Bikes Of 2020: Surly Bikes Big Dummy

It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

The existence of a Big Dummy in my evolving stable of bikes had been threatened here on the blog for years. I used to have an old Schwinn Sierra from the mid-80's with an XtraCycle attachment which served as a makeshift cargo rig for years, but I knew it was a substandard way of doing things. The Big Dummy would make all the things I was doing with the XtraCycle 100 times better. 

And then a friend, Mike J, had a Big Dummy for sale. I didn't even know he had one! The price was fair, so I purchased it from him, took it home, and it has been getting used regularly ever since. Mostly as a platform to recycle stuff we generate as refuse here at the G-Ted household. 

You can see an image here from a Fall recycle run showing our recycling bins in the 'cargo hold area'. While that has been the main thing I've done with this bike, I do use it for a few other things, most notably as a vehicle to gather things at our local Farmer's Market from time to time. I also have used it a couple of times to pick up food from a local food truck and have lunch with N.Y. Roll. 

There have been no changes to the bike since I added the Paul seat post and Brooks saddle, and added an aluminum tape rim strip to each wheel, which were the only modifications I made to the bike after I got it from Mike. The poofy white wall Bontrager XR1 tires are a long out of production model that I will not be able to replace whenever I wear them out. But so far, they have a lot of life left in them. 

So, I have been really happy with this bike and I just do not see ever getting rid of it in the near future. No real mods are planned either. This bike is good to go.