Are you going to ride this bike with a load on slopes? On flats you just want to maintain balance. On slopes with load you need to worry about sliding with the slope.
No load, just commuting. Denver is relatively flat, some hills but not too many. The bike is to maintain balance on the ice. The load would be my lunch bag and gear to stay warm for our crazy weather. Yesterday was 62 F Today our high will be 44 F, with snow late tonight.