Xtrakoram

Our second Xtracycle has been up and running for a while, and it's high time I got around to profiling it. Most of the specs are outlined here, except that it's for sure a 1990 and not a '92. Todd chimed in about the geometry in the previous post's comments, but I'm pretty sure I'm describing it correctly. The '90 Karakorams were not made for front suspension, and the 1x1 fork is suspension-corrected. I think this ends up increasing the trail, and the end result is that I like the handling quite a bit. It still has a tendency to pull into corners a bit, but the steering seems quite a bit lighter than Marge's. Speaking of Large Marge, I've gotten a 1x1 fork and new headset installed, but I don't have the new disk brakes hooked up yet—so no ride report.


Here's a family picture. Marge will also soon be getting some spiffy new cruiser bars with lots of rise and a shorter stem with more rise.


Here's some goofy front brake cable routing. That's a Cane Creek Freestyle Assembly (it's got a hollow top-cap bolt) whose star nut was really fun to install without the proper tool. I had originally purchased it to conceal the wire from the dynamo to the headlight on Woody, but it somehow ended up here.


And just in case you've ever wondered what it would be like to put a rear fender on the front wheel, here it is (click for big). The lower part of the fender where it would have attached to the chainstay bridge was trimmed off with aircraft snips and cleaned up with emery cloth. The fork crown bracket was custom-cut and drilled, then fastened to the fender with Pop Rivets. And no, I wouldn't have set it up this way without those plastic fender stay QRs visible at the dropout. Does handily eliminate the need for a mudflap, but not too conducive to off-road riding.

I bought this frame knowing it was too small for me, hoping that a combination of its size and the GT triple triangle design would improve the overall torsional rigidity. I have to say, it does feel less rubbery than Marge and I really like its ride quality overall. My only complaint is that my knees occasionally come pretty close to, and sometimes hit, the ends of the Albartoss bars in low-speed turns.

Can't wait to see how it stacks up against a Big Dummy...