Izengabe

I was thinking of getting the Cargo Joe Family xtracycle bike to haul the kids around. I was concerned the Edgerunner might be too long to for my apartment and like the fact that the Cargo Joe folds. But when I went on the Xtracycle website I saw this slightly scary warning:

Does anyone know what the deal is with using the Cargo Joe to haul a bunch of kids? They used to sell this bike as a family hauler. Was the change an insurance thing or is it really not safe to use the Cargo Joe for kids? Would love some help figuring this all out.

fotooutdoors

I would look to see what the weight rating is. Honestly, unless you are heavy and you are toting several heavy kids, I would be surprised if you hit the max recommended weight. Of course, a longtail can place greater stress on the folding mechanism, so there is some legitimacy to caution. My guess, however, is that it is a cya move.

mel2012

Hmm, that's a very recent change. I was looking at their site just a few weeks ago to compare the Cargo Joe to the Bike Friday "Haul-a-Day" and the Cargo Joe family was still listed. There's a family here in Sacramento that has one with a Hooptie and has been at a couple of our local Kidical Mass rides: December Kidical Mass--holiday lights and hot cocoa! - Tiny Helmets Big Bikes has a couple of pictures. It may just be a liability issue. I find that a little funny though, given that the XtraCycle Free Radical "Family" package, which they're still selling, can be attached to bikes of questionable suitability. My cynical side would say that they're just trying to upsell the more expensive Edgerunner.