One for BigDummy – utility bike content

Now the important question: Kawasaki Green or Carrot Orange?

Doesn’t that translate to gears or singlespeed? Or can you choose frame colour independently of gear set up now?

Just finalised what I want on cyclescheme with http://www.practicalcycles.com/, who have been brilliantly fast on email. I seem to have spent £999.99 🙂

Yuba Mundo 6-speed, with mudguards, bipod stand, steering stabiliser, Go Getter Bag (85 litre courier bag/pannier) and a flat bed front rack, plus a couple of innertubes and cam straps.

Yuba Mundo 6-speed, with mudguards, bipod stand, steering stabiliser, Go Getter Bag (85 litre courier bag/pannier) and a flat bed front rack, plus a couple of innertubes and cam straps.

Nice set up. I have been trying to find some decent pictures of the Go Getter Bag actually in use but failed so far, looking forward to seeing yours.

I love a nice Porteur rack on the front of a bike.

This may be the best use of Cyclescheme I’ve heard of, well done! Post pics when you’ve got it…

Any thoughts on the Kona Ute in comparison? £635 at Wiggle? (They were cheaper last week)

I really like the look of a Kona Ute, although for me it asks more questions than it answers:

1) How big/versatile are the bags? There is ample photographic evidence of the versatility of the Xtracycle design but not the Kona.

2) Setting the bags aside, how do you carry really heavy or long loads on those rare occasions you need to? Yuba or Xtracycle have wide, low support bars for very heavy loads, where is this on the Ute?

3) Aluminium frame – I think steel is a better material for a cargo bike as it copes with fatigue better and is repairable if/when needed.

4) Why no disc mount on the frame (at least I don’t think there’s one)? Discs are not essential but I’d like the option, especially as there’s one on the front.

5) Why those crap mudguards? Better than nothing maybe, but they are still 4-6 inches too short.

Basically, I’m not convinced the Ute is a true alternative to the Yuba or the Xtracycle/Big Dummy model as it is significantly less versatile. fine if all you intend to do is pick up a weeks groceries or the odd larger load, but not much use for really big/awkward loads.

Post pics when you’ve got it…

Try and stop me 🙂

See, I am wondering if an old tandem frame would be a good donor cycle….remove rear crank arms and saddle, bodge on old plank of wood and rack….

It seems so much of this kit is expensive – we need an On-one inbred ‘estate’ version….

Scrub that, the kids outgrow the trailer this year, I could bodge that with some curver boxes…

Trailers are a bit of a pain though.

how/why?

From the Dirt Rag review:

As my time with the bike progressed I started thinking less about how to outdo the last load and more about how this bike is great as a daily commuter, because I was always prepared for whatever came up. I could run all of my errands without shuttling the load home in phases. I didn’t need to make a special trip with a car or a trailer, and the ride didn’t feel different enough from my commuter bike that I missed anything.

We had a kiddie trailer, that I used for shopping trips as well. It was a pain to have to go home to collect it and make a special trip. I never did shopping trips on the way home from work because of this.

Plus, I can’t see random cute girls wanting to ride on a kiddie trailer with some plastic boxes lashed onto it 🙂

Mr Agreeable – Member

I can’t entirely hate anything that Cycling News describes as “monstrous”. But it strikes me that for a lot of these companies it’s more about niche-mining, rather than a serious attempt to change the world.

By the way, is that photograph taken at a confusing angle or does that Dummy have a set of Manitou Dorados on the front? [8O]

Dorados are USD forks – they must be X-Verts

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Does that help? With full guards as well. 8)

Matt, I think we may have an ideological problem with trying to persuade you to buy a new thing rather than cunningly modify an existing thing, so not going to overdo it. However, the versatility of the Dummy is really fantastic. It (honestly) just isn’t bad at all as a commuter and general pottering bike AND it will effortlessly carry anything. There’s just no faffing at all about putting whatever shopping, scavenging etc onto it. I’m sure a trailer is great if you’ve got one, but unless you’re towing it all the time you’re probably missing some flexibility that the longtail gives you.

I am still waiting for a random cute girl to want to ride on the back mind. I will report to the forum at once if it ever happens. My wife is moderately cute, but she doesn’t count for these purposes.

I agree with you BD – they are fabulous! I would have one, but to drop the kind of money on them that they cost….Even the Xtra cycle seems a bit on the pricey side…£1800+ for a Big Dummy….ouchy.

I reside in Yorkshire. there are always cheaper ways of doing things…

£1800+ for a Big Dummy

Practical Cycles are doing them for £1500

Where do people store these bikes???
Presumably you need a garage?

And isn’t there a problem with leaving a 1.5k bike locked up outside Tescos?

They aren’t exactly a thief magnet though, are they? It’s not like this sort of bike is common enough to have a strong value on the stolen 2nd hand market. Not yet anyway…

Still going? Crikey!

100

Nice forks BigDummy, haven’t seen another pair of Manitou Milleniums for a long time… are yours QR or bolt-through?

Those aren’t BigDummy’s forks, it’s someone else’s bike on Flickr. Jon has regular BD steel forks on his.

I have a garage waiting for mine. We used to be able to fit a car in there, so I assume the Mundo will fit.

As for thefts, with a decent lock and sensible locking in a sensible location, I’d be happy to leave any of my bikes outside shops or work. If the worst happens, they’re insured. The way thefts round here work, I’d be worried about leaving a full sus bike locked in a garage!

I want a Big Dummy … I like.

😀

I’ll get a pic or so taken, realised I’ve been riding it daily for months and never took a pic.

Mine sits almost blocking the hallway and also gets left around Manchester and outside supermarkets and the like, seems okay. Does have a Granit X Plus hung around it though. What’s the point if you’re too scared to leave it anywhere?

I’ve reviewed the Kona Ute for the new issue of Singletrack magazine. IMO alluminium makes it lighter and means it won’t rust when you leave it out the back of your house because it won’t fit in your shed! It’s cheap and it’s ace.

There’s something about the Kona Ute that I don’t like. I think it’s that it seem to be just a bike with a big rack.

The bags on the Ute look a bit like a mouse’s pocket compared to the Xtracycle ones. The price is great though, I reckon you’ll see far more of these than Big Dummys once they start to catch on.

Possibly.
But that’s how I’d describe a girl I used to know, as well.

Blimey, I didn’t realise this had hit 3 pages..!

Mine … gets left around Manchester

Without, er, wishing to pry, whereabouts in Mcr and can I have a look some time?

there you go…

my favourite bits are the stoppy brakes and the 6 speed hack of the 8 speed XT cassette on the Hope ProII singlespeed hub a’la Jeff :o)

ourmaninthenorth – it’s outside the shop most days, you’re welcome to take it for a spin. If you can’t work out which shop then you need to get to know your Manchester bike shops better!

I quite like the Kona Ute. I don’t think its really supposed to be like the BigDummy. Its half way between a normal bike and the BigDummy, making it a bit easier to store. It can still take a passenger and its 1/3 ish of the price.

I had some concerns about the length but in reality it’s only half a wheel longer than a ‘normal’ bike. It’s the bloody bars that get in the way in the hallway mostly!

mocha – I don’t know, but I’ll work it out. Assuming you mean central Manchester, rather than one of its ‘burbs?

look here :o)

Thought it probably was (honest, I was going to work it out). I’ll pop in next time I’m passing (and you’re open).

Ute bags are bigger for 09 IIRC

I leave mine locked up all over the place. They aren’t really theif magnets as they aren’t fast & stick out like a sore thumb!

serious question for the big dummy and Xtracycle owners

Is a cargo bike loaded up with booze/ a family shop realisticly rideable up a big hill?

I live on such a hill – and am perfectly happy to grind up it on a singlespeed with a loaded up bag with a laptop/ bottle of milk or whatever

Just wondering if its a serious option for me – of if I would find progress up the hill just too slow and it wouldn’t get used enough