> What happens is that a heavy front load slows down > the steering to the point where even at low speed it's quite > manageable (no noticeable wheel flop). > manageable (no noticeable wheel > flop). To stick low trail on the bike > at that point just makes the bike sluggish and unresponsive. No > thanks.
What I notice with the 728 is that it really is not a fun bike to ride without a load. Loaded it is remarkably responsive considering its length - at 107.2, almost as long as some tandems - and its 72 degree fork rake. Once riding with a friend we stopped at a convenience store. He went in and I watched the bikes. I have a kick stand but found even with a full load I could hold the 728 steady with just two fingers on the saddle. I do not see that as a sign of sluggishness, but rather stability. > And even with a credit-card touring load, the long reach Shimano > brakes on my tandem stop us just fine (320 pounds). With a full > touring load, we go up to 340 pounds on the tandem. Well, to each their own. While hardly true to the original Trek design, I had Jonnycycles add braze ons for Paul Racers when I re- built the 728. I did some riding in the Berkshires - where those 19th Century road engineers must have felt switchbacks were for wussies - last Fall. On a couple of the descents I spent most of the time wondering if the Pauls would even slow the bike down if I tried to engage them. On Dec 31, 2:02 am, "Piaw Na(蓝俊彪)" <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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. > > I've done fully loaded touring before. Even carried enough equipment > to shoot two weddings from point to point. With a high trail bike, it > works very well. What happens is that a heavy front load slows down > the steering to the point where even at low speed it's quite > manageable (no noticeable wheel flop). To stick low trail on the bike > at that point just makes the bike sluggish and unresponsive. No > thanks. > > And even with a credit-card touring load, the long reach Shimano > brakes on my tandem stop us just fine (320 pounds). With a full > touring load, we go up to 340 pounds on the tandem. I haven't tried it > on the new bike, but I'm also confident we can do so. During our 2003 > Tour of the Alps, I overtook a motor home coming down the backside of > Grimsel pass on that afore-mentioned 320 pound bike: > > http://picasaweb.google.com/piaw.na/TourOfTheAlps2007Edited#508839179... > > Yes, you can call us crazy, but at no point did that descent feel > scary to me, even while over-taking the motor-home. In subsequent > years, I did the same thing on my single (in which I can't go quite so > fast because of aerodynamics), and it's just as fun. I think if you > are uncomfortable at speed with your bike, no amount of steering help > with the geometry is going to help you become comfortable. I have > friends who are comfortable coming down Fedaia pass (what Jobst calls > the fastest highway in the Alps) at 100kph with a credit-card touring > load. I'm not brave enough to chase them, so I'd hardly call myself > the most skilled rider in the world. In any case, these skilled riders > all prefer the high trail fast-steering road bikes that Grant Petersen > (among others) developed a taste for over the years, and I don't think > it's a coincidence. > > To give you an idea of how skilled some riders get, I once chased a > local racer-type down Kings Mountain Road. At one of the corners both > my tires slipped a little. My friend barely blinked, and kept going, > handily beating me down the hill after I decided that deliberately > skidding my tires around a corner was a bit more than I wanted to > repeat. And yes, I gave up trying to beat her down hills after that. > -- > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
