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By Paul Freedman, a.k.a. MC Fossil Fool , urban and touring Xtracycle S.U.B. owner since 2000; creator of The Soul Cycle, Xtracycle mobile audio.

Handling | Safety | Trailers get left at home

Do you plan every day in advance? Do you always know exactly what trips you'll need to make at the beginning of each day? With the always-there capacity of your Sport Utility Bicycle, you'll have the freedom to structure your day (or night) on the fly. You can decide as you're running out the door for class that today is the day to return those 20 overdue library books. You can decide to host a barbeque after a great group ride or a softball game, pick up four bags of groceries on your way home, and still have room for a passenger (or your softball gear.) After night falls, you can meet up with a friend at a café or bar, and bring them comfortably to a restaurant a mile away. With a bike trailer, you'll leave it at home because you prefer the way your bike rides without it, then later wish you had brought it along.

Handling

All trailers add at least one wheel to your bike. Extra wheels are heavy, add rolling weight, require additional maintenance, and are vulnerable to flat tires. Rolling weight is a big factor in how zippy your bike feels. The less weight you have in your wheels, the faster you'll accelerate when a traffic light turns green, and the easier you'll climb hills. A sport utility bike will feel zippier than a bike pulling a one- or two-wheeled trailer .

Adding more wheels to your bike means it will no longer handle like a bicycle. Everybody loves leaning into turns, picking a nice line, and feeling the forces of Newtonian physics sweep you around a corner. With a two-wheeled trailer on the back of your bike, that's exactly the moment when you have to slow down, watch out for tipping, and make sure your load isn't forcing you into a different line than the one you picked. Riding with a trailer requires a presence of mind that doesn't lend itself well to carefree cruising. Most bike trailers have two wheels, and those wheels track in a different line than the two wheels of your bicycle. This makes it more challenging to avoid hazards in the road like potholes. Single-wheeled trailers track normally but can twist and flex about their hitch when you sprint or climb out of the saddle. An S.U.B. turns, accelerates, and brakes like a normal bike, i.e., it is fun, nimble, and carefree.

Safety

Riding with a trailer also introduces serious safety concerns in urban environments. A bike + trailer combination of is much longer than a Sport Utility Bicycle and will be in the middle of an intersection longer than you realize. For example, a bicycle towing the popular BOB Trailer™ has a 95-inch front axle to rear axle length, compared to the S.U.B.'s 57 inches! Safety devices like flags and blinkers can help, but they won't eliminate this risk. The extra length of a trailer is especially important if you plan on using your trailer to carry kids. If you are considering a trailer to carry your kids, please check out our family transportation solution first. It keeps your little ones closer to you than a trailer, and it's easier and more stable to ride. Any trailers carrying a heavy load can jackknife you in an emergency braking situation, a la cart pushing horse.

Why Trailers Usually Get Left at Home

Riding your bike around with an unloaded trailer is clumsy , since it makes noise, bounces, vibrates, and tips over more when it's unloaded. Because of this, you'll be motivated to leave your trailer at home. You'll tend to hook up your bicycle trailer only when you know you're going to need it that day or that trip . Not only will you spend time hitching and unhitching it, but you'll miss out on one of the S.U.B.'s greatest features: its always-there capacity. An unloaded SUB offers a No Regrets ride. You will forget very soon that you're not riding a regular ‘short' bike.

With your always-there capacity , you'll have a comfortable place to give your friends or kids a ride to class, to the bus, or to a movie. You can pick up a friend from the train station, throw their backpack in your FreeLoader , and ride off. Or you can take your date out on the town and you won't have to deal with the stressful parking-related moments that a car trip brings. With a trailer on your bike, you'll end up leaving it home any time you might need to give someone older a ride.

With your always-there capacity, you can bring the food on your next group mountain bike ride. If you're the strongest rider in your group, why not give yourself a challenge by carrying extra water, food, and tools the next time your go riding. The long wheelbase of the S.U.B. will provide unexpected advantages on steep climbs and descents and your friends will thank you when they get to eat a real sandwich and drink a beer in the middle of the wilderness, instead of another Powerbar. Most people who've tried both say that an SUB handles much better off road than a one-wheel bike trailer. Two wheeled trailers can only be ridden on the street.

Elevators, Stairs, Subways, Buses

Getting a bike with a trailer down a flight of stairs or through a doorway requires two people or trigonometry. Backing up with a trailer will jackknife it. With an Xtracycle S.U.B., your bike is a single rigid object, just like a regular bike. Sure, if you're carrying 50+ pounds of cargo, it can be difficult to lift. But for regular commuter-grade loads (laptop, change of clothes, lunch), you'll be able to lift it onto the bike car of a train, up or down stairs, and even onto the front of a city bus. Tight elevator or apartment? You can store an S.U.B. vertically in as little space as a regular bike.

Unless you're a frequent hard-core mountain biker who only wants to have one bike, to which you can occasionally attach a trailer for a planned cargo excursion, the Xtracycle S.U.B. is the ticket to the bicycle lifestyle adventure. It offers the benefits of a bicycle trailer, and many more, without the myriad drawbacks.

· Convert the bike you have into a sport utility bicycle.

· Choose the right complete S.U.B. for your unique needs.

· Determine the best accessories for your intended loads and journeys.

Or call now to talk to a real S.U.B. rider: 888-537-1401.

Xtracycle, the bike that always hauls.