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Carry adult passengers in style and safety


If you’re like a lot of Rock the Bike readers, you’ve been building up a base of stength in your legs over the course of 5, 10, or even 20+ years. Sure, you may not measure your electrolytes or enter the local Sunday morning races, but you’re certainly an athlete, and you can’t be blaimed for wanting to show off now and then. We all do.

So what to do with your legs of steel? You could get a nice light bike and go fast, or you can get a heavy duty utility or sport utility bike and dazzle your friends as you ferry them around town. Carrying passengers is one of the beautiful win / win activities. You get the appreciation of your passenger and admiration of onlookers. Your passenger gets a ride from the train station or to the picnic. And you get a little workout as you spin up hills or cruise the flats.

Passenger-carrying is fun and social — you can talk as you cruise — and definitely sends out the bike vibe. It’s also one of those activities that looks harder than it is. It’s not unreasonable for a strong cyclist to carry a passenger 5-10 miles. The speeds will be noticeably slower on hills, but not on the flats.