Have you built up a Big Dummy or had someone do one for you?
08-10-09, 01:25 AM
#1
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Have you built up a Big Dummy or had someone do one for you?
Curious and looking to rub salt in my own wounds...
I took the plunge and put a FreeRadical on my old mountain bike. Through the last few months I have found a few things that needed replacing after the FreeRad went on, and now I am at the point I wonder if I should have just done a Big Dummy in the first place.
I see you can get one complete from Surly for around $2500, and my LBS will do one for about $3000. Not sure what they put on them, but in either case I doubt they really cut corners.
I started with a 98 Schwinn Moab Aluminum, and added the FreeRadical plus the "family van kit", which shipped came to about $600. Installation went smooth as could be, almost like they used this bike to mold the FreeRadical.
After a week or two of using it I quickly found I needed a stronger back wheel and a wider pedal stance. Also, the crank that was on the Moab was something I had to have put on in a pinch while I was on road trip as I broke the Deore crank it came with and the LBS where I was had to use what they had to get me up and running. So, a new wheel with heavy duty spokes and a XT disc hub, and a new crank, another $450.
Fast forward a month or so and I have figured out that my 80 lb dog is happy to jog alongside, hitched to the frame of the FreeRadical while my daughter rides in the trailer. Only problem is that I live on a hill that is about 400 feet above most of the places we ever need to go, so everywhere is downhill and the dog can't be expected to run 30 mph to the bottom. Needless to say, while holding back a 350 lb load of rider, trailer, kid, and bike, the stock V brakes don't care for this situation, and its time to go for the disc brakes. Also, the Rock Shox Indy XC fork is great for taking the shock out of hopping up on curbs that I can't do so well now that I have way more weight on the front, but also excellent at showing me just how much energy I am wasting with a suspension fork making that climb back up the hill to home. New front wheel, Surly 1x1 fork (both to accommodate the disc brakes and to get the bars up higher), and some disc brakes for the front, another $700.
Lastly, some Big Apple tires and a new Brooks saddle add about $200 to the tally.
So, that's a grand total of around $2000 plus the bike I already had that I have put into this. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret it one bit. I use the thing every day and it absolutely rocks. Its very useful and in a way it is nice to have it built up to be exactly what you want.
That said, I can't help but wonder what those folks who started with a BD frame and fork and built it up actually put into theirs. If anyone would care to share their recipe and what it cost, I would truly appreciate it.
I took the plunge and put a FreeRadical on my old mountain bike. Through the last few months I have found a few things that needed replacing after the FreeRad went on, and now I am at the point I wonder if I should have just done a Big Dummy in the first place.
I see you can get one complete from Surly for around $2500, and my LBS will do one for about $3000. Not sure what they put on them, but in either case I doubt they really cut corners.
I started with a 98 Schwinn Moab Aluminum, and added the FreeRadical plus the "family van kit", which shipped came to about $600. Installation went smooth as could be, almost like they used this bike to mold the FreeRadical.
After a week or two of using it I quickly found I needed a stronger back wheel and a wider pedal stance. Also, the crank that was on the Moab was something I had to have put on in a pinch while I was on road trip as I broke the Deore crank it came with and the LBS where I was had to use what they had to get me up and running. So, a new wheel with heavy duty spokes and a XT disc hub, and a new crank, another $450.
Fast forward a month or so and I have figured out that my 80 lb dog is happy to jog alongside, hitched to the frame of the FreeRadical while my daughter rides in the trailer. Only problem is that I live on a hill that is about 400 feet above most of the places we ever need to go, so everywhere is downhill and the dog can't be expected to run 30 mph to the bottom. Needless to say, while holding back a 350 lb load of rider, trailer, kid, and bike, the stock V brakes don't care for this situation, and its time to go for the disc brakes. Also, the Rock Shox Indy XC fork is great for taking the shock out of hopping up on curbs that I can't do so well now that I have way more weight on the front, but also excellent at showing me just how much energy I am wasting with a suspension fork making that climb back up the hill to home. New front wheel, Surly 1x1 fork (both to accommodate the disc brakes and to get the bars up higher), and some disc brakes for the front, another $700.
Lastly, some Big Apple tires and a new Brooks saddle add about $200 to the tally.
So, that's a grand total of around $2000 plus the bike I already had that I have put into this. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret it one bit. I use the thing every day and it absolutely rocks. Its very useful and in a way it is nice to have it built up to be exactly what you want.
That said, I can't help but wonder what those folks who started with a BD frame and fork and built it up actually put into theirs. If anyone would care to share their recipe and what it cost, I would truly appreciate it.
08-11-09, 12:51 AM
#2
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I built up my Big Dummy last spring. Xtracycle's build was going for about $1800 at the time. I spent just a little more than that. Started with a basic custom build kit from Jenson, something like this. I see Xtracycle is just selling Surly's build now; that's surprising.
