I'm seriously toying with the idea (i.e. dreaming for well over a year now) of getting a Surly Big Dummy if I can find one in my size.
Problem is I've only got room and permission for two bikes, so would have to sell my 29er to fund it (the other is a cross bike)
I ride a lot round town/tarmac but do 'just-about-once-a-week-if-it's-nice' xc ride locally is mostly double track and field edge single-and-a-half-track that you get round here.
I've seen blogs/blurbs saying you can take all the gubbins off the back and it'll do some light XC .. is this true, I understand it'll handle slightly different and yes it's heavier but my current 29er weighs 31 lbs anyway.
Why would it not be true? Looks fine for that stuff to me.
I'm sure it would be fine for light offroad - there are a few blogs and videos online of people doing mad stuff on them.
Just a thought though - what about converting your 29er to an XtraCycle? The benefits of a Big Dummy but you'd still have the option of breaking it down to a SWB version if you wanted to tackle anything a bit more challenging offroad.
http://www.practicalcycles.com/userimages/procart16.htm
I'd looked at the Xtracycle .. and considered the swap scenario, but I think there's quite a lot to do there for swapsies i.e. 20 mins plus and not sure I'd want the faff factor
I always appreciate tidier solutions too, so would still lean towards the Dummy
