The freeloaders aren’t not waterproof to save money. They aren’t waterproof because they aren’t intended to be bags exactly. They’re intended to be giant, adjustable pouches more like, pouches that hold whatever you want to put in them. In the summertime at home, I just throw everything in the FreeLoader loose, or in a grocery bag in the freeloader. On tour, I have big dry duffel bags that slip right into the FreeLoader. Yuba is more on the side of offering giant waterproof bags for its cargo bikes. The Go-Getter, as it’s called is ginormous. But it weighs about 4 pounds, whereas the freeloader only weighs one, so it’s a bit of a trade-off. The other advantage of FreeLoader over regular bag is that since it doesn’t have ends, per se, you can strap really long things into it, like a surfboard or speaker stand or…

Hi This is a great site and found the page helpful,this will aid my events particularly when im competing,cycling is the best sport and no wonder why it has expanded in the last 10 years.

great review and great bike. Unfortunately I hadn’t seen this article before I bought this bike. But now after riding about 1500 km I can truly say that everything that was said in review is true.

I just ordered but have not received my new ‘10′ Dummy. A friend gave me his solution to waterproof freeloaders. He uses the waterproof “Bob” bag. It’s pretty cheap compared to high end waterproof Panniers.

Well you learn something new every day. As an infrequent commuter cyclist I do occasionally wonder about what would happen if I hit the deck at 20mph. Have had the misfortune of experiencing gravel rash from a 40mph motorcycle accident (when my jacket sleeve rolled up) and its not an experience I’d want to repeat

Wow, this bike looks awesome. Might have to give one a test ride! Great review

I’m cheap, so I used a few 4-inch long pieces of an old road inner tube. You can also purchase special fittings called Whatchamacollars from Xtracycle that will both keep water out (with o-rings) and secure the V-racks to the frame.

Gotta love unique bread.

What did you use for the rubber tubing over the frame and where the Xtracycle fits into the frame?

In my continued interest of learning more about cycling, what I have found is that single speeders (at least Mountain Bikers) are a unique bread. Not that cyclist themselves aren’t but those that ride the single speeds are a little different, in a good way.

http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200908/single-speed-world-championships-1.html

This will give you a taste of what I mean. A very unique World Championship I must say.