Originally Posted by eggnoggbubble

Still thinking about my new bike....

Brief recap: I have Bike Friday HAD which I love for kiddie hauling but it's a bit heavy (27kgs - yes I balanced it on the bathroom scales) for solo missions so I'm looking for a bike for commuting (17km each way twice a week, within 10k on the other days) and light touring. I was thinking of a BF Diamond Llama but I'm moving away from that at the moment, perhaps a tad beyond the budget (certainly at the top end) and I'm not sure how much I really need the folding / travel aspects (the wife had a folder but we never folded it so now she has a non-folder)

So I started looking at touring bikes instead and of course surly LHT came up, that's a little slower and heavier-duty than I need, as it happens a friend is buying the Midnight Stealth so I looked but that is just too roadbikey for me (I don't ride that fast, I like to enjoy the view, but not so slowly as to want an LHT) so I was looking at Cross Check when Pack Rat caught my eye - I love having front loading on my bikes (the front basket on my HAD gets the most use, I only use the back for kids and for when the front is already full) so the Pack Rat seems like a logical choice.

It's a bit non-standard tho and there aren't so many reviews online (unlike the LHT....) does anyone have any experience with one?

Thanks for any thoughts!