Kevbo,

No problem. I understand your general point that every design has trade-offs and I agree that the long john style has some definite pluses and minuses.

Artur, the CETMA is 8 1/2 feet or so, so they didn't do much to cut down on size (or weight) compared to regular bakfiets. I agree that once you are on the bike, length doesn't matter. It only is an issue for me when I try and lock it up at a regular bike rack. I would say however that the longer your runs of steel tubing are, the more flex you'll have on your bike. I think flex is a bigger issue than weight or total length.