Berkeley based Clif Bar recently unveiled their new mobile tour bus–a retrofitted, biodieseled, bike hauling interactive exhibit–dedicated to inspiring folks to take the 2 mile challenge. The 2 Mile Challenge urges visitors to commit to bikeride rather than cardrive whenever possible, and within your 2 mile radius.

Apparently, about 40% of auto trips happen within 2 miles of one’s home–trips to the grocery store, to the launderette, to a restaurant or to the gym–and 90% of those are traditionally driven (here in the U.S.). What better way to make a dent in carbon emissions, get exercise, spend time outside, meet others? Than to ride your bike? And what better bike to ride to the grocery store than your Xtracycle? Obviously, we’re preaching to the choir here.

Take the 2 mile challenge yourself online at: http://www.2milechallenge.com
This site includes a sweet Google maps program that identifies your 2-mile radius and helps you pick what kind of things you want to find there (your friend’s house, restaurants, car dealerships [gotta sell it somewhere!]).

Disc brakes are becoming increasingly popular among bike people, and they’re popping up on more and more entry level bikes. But why should you go disk?

Not everyone needs disc brakes, but the folks like you who do generally justify the expense so that:

* you can carry heavy loads/passengers down hill and avoid blowouts
* you can enjoy minimal set up and periodic maintenance, and easy on/off of the front wheel
* you can experience strong brake power even when weather conditions get wet
* you can look good (come on, let’s be honest here…disc brakes are just plain sexy

Disc brake manufacturer Tektro has recently released SUB specific hydraulic disc brakes, with larger pad surface and longer brake levers to amp up the braking power for long bikes with large loads. We haven’t tested them yet, but we hear they’re beefy.

We recently stumbled upon some user praise for the Xtracycle/Electra Townie combinations on our Forums. Not that this is particularly unusual, the forums have been fairly active these days…but what was cool was the extent to which people had thought about the FreeRadical’s effect on the Townie’s handling and performance. We thought you might want to check this out, so we’ve included some of the text below, and a link option too.

“I’ve now had my Townie 21 w/free radical for about a month, and haven’t driven or gotten on a bus since. Even loaded with groceries (including heavy or bulky stuff like kitty litter, cartons of Virgil’s rootbeer, and goji juice the Townie is a joy to ride. Not as speedy as my old lighter twelve-speed on the flat, but much more fun and comfort, and loaded, it really sails downhill.

At least 2 unexpected benefits: 1) Townie w/ free radical loaded or unloaded feels safer and easier to control than my touring bike. 2) Any bike w/ free radical is a total dude magnet! …(read more in the forums)

10/31/2007-Wed - Halloween-Willow Springs Kickoff Show
11/1/2007 -Thu - South Yuba River-Campfire
11/2/2007-Fri - Nevada City-Peaceful Valley Farm Supply 2pm…more…

Xtracycle Co-founder Kipchoge Spencer is stepping down from his role as Xtracycle president, to follow his long-time dream of taking the show on the road. His band, the Ginger Ninjas, and fellow bike musicians SHAKE YOUR PEACE!, along with an 8 person support crew, are going where none have yet pedaled (as far as we know). Setting off from Xtracycle HQ in the Sierra Foothills, they’ll make their way to southern Mexico over the next four months, carrying all of their instruments and their state-of-the-art 800 watt human-powered sound system — on their bikes, sans auto, going slow and promoting the bicycle as toy, tool, solution, trusty steed, and liberator. They invite you to connect with them in your town, send suggestions about places/people of interest, follow their progress and learn more about why??

Jeff Adams and Moxie

Originally uploaded by The Juice Peddler

We’re going to do an upcoming newsletter issue all about pets and how folks carry them by Xtracycle. Post your comments here about your own pet portage adventures. Pictured: Xtracycle enthusiast and supporter Jeff Adams with his pup Moxie.

P1010746.JPG

Originally uploaded by cleverchimp

Portland framebuilder Tony Pereira built this Xtracycle compatible longtail frame for a customer. Thanks to Todd Fahrner for the photos and bloggage. I’m a big fan of the stays running from head tube to rear drop outs–seems like the cleanest possible lines for a long bike. The arching supports in the rear are a handsome contrast to the straight tubes elsewhere. Spec’d with Big Apples, Brooks saddle, Nitto moustache bars - a stylish citified add to the emerging long tail offerings.

Cargo Van

Originally uploaded by The Juice Peddler

This weeks’ challenges were the rain and picking up my daughter from daycare and eating lunch (Clif bars don’t count as lunch) and the fact that I had loaned my seat out to another bike project and didn’t recover it…As per usual, the days I Xtracycled (instead of rolling in the cargo van) were amazing. Especially those carrying Davis in her carseat on the front cargo space–car drivers were incredulous, some delighted, others concerned. I rode by a run down house with a sign in the window reading: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

Having recently had a child myself, I’ve been fully obsessed with the myriad ways bikes and bike makers attempt to haul small people on bikes. Mark came into the Emeryville office last week and asked a few questions and then casually asked if I’d like to see his bike… I was blown away. The bike he showed did not include the cute kids pictured, but it did feature the childseat which Mark fashioned himself from 3/8″ marine plywood, nylon straps, a beautiful padded seat with Koi print fabric, and even a classy Asian style woodcut behind the seat. I ran into Marc on the road with his son yesterday and he told me that he and his son were loading up the Xtracycle and going camping in the Berkeley hills this weekend. Hat’s off to you Mark — an inspiration to parents and cyclists everywhere. –Nate

Many people tell us that one of the best parts of riding an Xtracycle is the amazing people they meet along the way. Some of you are lucky enough to live in places with lots of Xtracycle riders. Others of you may be the first in your town to ride one. Either way, you may want to connect to the Xtracycle community online, either to get questions answered, plan a trip, or just chat. Here’s a run down of the tools we’ve set up to help Xtracycle owners connect with each other.

1.The Roots Radicals Yahoo Group This online group has been growing since 2001, but has really exploded in the last two years. It’s a great place to get quick answers to questions like “What kind of bike should I choose for my Xtracycle?” “What kind of tires should I ride in the snow/rain?” Xtracycle staff participate fairly lightly in this group, so the answers you’ll get are coming straight from the community. Using the Yahoo Group tool, you can receive group posts in your email inbox as they are written, or in a daily digest, or by scanning at your convenience on the web.

2. Our semi monthly (emphasis on the ’semi’) email newsletter — Once every couple months we publish the best and most interesting content from the entire Xtracycle landscape, including the testimonials and stories you send us after your amazing adventures. Receiving this newsletter is a great way to stay connected. (It’s also a great way to get newsletter-only deals.) When you sign up, you’ll notice that the Xtracycle Bicycle Lifestyle News is one of a handful of newsletters in the Bicycle Lifestyle Network. You’ll also see newsletters from our fellow inventors and bike culture comrades. Sign up for the ones of interest to you.

3. Our online forums. These forums have similar content to our RootsRadicals online group. Occasionally, there will be some duplication, but the nice thing about the forums is that they are structured hierarchically, so it will be easy for you place your question or post in a way that helps others find it, too, and searching is easy. The quality of the information available on both our RootsRadicals list and our forum is sometimes astounding. Check out this customer-submitted post about kickstand designs.

4. Our blog. Yup, the one you’re reading right now. We post company updates, customer stories, developments from our product designers, and episodes from our own bicycle lifestyle. It’s good for a dose of inspiration during a work break. If you’ve got a bike blog with an Xtracycle focus, let us know and we’ll list it in our blogroll.

5. Xtracycle on Flickr, YouTube, and MySpace. Major online communities like Flickr have their own Xtracycle scenes happening. If you’re already using these online services, you might be pleasantly surprised how much Xtracycle energy there is. Here are a few places to start:

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=xtracycle&w=all

MySpace: Pages and people mentioning Xtracycle

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xtracycle&search=

6. Our online photo albums. We encourage you to post your photos in the appropriate album on our user photo gallery, or on Flickr (please tag them with “Xtracycle”), or, if relevant, directly in your forum postings.

Above: Sage builds up a new Xtracycle SUB on a Marin Novato city bike.

We’ve got two new Xtracycle SUB’s available for you to test ride, out of our Oakland office at:

Xtracycle West
1078 60th St.
Emeryville, CA 94608

One is the Marin Novato SUB, completed and shown above. The other is Breezer Uptown SUB, which should be ready by early next week.

Please call Xtracycle toll free at 888-537-1401 to schedule your test ride.

If you’re closer to our North San Juan, CA office, we also offer test rides there. And if you’re nowhere near either of these locations, please contact us. We will peruse our database of test-ride-friendly Xtracycle customers and try to make a connection for you. You can also post a test-ride request at our Roots Radicals email list.