Joel, Good points. My touring bike has less trail and it works well for what it is, my road bike has very high trail (Fuso with a 35mm rake, 68mm trail) works like champ on fast downhill.
I believe it boils down to using the right tool for the job the way you prefer. I am sure Rivendell with rear load works fine, Rich at Rivendell cross US with this setup with upright bar. It is not the approach I will take but it works for him and many others. BTW, when Rich and I go for a ride in SF, we keep making fun of each other bikes anyway. All in good fun. Ron >> Higher skill riders prefer higher trail, because those riders tend to >> go for higher speeds and tougher cornering situations, in which case >> the increased stability and ability to hold the line helps keep the >> bike stable over rough roads or under less than optimal conditions. >> > > Well, this would depend on how you are riding. For the most part it > is silly, not skilled riders who attempt high speed with a loaded self- > contained touring bike. When you have 60+ pounds of gear, bikes do > not stop fast, no matter how nice the brakes. > > When I was in college, I toured on a Paramount with a back pack and a > rear Pletscher with a more stuff than it was designed to handle. That > worked sort of with a plaint 20 year old body. Later I used a couple > of bikes, including a Riv designed to carry most weight in the back. > I actually felt less confident on descents as the rear biased weight > made the front end skittish. > > I found and restored a Trek 728 which has one of the longer wheel > bases of any bikes. I load it about 65% front, 35% rear. I find this > to be the best handling and most comfortable tourer in my 15 years of > touring. It handles well at the average speed and does not do > anything to make you nervous on long downhills where it is better to > let gravity do its thing than to ruin your brakes trying to slow you > and all your gear. > > On Dec 30, 6:39 pm, "Piaw Na(蓝俊彪)" <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> Rivendells are spec'd with high trail, because that's the way Grant >>> likes it. I suspect that there are a number of reasons for his >>> preference, but I would like to say first and foremost that he >>> probably considers trail to be insignificant in comparison to other >>> design considerations; in fact, I've heard him say as much. That said, >>> some of what I think might be informing that is his preference for >>> rear loading (the proportion of rear/front load does indeed affect the >>> way the bike handles), his feeling that toe-clip overlap is not >>> significant, the speeds he likes on downhills, and that he prefers >>> stability and the ability of a bike to hold a line well. >>> >> Higher skill riders prefer higher trail, because those riders tend to >> go for higher speeds and tougher cornering situations, in which case >> the increased stability and ability to hold the line helps keep the >> bike stable over rough roads or under less than optimal conditions. >> For those riders, at low speed the increased wheel flop is not an >> issue, because the rider is skilled enough to to compensate (I can >> control my circa 1993 Grant-designed bicycle at 2mph climbing a hill >> no matter what). Toe clip overlap is similarly not an issue. >> >> I've attempted to descend with Grant, and he's definitely a very >> highly skilled descender, but having known his tastes his bikes, I'd >> say that the feeling of agility and freedom when you get on one of his >> designs is as much a factor in his design as to achieve such >> performance goals. >> >> Unless you deliver newspapers off the front of the bike (i.e., what >> Kogswell and Jan Heine seem to want to design for), I see no reason to >> compromise high speed handling for the sake of being able to carry a >> front load. >> -- >> Piaw Nahttp://piaw.blogspot.com >> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
