Originally Posted by Morgan23

Maxwell, thanks for the input. I'm 5'4" with freakishly long legs (even for a girl), so I usually feel most comfortable on small/medium/16ish inch bike frames. The BD I rode was a 16" and fit me perfectly. The Ute fits really well, too, despite being a one size frame.

The guys at the LBS looked at me like I had two heads when I asked about bigger balloon-type tires for the Ute. "But they'll slow you down!" they kept saying. Well, I'm more interested in a cush ride than going fast LOL And the Big Apples on the Big Dummy felt plenty fast to me. I think putting fatter tires on the Ute would make the ride not only more comfortable, but more stable. 26" tires is what I'm used to, so the 700c/29ers just seemed skinny/squirrelly.

I agree that the Freeloaders are great for large loads. But I'm hoping that Kona comes out with bigger bags in the future. Or I might just make some of my own (sewing is a side hobby).

I really wish I had had a chance to ride an Xtra conversion. Clevercycles only had one in their shop and it belonged to a customer so no test ride. The Xtra conversion is still on our radar, I just have to test ride the bike we ordered, which should come in next week sometime. DH likes the conversion idea because he likes the Freeloaders a lot, plus the modular accessories that Xtracycle has come out with. And if we can always take the conversion kit off and add it to another bike if we want. With either the BD or Ute, you are stuck with the whole bike (tho that's not necessarily a bad thing!).

Decisions, decisions! LOL