Originally Posted by Rail

I'm trying to relate bicycle commuting to the idea of what bicycling meant to me when I was 7 years old. It was both the best available form of transportation and a physical play activity, sometimes independently and at other times simultaneously.

I enjoy cycling, but at the same time I want commuting by bicycle to be as simple as putting on my coat and helmet and rolling away down the street. It would be almost as though I was choosing to use an automobile, different only by method and hopefully nearly as fast.

Millions of people around the world hop on their bikes to go to work and get stuff done without even thinking, "oh joy, I get to do this on a bicycle." In the pics above where people are transporting raw goods and appliances by bicycle the reasoning is, "I have to get from A to B and this is the best tool available to me." They may not be finding joy. Many of them would probably rather have a car or truck (or donkey!) but they can't afford it or it is not available. Every day I see dirty looking guys riding their BMX rides and whatever junk through the city, even in winter. This is not joy of cycling as an activity, it is necessity for them.

Sorry to get existential about the topic. I see the joy of using the Xtracycle. I know I could get some serious grocery shopping done with it powered by human calories instead of using the car which is available to me. Yet someone else on the other side of the world or on the next street over is forced to make this same trip by bicycle and wishes he had a machine to do it.

Am I exploring a different question? What equipment/weight would be reasonable to you if the bicycle was the ONLY transportation available to you? Maybe it's the same answer.