Very very cool:

http://todd.cleverchimp.com/blog/?p=150

Must say I agree, although I do wish it was going to be a 29er. Can't wait to build one up.

Must say I agree, although I do wish it was going to be a 29er. Can't wait to build one up.

Agreed, that is the one downer. The xtracycle guys don't want to add another version to their lineup (26" and 700C), and the 29'er stuff is too bulky for the 700C setup.

Still, can't wait to get one next summer.

i'm curious about how much that chain is going to slap around.

i'm curious about how much that chain is going to slap around.

Shouldn't be any worse than a tandem's. The only person I ever ran into riding an Extracycle said he didn't have problems with the controls or drivetrain...now, the handling did set him off on quite a rant....

i'm curious about how much that chain is going to slap around.

Shouldn't be any worse than a tandem's.

I think you mean it shouldn't be any worse than a recumbent's. Tandem chains are no longer than single bike chains - they just use two of them (one from the captain to the stoker, and one from the stoker to the rear wheel). Recumbents often use chain guides to keep their long lengths of chains from slapping about too much. I'm surprised that the Surly bike doesn't also incorporate chain guides - especially on the bottom run.

Obviously, a 'bent chain would be a whole lot longer than a "normal" bike's (depending on the frame style), but I was scoping out the tandems in an old catalog and was noticing that the distance the timing chain runs (captain to stoker) on all these bikes was at least 1.5 times that of the "drive" chain--there's gotta be a tensioning device somewhere, but I couldn't see it in the photos.

Very very cool:

http://todd.cleverchimp.com/blog/?p=150

love the Surly, and at the other end of the spectrum is one built by Sacha White @ Vanilla.

http://todd.cleverchimp.com/blog/xtravanilla/Pages/P1000866.html