See right over there on the right? No not there….RIGHT THERE! Where my Twitter feed displays on this site? If you follow me on Twitter and I don’t know why you wouldn’t you would have figured out that I got my Xtracycle on Friday. Even though I acted all coy and slick about it on 100poundsago, even made reference to a Frankenstein movie moment, if you would have read just to the right of the posts you would have known what in the world I was talking about. If you have been wondering why I had erected lightning rods on the roof of my garage let this be a lesson to you that when someone suggests you follow them on Twitter you should. My followers where “In the Know” but I digress.
Yeah, so the Xtracycle arrived on Friday and by Sunday I had everything attached, bolted, zip-tied, and Velcro-ed down. I had to take it to James and the crew at Cycletherapy yesterday for some fine tweaking with the rear brake and as usual it was same day service from the fellas in the back. Have you ever tried to mount an Xtracycle on a car rack? Its not easy folks, as you can see from the picture.
This is my new commuter and errand running bike, my first thoughts on this thing? AWESOME! I ran it for the first time to work this morning and I was pretty loaded down. The only thing I noticed was by back and shoulders didn’t hurt from the backpack and no loss of circulation in my hands from the backpack straps digging into my flesh. Oddly the bike does not really even feel heavy? I don’t get it but somehow Xtracycle has found a way to circumvent the natural laws of the universe and make heavy loads on the back of a bike seem non existent? There must be some kind of space age polymer that they have pumped into the tubing that creates some kind of wormhole in the space time continuum or perhaps they have found a way to control and manipulate the laws of physics? Or it could be as simple as the longer wheel base? I am going to assume that the people at Xtracycle are pretty smart so I am sticking with they have some kind of control over string theory. Another thing I found slightly odd is I was at the capacity of the bags and one side was obviously heavier than the other however I did not notice the weight distribution discrepancy….read the above statement about breaking the established laws of physics. I have some things I would like to add to this bike in general like some fenders because much to my chagrin the entire bike is already covered in mud…as was I this morning. I am thinking of changing out the stem and bars but as of right now I am undecided.
100 Pounds Ago 
Great bike! I want the Surly Pugsley for my winter riding bike. I love the FAT tires on it.
Great post! I am going with your “wormhole in the space time continuum” … cos I like that idea. Loved the photo of it all hanging out over the edge of your car – I have a similarly hilarious photo of my wife’s car with THREE bikes on our new Thule Helium bike rack – looks like a cyclist’s Christmas tree! But hey, it works …
Cool! I’ve never been close to one of those things, but I think they’re awesome!
As far as weight distribution goes, I commute with only one pannier, and unless I fill it with rocks or something equally dumb, the only time I really know it’s there is if I stand and rock the bike to climb a hill.
By the way…it’s a commuter bike. What’s it doing on the back of a car!
Enjoy it!
It is strange that one of the few times I have had to use may car this month was to DRIVE my commuter bike to the shop to get the rear Derail adjusted. I would have rode the bike but it would not stay in one gear for more than 1/4 pedal turn. The shop had to modify one of the xtracycle parts to get it to keep in gear.
Nice looking setup……..I have thought about getting one also……….just have not pulled the pin yet.
Wow, you get to park next to the trucks………I have to park next to the boat. 😦
The xtracycle!!!!! being that it has been negative 50 out for the last 2 months I forgot you had that!