Jai had some pretty extreme requirements: “Bill, I’ll be riding through rice paddys for about a year. I need to carry a stack of gear and I like the Big Dummy. I also like the Rohloff and the Son dyno lights.” This is a summary of the requirements but here’s what we produced for Jai:

1. Surly Big Dummy frame and fork set
2. Xtracycle long loader kit with bags
3. Twin bar setup to take accessories and give range of hand positions
4. Ortlieb Classic bar bag
5. FSA pig heavy duty headset
6. Tubus Tara front rack for Ortlieb Front Roller Classic bags
7. Jai’s existing Sun Rhyno Lite front wheel with Shimano dyno hub (36 spoke)
8. Rohloff laced to Sun Rhyno Lite rear wheel (32 spoke)
9. Ortlieb Marathon Plus front and rear rubber plus Marathon XR folding spare
10. Surly Mr Whirly stainless single ring crankset and bottom bracket
11. 190mm rear (Rohloff 4 bolt) and 160mm front  (shimano Centrelock) discs with supplied Shimano mechanical calipers

Of course it’s more complicated than that for example we had issues with a standard cable set Rohloff being supplied but of course needing to swap in tandem cables to span the bike. But the main thing is Jai now has a seriously heavy duty expedition touring bike and is on his way to the rice paddys… go Jai!

The Big Dummy is available as a complete bike or a frame set. Often it works out cheaper to buy the complete bike and modify it however if you already have a wheel set and some components the frame may be the way to go.

I’m hoping Jai will send back some photos on his trip which I can add to this post. If he can get internet access! Check back in a month or two!