[To see my Paintings for Sale - click here].
My XtraCycle Gallery
This week it’s now 6 years - the first 2 in America, the last 4 at home in Ireland - since I bought what I can still say without reservation is the best thing I’ve ever bought - my XtraCycle.
Technically speaking XtraCycle is the name of the company and, although you can now buy complete cargo bikes from them, back then what started them and what I bought was a conversion kit that turned my existing bike into a cargo bike. The kit is called a FreeRadical.
A cross and combination between a rack, a hitchless trailer, panniers, and a passenger seat (for an adult or up to 3 children), the beauty of what XtraCycle created is that when carrying no cargo your bike is just a bike rather than a big empty cargo bike. That and the low centre of gravity and long wheel base which makes carrying well, almost anything, not just possible but enjoyable.
Not pictured in this gallery are some of the larger loads I’ve carried on my bike, including my art display tent, a beanbag armchair and ottoman, my dog, my son’s bicycle, and my son.
And with the advent of my painting cycle tour of Ireland I expect I’ll have a fair few more photos to go with these and the dozens more I haven’t shown you.
[...] posted a gallery the other day of 24 photos of my XtraCycle carrying various loads. A national newspaper saw it (Irish Independent) and interviewed me for a feature on cargo/utility [...]
Hi there.
Yay for Xtracycle! Yes, mine changed my life about 3 years ago - shattered the barrier, really.
What WAS “I have 5 errands to run, two kids to pick up and one to drop off. Hmm, can I do any of that by bike?” BECAME “I have 5 errands to run, two kids to pick up and one to drop off. Hmm, is there ANY reason not to do it on the X?”
In both lives - pre and post X - the answer was (and is) usually “nope.”
I’ll look you up if I ever make it to Ireland. I really, really want to bring my bike with me!
[...] On the bike by Clew Bay (mp3) And for the bike geeks out there, he pedals a Cannondale T400 extended by what he says is “the greatest thing I’ve ever bought — Xtracycle’s Free Radical add-on.” [...]
[...] On the bike by Clew Bay (mp3) And for the bike geeks out there, he pedals a Cannondale T400 extended by what he says is “the greatest thing I’ve ever bought — Xtracycle’s Free Radical add-on.” [...]