It appears that 2007 has been a good year for continued development in the realm of bike cargo trailers as evidenced by a variety of new products sprinkled around the wide expanse of Interbike.
Xtracycle had a booth at Interbike after being absent in recent years. They had plenty of reason to be there as they were debuting a range of exciting new accessories for their Xtracycle FreeRadical.
At the top of the list was their long anticipated kickstand. It took a while but it was worth the wait. The new kickstand appears to give very solid support to the Xtracycle. This will be great for loading and unloading as well as using the Xtracycle as a seat, table, handing out pamphlets, blending or anything else that a mobile platform is useful for. The kickstand folds back and is held up and out of the way with a built-in ratching system.
With a nod toward the touring/adventure set, Xtracycle has come out with a new style of their vertical racks that are suited to take two panniers on each side. While the Freeloader Saddlebags offer great convenience for local use, they are not ideal for touring. Now you can easily mount fully enclosed, waterproof panniers such as these Ortlieb panniers. These new vertical racks include an additional horizontal piece of tubing that is the same size as standard bike racks and can interface with pannier mounting systems.
A lighter version of the Xtracycle SnapDeck was introduced as well. This aluminum fender styled SnapDeck can replace the heavier wooden SnapDeck. The aluminum fender weighs in at about 1/2 a pound as compared to the 2 pound wood SnapDeck. It is not as wide as the wood SnapDeck leading to a narrower overall profile of the Xtracycle. This does result in the vertical racks not being held in place as firmly. A set of collars will come with this fender to hold the vertical racks in more tightly.
A nifty little adapter will allow you to take off your messenger bag and sling it onto the side of the Xtracycle. This adapter kit consists of two knobs that are mounted onto the messenger bag and two rubberized receiver sockets for locking the bag into place for the ride. The messenger bag can be set in place with or without the freeloader saddlebag in place. Your messenger back can sit on top of a load in the freeloader if necessary.
Finally, additional accessories for using the Xtracycle in its passenger carrying capacity will soon be available. A padded seat for the SnapDeck and a handle grip to mount to the seat post will work nicely together with the Footsies to make a comfortable ride for your passengers.
All these Xtracycle accessories should be available early next year. The BikeTrailerShop.com will be selling them as soon as they are available.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Mar 22, 2008 at 6:03 pm
hey josh,
great to see those new xtracycle add-ons. I think an xtracycle mountain tour is in the pipeline… I like the idea of strapping a solar panel to the snap deck and going somewhere remote, where a lot of supplies are needed. I’m looking forward to seeing that Big Dummy too - it takes 2.5in tyres, and fenders!
all is great here in the mountains of SW China, where we are rubbing shoulders with Tibetan cowboys and pool-shooting monks. The trailers are doing good (I have a 29er prototype Extrawheel, Cara the standard version) so we should have loads of pics for you when we’re back. The locals love the trailers - I reckon they’d get a real kick out of the Xtracycles too.
Cass
2 derek // Mar 22, 2008 at 6:03 pm
cool to see the new xtracycle stuff!
3 Handlebar Sandwich » Blog Archive » Bugs and Bike to Work Week // May 11, 2008 at 10:53 pm
[...] about (you guessed it) bike trailers”:http://biketrailerblog.com/ and pointed me towards his interbike post from last year. The one I’m really excited about is the new centerstand that xtracycle is supposed to be [...]
4 MaryBeth // Aug 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Has there been any word from Xtracycle about when some of these accessories will become available? They mention nothing about them on their website…..
5 Josh // Aug 8, 2008 at 8:29 am
We are expecting to get in the Adventure Racks, the Tek Dek, and the WatchmaCollars at the BikeTrailerShop.com at the beginning of September. The new kickstand is reported to be due in sometime in the Fall.
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