I got the latest issue of “dirt rag”:http://www.dirtragmag.com about two weeks ago. It’s one of the few bike magazines that I actually get, and actually read as well.

As usual, there was some good eye candy, good trail reports, and good gear reviews. However, one thing in particular caught my eye. They had a review out of the “surly big dummy”:http://www.surlybikes.com/new.html, and I seem to have become somewhat enamored with the concept.

If you aren’t aware, the Big Dummy is a bike based on the “xtracycle system”:http://www.xtracycle.com/, which is basically an extender for the back wheel of your bike. It moves the back wheel back about 18 inches and creates a location for a cargo area. You can then accessorize to your heart’s content with panniers, a platform, and even seats. The xtracycle extension was touted as being able to carry anything you can fit on there up to 250 lbs.

It seemed like a great idea, but I was a little disappointed about the whole bolt-on status of it. I know a guy around town who has one and likes it a lot, but I’ve definitely heard they are finniky and need to be tightened up regularly. The Big Dummy is basically a frame which has a built-in xtracycle extension.

No bolts, no clamps, and it will (supposedly) carry up to 400 lbs.

That is SO bad-ass.

As riding season is coming in here in flag, I’m commuting to work again. Unfortunately, I commute to work, come home, and sometimes jump right in the car to go run errands which require more space than I have in a messenger bag.

A big dummy would allow me to do that on the way home from work. Groceries? No sweat. Home Depot? Done. Homebrewers outpost? Load ‘er up!

However, those errands dwarf in comparison to the “holy shit, that’s awesome” factor of the next two items that you can carry on the back of the BD:

  1. Passengers
  2. Other Bikes

Honestly, that is amazing. Just check out this picture from dirt rag:
“Bike on Bike action”:http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/big-dummy-in-da-house/
(I’m not sure why the guy has on a full-face helmet, but who am I to judge. also, why the backpack when he has all that pannier space?)

How cool would it be to roll up to the wednesday crit with a passenger and two road bikes on the back, unload the bikes, ride the crit, load up after, and head home.

Go ahead, tell me it’s ridiculous, and tell me how jealous you would be. Yeah.

I don’t know that it would save me a ton more gas than I use right now (I’d like to think it would help a bit), and I’m not going to do any preaching about how this thing is going to save the earth, so don’t worry.

But, I will say that the number of excuses for people who live within 10 miles of most amenities are running out. You do what you gotta do for your grocery-getting and errands around town, but I’ve got my eye on a Big Dummy ASAP.

I’d even put gears on it.

Unfortunately, the frameset looks like it could roll in anywhere from 800-950 (depending on what source you believe), and for a fully built-up bike it’ll set you back somewhere over 1600.

I’ve already got a set of bars ready for it (that “torsion bar”:http://www.surlybikes.com/parts.html from the singleswizzle would do nicely), but other than that, it’s gonna be a costly build. Once I save up a bit of cash, this may be on the list.

That is, unless somebody from Surly wants to hook me up with one to try out for a little while (hint, hint).

I’ll be saving my pennies.