Jul 29, 2009
How To: Carrying Passengers with Smiles
We’d love to pin down the neurons that fire happiness in people when they see passengers being carried on an Xtracycle. Without fail, we manage to lift spirits around us when our friends, loved ones and strangers are straddled on, or surfing, our SnapDecks.
Last week, we asked our twitter buddies what tips they had for carrying passengers, here’s their do’s, don’t’s and heck’yeahs!
- Stand up, surf and feel the wind in your hair!
- MagicCarpet pad very worth it; made foot pegs with chopped straight handlebar, bar ends & brake cable holding ends in. see most recent 4 pics here
- Don’t ditch the granny gear! 100+ lbs. of person makes a mean hill.
- Left hand under the handlebars, right hand gripping the stoker bar attached under the seat. Always w all cargo removed first.
- Some folks are shy, but it’s really better if they snuggle up close to pilot. Less sway.
- Side-saddle an option 4 short folks/kids/skirt wearers and readers too!
- The drunker you are, the harder it is to do. Admin Note: We do not advocate drinking and riding. However, we do advocate riding and then drinking.
- When you’re carrying three little ones, put the smallest one in the middle, and the most experienced rider all the way in back
- Side saddle is my GF’s preferred orientation, skirt or pants.
Thanks to: @xtracycleTony, @coxn, @dandyerband, @loquaiciousD, @oninformation, @crunchysue, @sarahgilbert for sharing the wealth (of knowledge).
Please share your tips with your fellow longtailers by commenting below. Happy, and safe, riding!

I found handlebars from a razor scooter that make excellent foot pegs. They’re the right sized tube, the end is padded, and they have the little spring-nubbin thingy to click into place.
I’ve been hauling my kids on the back for a couple of years now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/2279791692
However, earlier this summer, the older one was fooling around and not hanging on, and she fell off the back as I was accelerating. So now I’ve added a Crazy Creek Kidz seat as a back rest. It really isn’t strong enough for full support, but it should keep her from doing the same thing. I’m going to add a second this week. One nice thing about these is that they can fold down flat.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/3770097063
here’s some pictures with the second kidzseat added:
loaded
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/3773545782/
securing straps
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/3772738691
flipped up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/3773545318/
folded
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/3773545216/
[...] a recent How-To post about carrying passengers on your Xtracycle, Don tossed a tip our way about using Razor scooter handlebars to get an [...]