Cargo Bikes

The good news is that my wife is so into cycling now that she's put me in charge of getting her a decent tourer. She's tiny (5'2"), so do I go for the surly LHT with the 26" wheels (£999), or do I go for the thorn audax roughly sjsc spec built by me (the same price, but 700c wheels)? Unfortunately for me, the thorn audax is available in bright freaking pink, and the LHT in that size that I've found is "truckaccino" or something -- beige. I have a feeling that careful explanations about geometry and proportional wheels may be in vain.

thanks for all the advice, peeps, invaluable as ever.

Go with the smaller wheels. The new LHT is out next month, it's a very pretty bright blue.
Smaller riders with smaller frames don't want to have to deal with toe overlap, plus if you ever decide to tour outside of the EU/states then you'll want the 26" tyres. They are easier to replace in other countries.