Utility Cycling - Kids on a Ute?

Anyone got a Ute and taken kids on the back? How is it for them with the lack of a foot rest?
Anyone put there own foot rest one?

Anyone got a Ute and taken kids on the back? How is it for them with the lack of a foot rest?
Anyone put there own foot rest one?

http://bikehugger.com/images/blog/kona_ute_test.jpg

This is all I've found (http://bikehugger.com/2007/12/kone_ute_ride.htm). If you read the comments you'll get a bit of info.

Thanks for that. I did actually email Kona, and they replied that the Ute is not designed for carrying people, and its maximum weight is 7.5 stone. It all sounds a bit negative to me. I suspect fear of lawsuits should you come a cropper. I ordered one, anyway, figuring a normal bike will carry two kids (one front, one back), and that's the way I might still do it, if there's not room on the back for both. I was looking at the yuba mundo, but the weight, nearly 60 lbs really put me off. ALuminium the Ute, maybe, but at 37 lbs, it's a lot more managable, and probably about the same weight as the Raleigh 3 speed I have, esp if I have a kid on board and a load of shopping. Anyway, it should be here for Saturday, so I;ll let you know.

Thanks for that. I did actually email Kona, and they replied that the Ute is not designed for carrying people, and its maximum weight is 7.5 stone.

7.5 stone = 105 pounds

damn you for making me look it up

Damn me for getting all weight obsessed.

The chap at Kona did add that people carry more on them, though. I'm not sure where the trouble lies with with extra weight. I personally suspect it's the wheels - 700s with, I beleive 36 spokes (working from memory, so may be out there), may be prone to losing a spoke or two under greater stress. Off course, if that' the case, it could be easily fixed by upgrading the wheels.

I would have though frame flex on the alu frame might become an issue too, but I could be wrong on that.

I didn;t think alu flexed that much compared with steel. I hear the xtracycle can flex quite a bit when ladened. I imagine the frame snapping is more of a worry, though I would have thought that the wheels would fail first.

The only thing I'm concerned about now is that I'll probably want to put my youngest daughter up front on one of those little child seats so she can see where she's going, and so there's room on the back for my eldest daughter and bags for the school run. Trouble is, those handlebars, much as I love the porteur varienty, might be restricted by the forward child seat.
I suppose all I can do is take the seat and see if they mind be trying it out (or at least holding it onto the frame and seeing the clearence.