As soon as Ru and I returned from our maiden voyage I was being pestered by the girls to let them have a go on the new passenger seat. 9 year old FeeBee climbs aboard, we trundle slowly around the block, she climbs off. No probs. Next in line ‘21′ year old Caz climbs aboard. Just up and down the street is long enough to establish that the bike handles surprisingly well considering the all-up weight of me and she is around (*coughs*) 24 stone. It’s not the most comfortable riding position for either of us but I reckon we’d get to the shops and back like this.
I’m into the concept of destruction testing, only by pushing the boundaries do we establish what is possible.
Surprisingly it wasn’t the Leco top-tube mounted child seat which gave in under the strain but the top tube of the bike itself. Ouch. Only a dent, nothing structural and proudly carried now as a war wound.
The project to optimise the usefulness of my Africa Bike continues, but you dont necessarily have to go to these lengths, there are plenty of bikes which are born with a utility advantage in life. Like the very excellent Yuba Mundo for example.
nb. I would like to state for the record that Caz is not even slightly over weight, it must be that Kona use defective tubing….
