This past weekend I decided that I needed to take another big step in the future car-free lifestyle. I went out and bought me a FreeRadical & Longtail Kit by Xtracycle from Flying-Pigeon LA. This would convert my current commuter bike to a longtail bike. Essentially my bike becomes a Sports Utility Bike (S.U.B.) in which I can haul can carry load up to 200lbs. Impressive huh?

The kit sat in my garage until this Wednesday when I decided to begin working on my conversion. In the process, I rip apart my current commuter bike, a 1997 Specialized Rockhopper. I removed the rear brakes, derailleur, chain, rear rack, wheel, and rear fender.

I was ready to add the FreeRadical on. The instruction called for the installation to happen upside down first so I can mount it easier. The thing to note about this product is that they have very creative names for some of the parts. For example, there’s a “Boss Hog”. That’s the part that holds your bike’s rear drop out in place. Very unique.

After the FreeRadical was mounted I was told to install the derailleur and rear brakes back. That wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was re-cabling the rear brakes and rear derailleurs. Adding the FreeRad essentially stretches your bike. The brakes was pretty easy but the derailleur was a struggle. I had issues getting it out of my grip shifter and installing it back into place. The cables started to come undone in the process which caused lots of painful pricks to my fingers. Let’s just say they are very tender at the moment. Imagine getting a needle stuck into your thumb. Yes, painful. The worse part was that I ran out of the cable because I had kept on cutting the cable to make it more “neat”.

It was also a pain to get the handlebar grip off but to do it three time was tiring. Luckily I learned that a little bit of Simple Green on the inside makes it slides on and off nicely. I had to postpone the finish one more day so that I can buy longer cable, cable housing, and some grease for the grip shift (since I started wiping that away while figuring how assemble it again).

Nevertheless, I continued with my build Thursday night and got all the cabling corrected. I proceeded to tune my derailleurs. Which was surprisingly easy compared to the ordeal I had gone through. The tough thing last night was attaching the extended chain together. I had to devise a way to hold the derailleur arm so that it gave me enough slack to connect the chains together. Took me a good hour to get the chained hooked in.

I assembled the rear fender and added the Longtail kit. Attached the snap deck and the secured the bags securely to the Vbars. Pretty easy compared to what I had gone through earlier. I installed the kickstand and oiled the chain. I was pretty proud of my construction. Unfortunately I couldn’t take it out for a spin because by the time I was done, it was 1 in the morning and I was exhausted.

I couldn’t wait to check out the ride this morning so I took it in to work. Friday’s are usually my “fixie” day (Fixie Friday) but I’ve been riding the fixie into work Wednesday and Thursday so I was pretty much done with that plus I wanted to really ride this beast I put together.

This rides very well with the center of gravity moved a little further back. The bike now absorbs shock a lot better than before and the ride is a bit more comfortable. Why I did notice is that the chain started slapping the frame. I’ll have to find a way to protect the frame and may have some Teflon tape that my co-worker is willing to let me use. He’s got a Xtracycle as well and said it worked very well for his bike. I’ve gone out a few times today to meetings and can’t help but admire what I built every time I walk by it. I can’t wait to get back on the seat and ride it home today/tonight. One small build for myself but one big step towards one less car on the road.

7 Responses to “My “New” Xtracycle”

1. john g says:

   September 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm

   it’s a beaut! can i post it on the Xtracycle Gallery?

   http://www.xtracyclegallery.com

   thanks in advance,
   John
2. Johnny says:

   September 11, 2009 at 9:35 pm

   Thanks! Be my guest and add it to the Gallery. I’ve already added in the Flickr group.
3. beth says:

   September 11, 2009 at 10:22 pm

   it rocks, I cannot wait to get mine, though I am not a bike mechanic so I will probably have a pro do it.
4. Johnny says:

   September 11, 2009 at 10:44 pm

   Thanks Beth. Good luck when you get yours. It’s so nice to have another option besides your car to haul stuff.
5. smorris says:

   September 14, 2009 at 1:49 pm

   Looks good, Johnny! I like the kit on an orange bike. I ran into the same problems with getting the Sachs twist grips apart and back together. I’d never fiddled with one before as I’d always had road bikes. I got it working fine, but I didn’t bother adjusting too much, as the new lever shifter/brake combo was due to arrive any day.

   I saw your comment on my smugmug gallery, and if you want any further info on the swap I made with the Albatross bars and the shifters, just let me know. The shifter/brake combo with cables and housings was less than $50 for the 8-speed.

   Enjoy!
   Steve
6. Johnny says:

   September 15, 2009 at 11:33 am

   Thanks Steve. Will definitely talk to you when I get the chance to change out the brifter and handlebar.
7. memoryloot » Car-Free for 2 months says:

   September 16, 2009 at 2:53 pm

   [...] I’ve been talking and writing about going car-free for sometime now. With the emergence of my new xtracycle, I can easily take that step forward. I will be going completely car-free for the next 2 months as [...]