Biking Bison

An xtracycle is a really cool design for biking that extends the frame length of your bike, so that your cargo capacity greatly increases, while the mobility and agility of the bike remains pretty consistent. www.xtracycle.com I have been wanting one of these for quite some time, but the high price tag is pretty steep when I already have 5-6 bikes in the garage. After searching around some internet forums, I discovered a growing population of DIYers who are creating their own versions of this bike design. Here is my attempt at documenting my steps in creating my own.

here is the first look at what the completed bike looks like. still no brakes

its amazing how quickly it looks like it was always built that way

the next step is to add a center kickstand. cheapest one I could find on amazon

mounted the center stand to the rear suspension triangle. seems like having the support under there makes the most sense

bike stand nice with no wobble. pretty excited at we are looking at right here

first attempt at a ride with my girls on board

made the mistake of loading them on the bike with the center stand down. bent it slightly right out of the gate

quickly apparent that they needed somewhere for their feet. I stuck a bar through the frame here

maiden voyage

kids look a little dangerous. good thing they have helmets on

my younger daughter has her face right in my back pocket. less than an ideal design

still looking pretty uncomfortable and unsafe

next step is to add a handlebar for the kids. my seat is rusted in place from the buffalo salt, so taking it off to attach a stem that clamps was not an option

Instead I had an old downtube style stem, and put it in an extra seat clamp. this also pushed the handlebar farther away from my rear end. success.

this aluminum bar works perfectly for a straight bar hand grip for the kids