I’ve finally started riding the xtracycle build in preparation for starting the nursery run with it shortly. I’ve noticed a couple of things and wondered if other people had had similar experiences, or it was a quirk of the build I have (pipedream sirius mk1, pike forks, disks, 80mm stem and risers).

Firstly: it’s really quite flexy although I’m getting used to this. I guess this is the nature of the beast to an extent and also the fact that the donor frame was quite twangy to begin with.

It’s quite twitchy, which means I’ve got the pikes at 140mm at the moment to slacken it off a bit, but then this raises the bb further.

It likes to have evenly balanced loads.

I’m getting a bit of chain suck in the middle ring. I’ll swap the ring for a new one and take a link out of the chain, but I’m not sure if this is common or not.

It’s bloody heavy and will either kill me or get me very fit on Sheffield’s hills.

Anyone got any experiences or thoughts?

1) always going to be a bit flexy. But mine’s in an old inbred frame so I reckon is pretty solid.

2) I have mine on some very short rigid forks. Not so much twicthy as a bit light in the bars. Obviously with such a long wheel base, I wouldnt call it a fast turner, but it is prone to wanting to tilt more readily hence

3) balanced loads? Ideally yes.

4) with such a long chain you do need to try and take as many links out as possible. If it’s too slack there will be plenty of links for sucking up before any tension at the mech can draw them off the ring. I run 1×8 (30T to 34:11) with just enough links and still get plenty of chain slap – fit an inner tube to the chainstay.

5) Its a cargo bike, not a Paris Roubaix! 😉

Cheers Stoner – pretty much as I thought with most of that. I’ll try dropping a couple of links on the chain and lower the fork again to get the lower BB back. It will go rigid in the end, will just need new wheels and fork.

I’ve had a couple. I think the flexiness is the nature of the beast. It was great for non-living loads, but it was too much for me with a 7 and 8 year old aboard, especially as they move about a bit. If they’d been younger in child seats it would have been easier. I also wasn’t keen on the conversion BB height as it made harder to balance with a load at stops and starts.

I’ve moved on to a Yuba which is more solid. Though it weighs about 10lb more.

What size tyre have you up front if you haven’t got one already a Big Apple 2.35 might slow steering down a bit.

They are heavier, but I just adjust expectations and accept slower speeds uphill.

Would a Bionicon chainstay mounted thingy help with stopping the chainsuck – it’ll stop the chain flapping around near the crank end and take up some tension?

Would a Bionicon chainstay mounted thingy

yes, probably.

Yeah they can feel a bit flexy – on my xtracycle with 2 kids on the back it never felt solid enough to stand up and stomp but you soon get used to changing gear a bit more, but the choice of donor makes a fair bit of difference – a friend has an xtra built on a Marin Rocky Ridge and it’s a far stiffer bike

Saying that mine was built on a Trek 7300fx hybrid and I snapped it…

thought about the bionicon guide too. May see how it goes.

The conversion BB height is quite high, so I may go for steeper head angle with a lower BB.

I think the flexyness of the donor frame isn’t ideal. I’ll see how I get on with it over the next few months and if I grow to like it much more then I may hunt out a stiffer frame (or spend loads on a big dummy!)

For a while the live luggage will be a 1 year old in a seat, so should be fairly manageable.

I expected it to be heavy – I’ll just have to remember my forgotten long distance, heavy loaded touring approach to riding.

Cheers folks.

have mine built on a merlin malt 2 frame and cant say i’ve noticed ‘flex’ under normal use, although fully loaded on a tip run it did feel a bit wandery, but then i am a lump!

Mines built singlespeed with a gert thick chain and cheapy bomber forks on the front. This allows for an element of comfort when dropping off kerbs etc on way to the shops.

A couple more days riding it with short forks and a dropped stem and it’s a completely different beast. Much more fun. Chainsuck, though, needs some serious investigation.