cycle-touring kids & their loaded panniers

[Triskeliongirl]

FYI, BF petite doesn't mean short, it means extra light weight for very light riders. It refers to the weight of the steel tubing selected to build the bike with. Pro-petites use the lightest, followed by pros, followed by regular rockets, followed by the touring models.

You can still get a bike in an XXS sized frame, with reg. pro tubing. In fact, you can even get a pro with a fork with eyelets, but the fork will use heavier tubing.

You are so light though, that perhaps a petite frame would still be desirable, even with pannier bags. Again, you just need to discuss how much you and your luggage weigh with them when choosing what tubing to use.

If I remember correctly, a pro might have a weight limit of 170lb, while a petite pro of 140lb. A regular rocket can go up to 210lb I think. But check with BF, these are just rough ideas. And they can custom build you anything you want. In BF terms though, touring models are more about accomodating very wide tires and fenders rather than about touring geometry. If you never want to carry much weight anyway, a petite pro could be just the ticket. Sometimes they are available used too if you watch.

Interesting, Trisk. He has the Pocket Rocket Pro, so it would take just the rear rack. I would have to get the "petite" size in that bike... He hardly ever rides it, except when he goes to Europe. And his last trip, about a month ago, he didn't take it at the last minute, because it was raining and 40 degrees in France and that continued the whole time he was there. He used to ride it more around here before we got our current road bikes. We really thought about getting them more so we could easily take our bikes on a vacation where we flew somewhere. So, it's not like we would be doing extended tours. Maybe 2-3 days, and it would not be camping. I mean, I like camping, but I don't want to pull that stuff around with me.
Well, it's probably not in the cards, unless I ask for it for a birthday present, for like the next 5 years, with me going back to school. Of course, it seems like we can always justify bike purchases and related shwag. We love our Jamis bikes even though we only use them for little jaunts around town. Today we rode to breakfast and a couple of errands, and it just makes you feel happy to be pedaling along at 13 mph, not totally in lycra.