At the end of December, we started talking with a local bike shop (LBS) about options for ordering an Xtracycle Edgerunner. The guy we worked with did a great job helping us price the different options. Then came decision time.
To make the comparison easier, I added some details to the “pricing” page of the standard bike specs document for the Edgerunner, so we could see options with prices all on one page (details here: EdgerunnerOptions).
We were fairly sure we wanted an internal hub, and the most affordable option was to just start with the frame & fork and build it up from there (by which I mean the bike shop will be building it up from there, with some input from us as to the components). As for accessories, we’re getting Standard Racks, the FlightDeck, the KickBack Center Stand (a super-stable, two-legged kickstand) and the X2 bags (which are waterproof).
By the time we made all of the decisions and finalized our order, Xtracycle was sold out of the frame & fork in our chosen color (Zone Blue) until mid-March. (A note on frame color: we quickly ruled out both the white and the orange frames, leaving light blue or black. Despite blue being my favorite color, I didn’t love that shade of blue for a bicycle, and I had some temptation toward the sleek simplicity of the black — but we went with the blue.)
So now we wait. The fact that we’ve had so much crappy weather and so much snow and ice on the roads actually makes the wait easier — even if we had the bike already, it would mostly be sitting around, lonely and gathering dust.
UPDATE: I wrote this post on Sunday. Yesterday, our LBS guy checked in with Xtracycle, and they’re now not expecting this shipment until early- to mid-April. Boo, hiss!!!
I decided not to order the child seat (Yepp Maxi EasyFit) directly from Xtracycle, in the hopes of finding a used one on EBay or Craigslist. Turns out, there aren’t many out there, at least not on EBay or my local-ish CL options (StL, Kansas City, Colombia, MO), so when I saw an auction for a “new, opened-box” blue Yepp Maxi on EBay, I decided to go for it, and I won the auction. Once you factor in the shipping, it wasn’t a great deal, but it did save some money.
The seat I bought included the adapter for attaching it to a regular bicycle, which we won’t need once we have the Edgerunner. However, since we don’t expect the Edgerunner for at least a month, I installed the seat on Matthew’s bike.
When I first opened the box and started looking at the seat and the mounting hardware, I had a moment of panic where I wondered if we would, in fact, actually still be able to use our rear racks and panniers with the child seat. The assumption that we would not was largely what led us to purchase a longtail in the first place. Had we just spent all that money for nothing?
While you can’t necessarily tell from the above picture, my fears were quickly assuaged once I actually started installing the seat — no way is the rear rack useable with the seat in place. (We noticed that Yepp UK has a rack extender accessory that would theoretically allow you to use the seat and standard panniers on a regular (i.e., non-longtail) bicycle.)
At just over 35-pounds, Sir is still under the 38-pound weight limit for the IBert front seat (though his height means his legs are a bit cramped), and I’ll enjoy getting at least a few more rides with him up front with me. Once we get the Edgerunner, I’ll be looking for a new [long-term loan] home for the IBert (if you’re interested, and local, let me know), hopefully someone who will use and enjoy it as much as I did!
Her Green Life 
Sorry for the delay! I had a terrible time choosing my bike color when I ordered my Linus last spring. I chose black, because the ten-speed was already red, and Linus’ cream bikes run a bit too yellow in real life for me (they look lovely and white in the superbly-lit promo photos… alas). The green and blue frames were not available in small, though if green had been an option, it’s a truly lovely sagey-olive. So now I have a grey bike, a red bike, and a black bike, and a helmet with loads of swirly colors that clashes with all three of them. 🙂
I hope you get your Edgerunner wtihout additional delays. I’d love to hear what Matthew thinks of the noseless saddle! If you have posted on this before and I’ve missed it, a link is fine. Cheers and how about the forecast today!?
Yes, I actually really liked the apple green color of the Yuba Mundo (which was our second choice longtail). My current bike colors are mostly dark green plus some black (BUB) and fire-engine red (Baby Jake). Red would not be my first choice of anything, ever, but it was the only color available in that bike that year. In the end, I don’t really notice or care about the color of my current bikes in day-to-day riding, so it really shouldn’t be a huge issue with this one, either.
The delay is definitely a bummer, since it will take a bit of additional time for the shop to build up the bike. If they don’t get it until mid-April, we’re looking at close to May 😦
Bad news. That Yepp Maxi Standard seat is not the model which is compatible with the Xtracycle. Super confusing and super frustrating, this happens to people all the time.
Thanks for the info. I’ll see if I can sell the standard seat locally on Craigslist and buy the Easyfit. Xtracycle said there is a chance that the Maxi standard might work on the Edgerunner with the seat tube adapter, if the seat clears the FlightDeck, but we wouldn’t know that until we have the bike.
We would likely be interested in your IBert – although I have to check maddox’s weight to see how long we’d be able to use it. I suspect we’d be fine though the fall, though. Looks great!
Sounds good, Jess. Let me know if it will work, weight-wise. Also, I think Gabriel started getting cramped once he reached the 36″ mark, height-wise. With the delay in getting the Edgerunner, it may be sometime in April before we’re ready to part with the IBert instead of March. You would be welcome to come over and try out the seat anytime. There are certain styles of bicycles that the IBert doesn’t work with, so we can talk about that, too.
Hello Melissa! Your shop was in contact the other day – we do have that frame set aside for you and we’ll be sending it out as soon as it gets here. Thanks for hanging in there! -Robert (Xtracycle)
Thanks for stopping by, Robert. With our winter weather finally letting up a bit (at least temporarily), we are starting to chomp at the bit, but I know there’s little you can do to speed it up at this point — slow boat from China and all of that!
Hi Robert,
I was surprised when our bike shop said that if we wanted the heavy duty pannier friendly racks for the edgerunner, the platform would wind up being at least 3″ higher than with the standard racks.
Is there any chance the rack offerings will be updated to allow both the functionality of the 6″ lower center of gravity for the rack and using standard panniers? Are there any other workarounds people are using that work will to use regular panniers with the standard rack?
Thanks,
Matt