Arleigh is building, documenting and writing out her build up of a Salsa Ala Carte mountain bike with 650b wheels and a Xtracycle Free Radical Kit. This is an on going series so stay tuned for more installments.
Late this past week I took delivery of an Xtracycle Free Radical Kit at the shop. The Xtracycle is of the 700c variety (they come in 26″ or 700c) that will be installed to my Salsa Ala Carte with 650b wheels. The 650b wheels is why we decided to go with the 700c Free Rad Kit. There should be enough room on the 26″ version but I’m normally running a 41.5mm tire and also would like to run Quasi Moto 2.0″ tires for light off road touring.
Getting the Xtracycle home was a task in itself. I was wishing I had an Xtracycle to get the Xtracycle home. As you might know, I’m carless and work about 25 miles north of Charlotte, NC at a shop in Mooresville. My daily commute involves a 5 mile ride from the shop to bus stop. Here you see the Xtracycle after my 5 mile commute to the bus stop. The Xtracycle is strapped to my rack using a bungee and a couple of tie downs. The ride was actually pleasant, other than an unexpected deer almost running me over. (Deer are not common on my commute.. Unfortunately for you I had to take the Xtracycle and Freeloader bags out of the gorgeous box it came in. The box had funny sayings all over it, telling you how to recycle or reuse it. It saddened me to leave it at the shop but there was no way I was lugging the whole thing home safely.
Arrive safely I did. The bus driver thought I was on crutches and eyes were wide when I rode the last leg home through the darkness and street lights of Uptown Charlotte, NC. I am the odd ball in our city, always carrying random things on my bike or hands.
Next in this series is the Free Radical Anatomy.