Spotted in the Wild: Rad Yuba Mundo

Seriously Hot Mundo

The other day Little Oil and I were tooling around Cal Anderson Park when, from over a hill, we noticed a reflective triangle mounted high on a stationary plastic seat.

"Little Oil?" I asked, "Is that an Xtracycle parked over there?"

"Take a picture for the blog," she ordered me. So off we coasted to check it out.

Weren't we surprised to find that the longtail we'd spotted was actually yet another orange Yuba Mundo!

The bike really does look great in that color.

First thing we noticed was the rain shield mounted to the Peanut Shell seat. In a lot of ways this set-up reminded me of You Ain't Got Jack's child bike seat weather protector. I love creative, DIY Pedal Parents!

R.E.Load Bags is a custom messenger bag outfit that used to operate out of Seattle. They contributed to the fixed gear/ messenger-fakesenger/ DIY punk and hippy bike boom in the early hipster 2000's. Don't hold that against them, R.E.Load was a force for good, especially feminist good, not for hipster apathy and hill-bombing solipsism. And many of my friends used to sew for R.E.Load, like Martina from Swift! Anyway, is it possible that R.E.Load made this family a custom Mundo panier/ backpack bag? Wow. That is cool.

This brings up another question that I'd like to ask the Mundo riders of the world: Why do so many Mundos go about with their massive loads on only one side? Is it 'cause the bike is only sold with one Go-Getter bag? Does that affect handling? Personally, I do not like having an off-balanced load. Is it different with the Yuba than with an Xtracycle?

Do those integrated running boards drop the center of gravity for your loads?

I wonder if there a way to use Xtracycle wide loaders to similar effect with typical daily loads? Morgan leaves her's attached all the time, and she is great at loading cargo. Am I missing something?

Doesn't it just look GREAT, though?

I decided I loved this bike. So did Little Oil.

See?

I hear great things about the Mundo. It is lighter than the Big Dummy, is rated for heavier loads and it looks like it has a more relaxed, city bike ride quality. I am very attached to my Xtracycle and I'll recommend those bikes to practically anybody. But I do wish I could spend some QT with a Mundo at some point. (Actually, not to be crass, but I get the impression that somebody at Yuba reads this blog. If that is true, call me! I ain't too proud to fish for review bikes!)

And just before we were ready to roll out, up rides Pedal Papa, Ian on a nice looking 90's mountain bike converted for city riding and equipped with a mount for a front kid's seat! His kid goes to school inside and the Mundo is their's! He loves the bike, as does his partner (must be why they have two different bikes set up for kid-hauling, smart!) and their tot loves it, too! Ian told me that they did indeed get the idea for the rain canopy from You Ain't Got Jack. Yay! Blogs help! He also explained that R.E.Load had made this bag originally as a custom accordion case. I guess Ian customed the panier hooks himself? Awesome job. Awesome bike!

Way to go, Pedal Papa!