la bomba shelter

Unexpected meeting with a Big Dummy

I really got caught up in the hype, earlier this year surrounding the debut of the Surly-built Xtracycle, but I didn’t anticipate seeing one in Anchorage.  When I showed up for a party at the home of a member of a Saturday night biking group I’m trying to belong to, there it was in the garage!  The owner was standing around telling a couple other people about his bike wrecks [something about hopping over a shrub on his girlfriend’s bike, and hitting the pavement when the rusted out fork caved in].  He said he coated the inside of the Big Dummy to avoid such corrosion problems.  I told him about the trick with the little piece of innertube to cover the joint where the Xtracycle rack is inserted into the frame posts [as I’d read in the Surly Slog].  His example was an 18″ frame and it was a fine machine, solid but relatively lightweight.  Good handling and all the utility you could want.  I stopped short of asking for a test ride.  I still want to own a Big Dummy one day.  Maybe after the hype dies down a bit, maybe the price will drop and/or maybe some used ones will become available.