Daughter has ridden the bike a few days now, as have I. The rack affects the handling a bit, in that the bike has a slight tendency to fall into the turns. Put another way, when leaned over, it doesn't straighten up of its own accord, but rather wants to maintain or even tightens the radius. It is only a slight tendency, and daughter hasn't mentioned it. I have noticed this behavior to this degree in other bikes, it isn't terribly out of the ordinary. So far the rack has carried a birthday cake, a bag of groceries, two bike tires and some parts, and a sweater, though not all at once.
Switched to 700C x 32 tires. Those were the widest that would fit under the fenders. They seem only marginally more comfortable, but came with reflective sidewalls which I wanted her to have.
Got a Soma "Torpedo" light, which I haven't mounted yet - daughter thinks it looks cool, asked if she could have twin lights, answer "not at $50 a pop". Wrapped bars in basic black cork. Got some grief at the bike shop about the handlebars being too low and the levers mounted too low on the bars. So, all that is subject to revision, if the rider complains.
I'll grab the bike for errands, it is nice to ride. Even though, with the bike too small for me and the saddle about 2 inches too low, my knees protest if I push it at all. I kind of wish I'd run across a cheap UO-8 in my size. Maybe in the dead of winter, there will be some $70 UO-8s on CL . . .