Andy in Germany
Guru
- Location
- Freiburg im Breisgau
I've finally figured out how to post pictures, so here's my Xtracycle, taken on a cycleway on the edge of Tübingen last week.
The bike was originally a Raleigh M-Trax, from what I can gather made in Nottingham in the last years, possibly last months of production there. I think it is a 1995 model but I can't swear to that: certainly it was offered at discount when I bought it in 1997. It still has the address of "Shepherd's Cycles" of Wellington on a sticker on the frame.
The back end is an 'Xtracycle free radical' bolted on the raleigh frame and probably invalidating the warranty long before it ran out anyway. As you can see the bike is now about a foot longer than normal, which makes it far more useful and much more comfortable to ride as well. The flip side is that I need to get two chains every time I replace and the cables are longer. I can -just- get s a standard Shimano gear cable to reach the rear gears but it it tight and takes a fair bit of tuning to get the gears to change as I want them. It can also be viulnerable to freezing in winter.
It is also heavy, not so much because of the Xtracycle itself, but because of all the junk I leave in there and forget about.
On the other hand it can carry a passenger or two -it wa the regular transport to take my kinds to Kindergarten- and it is great for shopping, touring, running errands and spontaneously deciding to get something on the way back from work. And as I said earlier, it is very comfortable and a joy to ride.
It has its limitations though, so when I next ride my Bakfiets I'll put a picture of that in too...
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