im - 6/01/2007 06:17:00 AM

I transferred most of the parts from the first Big Dummy sample to the latest, greatest version. Look Ma, no sidehack. I finished assembling the Dummy last Thursday morning at 7:30am after working on it for 14 hours. I intended to install the outrigger when I started the project, but decided to try riding without it. It was a struggle getting on the bike, because me flexibility is still lacking. But once I got on, all was well. It felt so good to be back on two wheels again. Singletrack is where it's at. The sidehack is fun and challenging, but it's taxing on the upper body. And it takes up a lot of space. That's a good thing on the road, because I can take the lane. But it's a bit too wide for the bike paths I commute on. The Ride 2 crank shortener came off the left-side crank on Monday. I have gained enough flexibility to ride the 175mm crank again. This new Dummy sports 24" Large Marge wheels, front and rear, shod with 24 x 3.45 Hoggy G rubber. The tires don't actually measure out to 3.45" wide or tall. But they are plenty fat, and they have a very round profile. The O.D. is about 25.75 inches, so the steering geometry is close that of a bike equipped with 26" wheels. Note: I had to chop off the canti bosses to make room for the wide rims. I'm still diggin' the Rohloff rear hub. I have a few thousand kilometers on it, and it has worked flawlessly the whole time. The 42t x 110mm BCD Surly chainrings came into stock last week, so I can finally have my all-steel drivetrain: steel chains (of course), Surly stainless steel chainrings on both sides of the crankset, a Shimano freewheel on the Stokemonkey motor, and a steel cog on the Rohloff hub. This drivetrain will last longer and provide more efficiency than one that utilizes aluminum cogs and/or chainrings. The Stokemonkey has a new 36V 12AH NiMH battery that lives in a frame bag in the front triangle. I prefer to put the battery closer to the front of the bike, so the front wheel sticks to the road/trail better in the turns. I used to mount the battery on the front rack, but that requires a little more muscle to turn the bars. This new configuration is better. No this is not the stock color. But we have picked a color...finally, and we'll reveal our choice in the near future. The purchase order is in, and the Big Dummy is scheduled for production. Expect 'em to show up late November/early December if all goes well. We apologize for the delay, but we're sure you'll appreciate the improvements we've made prior to the first production run. -----