^
What he said.

I was waiting for the punchline, and it didn't happen.

slightly OT:

but that is basically how it is that I came to be on a bike.
my dad Vietnam Vet 67'
my mom a WAC, they met at Ft. McClellan

as i was a kid my dad made it a point to tell me that in other parts of The World, the bicycle is a machine, its a means of transportation, that its vital part of every day life. In other parts of the world, The Bicycle is as if the way we use cars in America. its only in America where bicycles are toys.

my dad, with his manic depression, and drug use issues, the 60's, all the junk that has occurred here in the US, we had junker cars at best, we lived in Hotels, in a 58' Ford Landendorf bread truck, in Ventura County, later in a trailer, on the ramble between Santa Barbara, Ojai, Rincon, and McGrath State Beach, all the while I rode my bike for just about anything, and everything.

its no wonder, i am the way i am...
i was raised with daily runs to the market, cook in a wok, little to no meat, live simply...
ride a bike...

Nitram, I think you won't regret it. Here is someone who moved from Big Dummy to Yuba:
https://longwalktogreen.blogspot.com/...mundo-wow.html
and there many others who say the opposite, just one more data point for you.I have just gathered a whole bunch of reviews when deciding for my mine:
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6303.0
https://www.dirtragmag.com/print/arti...=stuff_reviews

Well, if you know me and my Goat, you'll know I drank the Surly Kool-Aid and am ridin' the Big Dummy Crazy Train all the way through the coming Apocalypse.

Not 'to'...'through'.

Put another way, I appreciate the depth of time and research from Surly when developing the Dummy with Xtracycle. To me, that's worth something. Haven't heard the same about the competition.

So, yes, vote one for the Grandpappy of dedicated longtail framesets: the Big Dummy.

dirtworks.com.au are the Surly and Xtracycle distributers in oz. Should be able to order both from any bike shop that deals with dirt works depending on what's actually in the country. I know cheekytransport.com.au in Sydney are into this stuff. I imported my Xtracycle gear from biketrailershop.com. They were happy to ship to oz. Just keep the order value under $1000 AUD as I completely forgot about the limit and ordered all the accessories at once and got stung by customs. I'd just get the Xtracycle kit and Kickback centre stand if I was doing it again. Good luck!

^^^ +1 on the customs advice. Very smart.

If it were me, I'd do the Mundo thing or get an xtracycle and slap it on a passable used frame. You can then upgrade the frame when some more money starts happening.

I think choosing a longtail depends on your budget, what you need to carry and how far you need to go. You mention being a musician and having to carry instruments, maybe speakers. Have a look at the following:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/3394091345/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/3394091091/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/page6/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/3332579104/

Good luck

Theres also plan B The DIY way, you can make a longtail for very cheap this way and it can be very strong at the same time, and look how you want it to look! like some of the ones i've made and others made here, Sometimes it's as easy as a rear triangle and a handle bar with some square tubing, the tubing would make a nice solid rack and then add to it what you want, then get one of those Durable jacket carrie bags and use it as a big sadle bag for it. once done you have a nice machine! and proberly spent 20$ lol

I dont have the tools or the skills to make my own but thanks for the suggestion.

Anyone know what the differences are between the Yuba Mundo and the Kona Ute? Does the Kona not have Wideloaders? Would i need wideloaders for carrying amplifiers and surfboards?

The main differences are the following:
The Mundo has wideloaders for carrying large, long or bulky loads. I believe it will work better for you hauling amp and surfboard. The Mundo also is just more of a Cargo Bike, the frame is really built for hauling cargo. The Ute has nicer components but offers less Utility.

What about the Madsen and the Rans Hammertruck?

mmm... hammertruck... basically the crank forward design of a BD / Xtracycle. Rated a bit higher in load capacity than the BD.