Beater Bike Grows a Tail

After not so extensive testing I realized the BFB was just too... Big. Too long, Too heavy, too kluged to be used regularly. I couldn't wait the four-five months till the Big Dummy is available from Surly, so I ordered an Xtracycle kit for my old red cruiser/commuter/beater/rainbike.

Xtracycle themselves were out of stock, so I had a local bike shop (LBS) order me one from the big bike parts distributor, QBP.

Anyhow... I got the kit yesterday and installed it last night. The instructions say it should take 'about an hour', but for me it took a couple since i changed from a 3 speed with canti brakes to a 21 speed with v-brakes.




First impressions: Its a very well made and clever kit. Only complaint I had was the threads for the derailer needed to be chased. Other than that, the assembly is very intuitive and easy. A couple laps around the driveway in the rain confirmed it handles *way* better than the BFB.

The StokeMonkey kit from the BFB will be installed this weekend.

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