The bikes section of Boise craigslist has no mercy. First, there was the Coker Monster Cruiser late last year. Then, the Main Street Pedicab. This week brought more from two different sellers. My wife picked up a Nirve Lahaina 3 Speed, and then last night I bought the Wald rear rack/baskets assembly. Here it is on the Schwinn:

There’s barely enough room in the side basket for a gallon of milk, but it works. My MBA bag fits in one side, which is nice. I may not go back to ever having a box on there, I don’t know yet. What I do know is this thing weighs in at over 7 lbs. and has some hauling capacity. The real test is use over time, and it’ll be getting that over the summer. So far, a neat rack. They’re around $40 – $50 new I believe. This one is used, with a few bent basket bars which I’ve straightened, but nothing severe. Cost: $10.

I did lose my LED tail light that I modded and mounted to the old Swiss clamp rack, but we had a Bell tail light sitting around that no longer had a mounting bracket, so I took it. Two zip ties later and it appears to be reasonably mounted to the new rack. The Bell LED tail light is much brighter than the one that is on the old rack.

With the Wald rack on there, the Schwinn (my lightest bike) should be weighing in at over 50 lbs now. The Roadmaster is still heavier, and closer to 60 lbs. Who knows what the Coker weights in at, but it has to be more than the Roadmaster is.

The new parts are in. As you can see, Bryce has inspected the new Maxxis Hookworm tires. I asked him if they were Bryce approved, and he nodded yes.

Something that shows up a lot in cycling-related blogs is concerns about weight. Road bike guys go crazy about weight. It makes me giggle when I see a road bike person that has clearly spent some money on their light ride but could drop 20 lbs. from themselves, but I digress.

The 2003 Main Street Pedicab Classic is my sport rickshaw. It’s notably lighter than the Rickshaw I’ve had for half a decade now. It’s also more capable (stability, high speed handling, brakes, gearing). So, when I went to order parts, was I thinking “How much is that going to weigh?” No. I’m more concerned about function and look, in that order.

Still, this a cycling blog, so I should weigh parts at least once, right?! Why not. Here’s a few:

Component	Weight each	Qty.	Total
Maxxis Hookworm Tire	2lbs 6oz	3	7lbs 2oz
Wald 5 inch rise handlebar	1lbs 8oz	1	1lbs 8oz
Ergon grip	2.9oz	2	6oz (rounded)

I’m not taking the shifter out of the packaging to weigh it, so there you go. Three tires, handlebar, and grips weigh in at nine pounds.

Let’s compare to some road bike component weights I grabbed from Weight Weenies:

Component	Weight each
Maxxis Hookworm Tire	2lbs 6oz
Maxxis Xenith Equipe Legere	148g (5.2oz)
Difference in Weight	2lbs 0.8oz

 

Component	Weight each
Wald 5 inch rise handlebar	1lbs 8oz
Kestrel EMS Pro/SL (42 cm (c-c))	175.7g (6.2oz)
Difference in Weight	1lbs 1.8oz

So, notably less weight for both. Sure the road bike parts are also far smaller, but the priorities are different. Still, my handlebars weigh over three an a half times what the road bike ones do, and each Hookworm tire weighs about seven and a half times what a road bike tire from the same company weighs.

Road bikes don’t have the added weight of a third wheel, let alone passengers. The priorities are different.

As noted before, the (new to me) 2003 Main Street Pedicab (MSP) Classic has seen some battles. I decided to throw some more money at it, which I suppose makes it officially a hobby.

Here’s the parts I ordered, and the plan:

From Bike Stop:

Details	Name	Unit Price	Quantity	Total
LD8752	Shimano STX Right Rear Shifter (Pod)	$11.95	1	$11.95
33036	Wald MTB High-Rise Handlebar #803, Black, 25.4	$12.95	1	$12.95
HT1700	Ergon Performance Grips Small	$29.95	1	$29.95
Special:	- Price Match	$-6.96		$-6.96
			Sub Total:	$47.89
			Shipping:	$11.99
			Grand Total:	$59.88

The price match was on the Ergon grips.

From Main Street Pedicabs:

Qty	Name	SKU	Each	Subtotal
3	26 Maxxis Hookworm Tire	MAX_HT	$26.99	$80.97
Subtotal				$80.97
Shipping: UPS Ground				$15.30
Tax Total				$0.00
Grand Total				$96.27

MSP has very competitive prices and they were quite helpful on the phone when I called. I probably paid a little extra in shipping since I didn’t get everything from Bike Stop, but MSP earned my business. Company founder Steve Meyer is who I spoke with. Here’s a video with him I found on YouTube:

…and here’s an article about MSP:
http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=473

So, my ride just got way more expensive, but it’ll be nice. I think I’ll be glad I went with trigger shifters on both sides (there’s already one on the left) rather than returning to a stock twist shifter setup, and the Ergon grips look like they’ll be nice. The handlebars are almost the same size as the new stock MSP ones, but I wanted black. I still haven’t figured out a saddle yet, but I’ll get there.

Here’s the 2003 Main Street Classic Pedicab I picked up used earlier this month. It’s the same as when I got it, other than I removed one of the two New Belgium stickers from the back. This ride will change over the next year. It’s getting new tires, handlebars, grips, and a shifter as part of stage one. It’ll likely have a new seat by the end of the season as well. I may work out some of the cosmetic ends in year two.

As mentioned in the video, this pedicab has seen some action, and is hardly sitting stock. The wiring is a mess, the handlebars are likely not original, the RockShox front fork is not stock, and it seems very likely the crank arms and left shifter have also been replaced.

The tires are two 35 PSI knobby cruiser tires on the back and one extra knobby mountain bike tire on the front. The mountain bike tire is extremely annoying. It vibrates, is noisy, and clearly does not belong.

Here’s a link to the manufacturer’s page for the “Classic Pedicab”, which is what mine is:
» Product page

For added amusement, see the Road & Track Magazine, which reviews automobiles, had some fun reviewing a Main Street Pedicab earlier this year:
» R&T review

Here’s the Road & Track “Data Panel” for the Classic Pedicab in the same style they’ve used on cars for years now (PDF format):
» R&T Data Panel

I hauled glass in for recycling today on the back of the Rickshaw. Here’s a picture:

Rickshaws certainly can haul things besides just people, and in fact I saw a few rickshaws doing cargo duty when I was in India last year. It worked out pretty nice for me today, and I’ll likely do this again.

I would like to clarify that just because I used a cycle to recycle, that doesn’t make me a hippie. I’m a recent MBA graduate. I don’t think I’m allowed to be a hippie anytime soon, if ever.

Odometer reading: 215.96 miles.

I wake up Tuesday morning knowing there was going to be some Rickshaw action for the day. Not only was there a new ride to look at (see part two), but me and the Rickshaw had an appearance in the afternoon at McMillan Elementary. Mom and friends were making a presentation about China at the school, and as a special bonus, a whole bunch of kids (about 40 in all) were getting a ride in the process. The kids loved the Rickshaw. Here’s a pic of the last ride of the day, with the final student and their teacher on the back. I took a short leg on the school’s loop walking path this time:

It was interesting. I typically hauled three of the seven-year-olds at a time. The kids enjoyed it. We put a raised platform on the foot grate so the kids had a place for their feet. Everything worked out well. It was fun, and I wouldn’t mind doing another school presentation in the future.

Total mileage for the day (for the Rickshaw) was about 3.5 miles. The fun per mile rating was crazy high.

(Backdated to day of event. Actual post date: May 9, 2010)

It all started on Monday night at about 10:30pm. I got a call to come look at a 2003 Main Street Pedicab for sale. It’s been beat on, but it’s cheap. “Oh my!” I’m thinking. This isn’t the best time for me to be buying stuff, but it’s a full professional grade Pedicab! For well under a $1000!

So, after looking at it in person the next day and some talking, it’s a done deal. $670 for this far from mint specimen. We agree I’ll pick it up in the afternoon. Then, I’m off to the home to put the Rickshaw on a trailer for the McMillan Elementary presentation (see part one). After the presentation, we put the Rickshaw back on the trailer, hauled it home, unloaded it, and then it was time to pickup up the Pedicab. Joe hauled me up the bench to get it, and became my first Pedicab passenger in the process. Here’s a picture Joe took with me and the Pedicab after we went on my first ride:

It looks better in this picture than up close, and this is the good side. The stage left fender is really messed up, but the replacement is $40 (plus whatever shipping I’d imagine). It saw a 3.5 mile ride home. Here’s the initial impressions:

1. Comparing this Main Street Pedicab to my Rickshaw is like comparing a BMW to a Yugo. Far superior build, stability, braking, engineering, you name it.
2. No worries taking this down the bench on Capitol Boulevard on the way home. The brakes mean business!
3. It needs some work. The 21 speed needs dialed in, and I really dislike the mountain bike handlebars on there. These things will be addressed soon. Some cosmetic issues and possible enhancements will also be done later.

I’m sure I’ll have more about this in future entries. The Pedicab will allow me to do things I’ve been wanting to do, such as entering local cycling events with a passenger. It is a much more stable, solid, and capable machine than the Rickshaw.

After looking at Google Maps, I’m guessing I put 3.7 miles on the Pedicab for the day.

(Backdated to date of purchase. Actual post date: May 9, 2010)

My Rickshaw has a valance panel below the luggage rack. Here’s the stickers currently on there:

I added the 53 Miles Per Burrito sticker today. It was bought at Tour de Fat Boise 2009. I doubt the Rickshaw gets that good of mileage, and in fact this sticker was designed with bicycles in mind.

The “This driver shares the road with cyclists” sticker is from the Treasure Valley Cycling Association and trimmed slightly to fit. The Schwinn sticker is from the odometer packaging. Speaking of the odometer, it is currently sitting at 209.90 miles. Bryce and I went on a short ride today.

My friend Bob came by and we started a ride that ended up going about 16 miles, which is quite a haul for the Coker Monster Cruiser. I started at my home off 25th and State (Boise, Idaho) and made it to Fairview and Maple Grove, and from there Bob continued west and I headed north and west to the area of McMillan and Five Mile. I started heading back home from there, riding a fair portion on Mountain View. While riding Mountain View, I had a feeling most people on a bicycle probably never experience: I felt a little selfish.

I thought “Hey, the kids would enjoy this”, and indeed they would have. I don’t have the child seat assembly completed for the Rickshaw yet, but it’s a higher priority now. I’ve joked for a few years now that “Riding a bicycle is selfish. When you have a rickshaw, you share.” Today, I learned there’s some actual truth to that. I’m glad I went on the ride, but would have enjoyed sharing it with some passengers. I need to get that seat assembly done.

What a wonderful day in Boise, Idaho. The temperature was over 60 degrees. Kelly mentioned me picking up some pizza for the family, and Bryce was to go with me. He thought, unprompted, the way to pick up pizza was with the Rickshaw. So, that’s what happened. I aired up the tires, Kelly put a child seat on the back, and off went Bryce and myself to the land of pizza (Papa Murphy’s). On the way back, I talked with a guy who has a project rickshaw which sounded interesting. Once back at home, it was photo op time.

Faye hopped on the back, and Kelly decided it was only fair that she got the ride back to the garage, so Bryce was deported shortly thereafter, and Faye was in the car seat. This should prove to be a short term problem, thankfully.

Goals for the 2010 Rickshaw Season

1. Go at least 100 miles
2. Have fun
3. Get the child seat assembly done

Goals 1 and 2 are both probably going to be met, unless something surprising happens (like last year). The third, the child seat assembly, is the fresh goal for this season. It’s a board with two child seats mounted on it that replaces the bottom seat board on the back. I have a hunch it’ll be done before the midway point in the season. I already have the materials, it just needs to get done.