THESE ONE WHEELED DEATH TRAPS WILL RUN OVER YOUR BABY!! > Reviews > Xtracycle > STP 2008 Tallbike Xtracycle

STP 2008 Riding an Xtracycle Tallbike (XtraTallbike)

Riding from Seattle to Portland (200 miles) is a wonderful ride, about 9000 people do it every year during the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride.

2008 was my third year and I wanted to build a good tallbike to ride it on, something with both brakes and gears. (Funny because STP is dominated by spandex and expensive bicycles).

Perhaps some year I’ll do it by unicycle, but not until I decide to have kids or not.

I picked the Xtracycle platform because of the long wheelbase and carrying capacity. Frequently the two bikes stacked method leads to a wheelie prone Tallbike. After getting use to carrying things on my Xtracycle I decide that was the best route to go.

I also wanted to preserve the bottom bicycle and use it again, so I wanted the top stacked bike to come on and off easily. Working with a local frame builder Jon Sieber of Cascade Bicycles I was able to craft a high quality tallbike. I came up with an idea consulted with Jon Sieber, bought some parts did some cutting and grinding, Jon did an amazing job putting it all together and creating the way the front quill-steer-tube works.

The most frequently asked questions were:
  • How do you get on?
  • How do you get off?
  • How is the view up there?
The funniest comments were:
  • bottom-left (instead of ‘on your left’)
  • nice toes

I’m use to getting attention on my unicycle and other bikes but this was really over the top. People were flipping out about the bike, many many clapping groups, comments, pictures, pictures, pictures.

Beside being heavy (60 pounds?) and slow the bike is amazing, the best tallbike I’ve ridden, and it’s really just that a bike, once you’re moving it’s just a bicycle.

Next year I hope to bring more…