"Interesting" indeed. Funny too, in a way. David writes: "The waning of my love affair coincided with a decision to carry a pay- load on the front of the bike so I could pull-off layers or put on a rain jacket while riding. It was then I discovered this otherwise awesome touring machine was flawed. It was not designed to carry a load up front. In doing so, I had destabilized it."
Flawed? Oh, come on. The Atlantis is not designed as a specialized front loading (particularly top-of-rack loading) randonneur bike. Instead, as many have noted and experienced, the Atlantis is one of the most versatile, generalist, all-around, do-most-stuff-well-enough, designed bikes out there today. Someone wanting a bike he/she may ride without hands at slow speeds while making a sandwich or changing wardrobe with a moderate front load on a top rack probably shouldn't choose the Atlantis. Or choose an Atlantis, and put most of your weight in a saddle bag. Or stop the bike to change clothes and get to food. Does one really need immediate access (while pedaling) to an allen wrench or spare spokes? Will Grant offer a low trail fork for the Atlantis, as David asks at the end? I seriously doubt it given Grant's ruminations on trail here and the generalized nature of the Atlantis. BTW, I carry weight on a Nitto front rack on my Atlantis often. No problems. No shimmy ever. No need to ride no hands going slow up hill. I also ride the Atlantis without weight up front often. Again, no problems, no shimmy, and it still rides extremely well. With two small panniers up front and saddlebag in the rear, the Atlantis really shines. I have never once experience shimmy on my Atlantis. I do think there is a demand out there for a sport touring frame designed to carry moderate loads up front. Maybe even a production randonneur/light touring bike with integrated lights and front rack. I just don't see Rivendell filling that void. To my knowledge, all of the Rivendell models (except the Glorius/Wilbury, although I could see them working out just fine) have been successfully ridden in all sorts of brevets and randonnees. Are they the ideal machine for such a purpose? Not for everybody. But after the randonnee event, and you have taken the front handlebar off the bike, you still have a bike that rides and handles well without any weight up front. -Jay Asheville, NC On Sep 16, 8:10 am, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Interesting article by someone who replaced the fork on their Atlantis > to eliminate the "shimmies". > > http://readytoride.biz/?p=333 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
