Ephemerica

After being separated from our trusty touring bikes for a couple of months, we decided to bring them down to Portland for some surgery. We decided that we wanted to convert our bikes into Xtracycles. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking—you already have bikes capable of hauling a bunch of stuff, why do you need Xtracycles? Well, first of all, one of the things that we still regularly use a car for in our normal lives is going to the grocery store. Personally, I find hauling panniers into the store to do shopping a big pain in the rear. With the Xtracycles, I can just bring in my (much easier to carry) cloth bags, load them in the store, and then set them directly into the carrier. Not to mention I’m pretty sure that my capacity with the Xtracycle is much more than I could get into front and rear panniers. Heck, I could buy a couple of kidsat the grocery store and take them home too!

While I had the bikes apart, I took the opportunity to clean and replace a bunch of stuff that should have been replaced long ago, like the rear cassettes and Cindy’s bent rear derailleur. Now they feel like brand new bikes! I’ve ridden mine around a little bit, and once you get used to the long wheelbase (and the larger turning radius), it’s actually a nice ride. I think mine actually rides better when it’s loaded down with stuff. I do have to say though, after going so many months with a crap kickstand that was practically bent in half and barely worked, that I LOVE the heavy-duty Xtracycle kickstand, and also the fact that it doesn’t get in the way of the pedals!

With any luck, these bikes will continue to be our workhorses for many years to come…

Posted by Matthew on August 22nd, 2008 | Filed under: General