# Big Dummy or Yuba Mundo for suburbia



## jason300b (Mar 21, 2007)

I am trying to decide between a Big Dummy and a Yuba Mondo for some grocery getting, going to the park, general fun, etc. I live in Suburbia and my trips will be 4-8 miles round trip mostly. I've got a 4 yr old and a 1 year old who will be going with me more times than not. I'll be using some combination of a stokker bar/soft seat, a peanut shell, and/or a trailer (sometimes using the cargo bags on the bike). It seems like you cannot use the big cargo bags with kid seats on the racks, so I'll plan use a trailer when the kid(s) are loaded.

The Yuba is a LOT less money, but the BD comes with the bags and some nice components. I've read that the Yuba holds more cargo without getting 'fishey', but I don't know what to expect with 2 kids and some groceries on the BD. I have some hills near the house and the Yuba has lower gears (small chainring on the BD=28, on the Yuba=24). I guess it isn't too big of a deal to swap a chainring, but I'm not trying to break the bank either.

Anybody have any input to add based on their experiences? I'd love to hear it if you do.


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

Granny rings are cheap so ignore that. I love my Dummy, but the Yuba may be better for DIY. Depends on what type of person you are. I'd be swapping out so many parts on the Yuba. I have one of the first Big Dummies with the better spec builds. I still customized it a bit.


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## Plum (Sep 14, 2004)

I haven't ridden the mundo, but I use my dummy exactly as you describe. Most trips are 1-10 miles, usually with a 4 yo and a 2 yo ( actually, nearly 100% with the 2 yo). I do it with a chariot and/or one of the kids on the back. There's not enough real estate on the back for both of them to ride very long with each other.

I do anywhere from 5-35 miles daily, and I appreciate my custom build and how smoothly everything works. Other than a change of grips, I haven't changed a thing since I've been on it, which will be a year in January. I ride it year round here in Madison, although winter usage isn't as much due to concerns about other drivers and kid safety.

You can load the freeloaders up some with a kid passenger, as their legs are a little forward of the load (I use a set of bar ends on the v-racks for foot pegs). I can do a weeks worth of shopping, but I haven't done it with a passenger at the same time.

The only limitation with the chariot is that you can't use the non-drive side wide loader rack while you have it mounted, as it interferes with the chariot arm.

If it's something you're going to be on daily, you won't regret spending cash to make it comfortable and improve ride quality or function.

Feel free to ask anything more specific if you have more questions, I can help answer any dummy related stuff, as can a lot of the other guys here..

Plum


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## cowboygrrl (Jan 20, 2011)

I bought a stock Big Dummy and use it all around town, and sometimes commute 20 miles to work. Love the mtb set-up. The only thing I changed was the handlebar.


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## backcountryeti (May 21, 2004)

*Xtracycle?*

Also keep in mind the Xtracycle freeradical if you already have a bike that you could convert. Way cheaper than both the Big Dummy and the Mundo if I remember correctly. Then, you could always switch to a Big Dummy and re sell the Freerad. I plan on doing this eventually. It doesn't matter which direction you go, there will always be upgrading. Either way is a good choice though! :thumbsup:


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## Fatboy Joe (May 10, 2007)

jason300b said:


> I am trying to decide between a Big Dummy and a Yuba Mondo for some grocery getting, going to the park, general fun, etc. I live in Suburbia and my trips will be 4-8 miles round trip mostly. I've got a 4 yr old and a 1 year old who will be going with me more times than not. I'll be using some combination of a stokker bar/soft seat, a peanut shell, and/or a trailer (sometimes using the cargo bags on the bike). It seems like you cannot use the big cargo bags with kid seats on the racks, so I'll plan use a trailer when the kid(s) are loaded.
> 
> The Yuba is a LOT less money, but the BD comes with the bags and some nice components. I've read that the Yuba holds more cargo without getting 'fishey', but I don't know what to expect with 2 kids and some groceries on the BD. I have some hills near the house and the Yuba has lower gears (small chainring on the BD=28, on the Yuba=24). I guess it isn't too big of a deal to swap a chainring, but I'm not trying to break the bank either.
> 
> Anybody have any input to add based on their experiences? I'd love to hear it if you do.


I ride my Yuba everyday. It has been practically my car replacement. I ride between 10 to 15miles a day depending where I need to go or how many pick-ups in school plus errands. There are days that I ride with my kids from 20 to 30 miles just going around town on a nice cool Sunday afternoon. The Yuba is cheaper and it handles great, very stiff even fully loaded (3 kids [70lbs, 68lbs and 65lbs], baseball bats, gloves and balls, water bottles and a 30lbs battery pack) I have another Yuba that I use for riding out in the trails and one for my urban daily commute. Here is my latest project on my daily commuter, I just installed a mid-drive kit.









Your kids will love riding in the Yuba. Btw, I got into cargo bikes because of an xtracycle conversion. I loved the extra cycle but it was not that stiff and stable for my applications. If I didn't have kids and carried much stuff around, I would go for an xtracycle conversion, but do your numbers, you can have the Yuba for the same amount I think.


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## jason300b (Mar 21, 2007)

Thanks for all the great information everyone. Plum, thanks for the idea about the bar ends/foot pegs. What a great idea! Fatboy, have you ever tried using the Mundo with a Chariot carrier? I am wondering if the lower rack bars will interfere with the chariot when it is attached. I will need to be able to attach it, but if those bars interfere (and because they are not removable) then that makes the decision between the two machines easy.


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## kdc1956 (Feb 5, 2010)

Fatboy Joe said:


> I ride my Yuba everyday. It has been practically my car replacement. I ride between 10 to 15miles a day depending where I need to go or how many pick-ups in school plus errands. There are days that I ride with my kids from 20 to 30 miles just going around town on a nice cool Sunday afternoon. The Yuba is cheaper and it handles great, very stiff even fully loaded (3 kids [70lbs, 68lbs and 65lbs], baseball bats, gloves and balls, water bottles and a 30lbs battery pack) I have another Yuba that I use for riding out in the trails and one for my urban daily commute. Here is my latest project on my daily commuter, I just installed a mid-drive kit.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I love the orange bike of the yuba wish the BD came in that color when my BD needs to be re done I may have it done in the orange love that color.


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## lawfarm (May 14, 2010)

Can't go wrong with either bike.

In checking both out, I prefer the longer wheelbase of the Dummy, and it's related handling, when carrying heavy loads.


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## GuruAtma (May 17, 2004)

I've got the Yuba Mundo, and I fit 2 kids (one in the peanut shell child seat, one holding the stoker bar) plus 2 panier bags. I'll take a pic tomorrow, but I found a way to attach the panniers below/behind the child seat, so I can do grocery runs with 2 kids, or take them both to school with all their lunches, backpacks, etc. 
I'm sure the Surly is good too, but I've got nothing but great things to say about the Yuba Mundo.

Here's kind of a bad picture of how you can get the panniers on with the child seat. I attached an aluminum bar to the bolts that are below the deck. I hang the panniers off of that.


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## Lintott (Oct 14, 2006)

I have both the Big Dummy and the Yuba Mundo V4 and I use them to ferry around my two kids (2 & 3Y), shopping, day trips etc. Both are great bikes, and with some customisation you can get both to work great. Here are some random comments based on my experiences though.

My top tip would be to find a solution where you have your young child in front of you. This makes the bike much better balanced and is more fun for the child and parent. This is easier to do on the Big Dummy (round top tube for child seat attachment. The v4 Yuba has an eliptic shaped top tube).

Mount a front rack on the bike for loading stuff. Again, this improves the balance of the bike.

With some fiddling you can have two rear child seats and the two Yuba bags on the Yuba Mundo (at least the V4). To some extent it depends on which child seats you use, but several fits. Since you will use a stokker bar and one child seat room for bags will not be a problem that cannot be solved in 20 mins with some persistance.

Both bikes are high quality and you could save lots of cash buying them used. I saved £1,000 on my big dummy buying used and it was like new.

When it comes to general riding feel, I prefer the Big Dummy but it is a more expensive bike. The cargo carrying capability on the rear of the bike is higher on the Yuba though and the Yuba bags are huge and a must to have if you get the Yuba.

You can add electricity assist on both bikes if you struggle with the hills. I would suggest you wait with this though. I thought I needed it, but it turned out I didn't since I started enjoying the pain of getting fit.

I have tried trailer solutions and don't like them (heavy to pull, hard / slow to park, limits your off road ability etc)

Some pictures of my bikes if you scroll down in this thread.

http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/kids-fatbikes-743064.html


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## BenSwayne (May 15, 2011)

I haven't had the pleasure of testing a yuba mundo yet. They look cool and reasonably priced.

However, I absolutely love my Big Dummy. The Big Dummy was and I believe still is the leader of the cargo bike frames in terms of features/functionality and maturity. Its been through several minor revisions tweaks since its inception and has excellent handling (good geometry) and excellent compatibility with a very wide variety of drive trains (including several IGHs) and accessories. The longer wheelbase makes it more stable than many other bikes (but also harder to transport on a car keep in mind).

I have loaded up my dummy pretty good. Definitely above the 300lbs mark (including me), but probably not 400lbs. At that point you need to be in your lowest granny gear if you have any significant hills in your area. So it makes me wonder if I would ever even consider carrying more weight as a daily thing. Although that's what the electric assists are for! Unlike some MTBR purists, I'm a big advocate of electric assist as a means to support car free living. It makes it feasible to commit to taking several kids to/from school/day care and commute to work while not being in incredible super amazing shape. (I've still lost ~12lbs this summer) Electric assist would cost you $1-2k but in my case saves >$200/month in gas alone.

Having not seen the yuba in person, I'm not sure how wide the frame is at its widest point. I can say I like having the wide loaders removable on the big dummy. There when you need them, removable when you need a thin faster bike (maybe when you're enjoying your bike alone and not carrying stuff).

I'm not sure I'm helping decide between them, but I am giving another +1 on the big dummy.  There isn't anything I've wanted to do/modify that couldn't be accomplished on the Big Dummy. And I've ridden it daily for about 25kms (since May 2011) and its been great.


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## johnny settle (Mar 10, 2011)

I've been a serious racer, career mechanic, and all around bike geek for 27 years. I have a Ti road bike w/full DA, a rigid niner, a suspended niner, a fatbike w/another on the way, a SS, cruisers, folding bikes, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah!!! If there were a fire, I'd save my wife and kids...and then THE BIG DUMMY!!! The ride is great-FAST and NIMBLE unloaded. So many options, and backed by SURLY AWESOMENESS. 2 cents.


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## bugly64 (May 6, 2008)

I bought my Dummy frame and outfitted it with Shimano XT parts. The only things I need to upgrade are the stem and seat post. They came off my Kona Blast. I am very surprised how it is and how much I can haul.


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## bikeolounger (Jun 7, 2012)

I opted for the Dummy. Here's part of why:


As a then-bike-shop-guy, I got a good price on the Dummy. 
It came with a cassette hub instead of a freewheel hub
It came with disc brakes instead of rim brakes
the gear ratios are closer with the nine-speed cassette (I'm a cadence guy).
the Xtracycle stuff (including the fall-2012-scheduled-release sidecar) seems a bit more versatile for what I plan to do
according to joe-bike.com, the Yuba frameset is not currently available (mindful that such may have changed since their update of that page within their site, or may have been specific to them).


The Yuba seems like a great platform. If I'd had time to order the frame and build it to suit, I might have.


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