David R wrote (in his article:) >But to Grant Petersen, I must ask, isn’t it time you go after the root cause, >and offer your customers who prefer a front load, a Rivendell-built fork with >a lower fork trail measure?<
Steve wrote: > Grant builds Rivs the way he likes bikes and he likes rear loaders. If you > don't like rear loaders don't buy a Riv! (they ain't "flawed"-that's the way > they're s'posed to be)< And I concur: Grant Peterson designed his Rivendells (and their assorted offspring) to carry more in the rear. He admits it in at least two different interviews (the one that comes to mind is one he gave to Jan Heine in Bicycle Quarterly a couple of years ago) and so far I've seen nothing in the literature or online to indicate a change of heart on the horizon. I think David's approach to his personal front-loading dilemma is a sensible one and it certainly made him happy. He's lucky he had an excellent framebuilder local to him that he could work with -- and who had the time to take on a custom fork build, since so many builders are now backed up for two years or more! Tony did a fine job -- of course -- and the bike will serve well for years to come. For those of us who tend to carry a transverse saddlebag and not much more, the Rivendell design remains one of the best. In the wake of all the new frame designs that favor front-loading it's nice to see that Rivendell remains true to its [Grant's] vision. When I built up and tested one of the Kogswell prototypes a couple of years ago and had a chance to play around with front-loading, the truth was that I did not find it all that appealing. Neither did any of my smaller-bodied (and mostly female) riding buddies who tried it out. Most women have more strength in their legs than in their upper bodies. To me and my friends riding a fully-loaded front-loader felt like lifting weights, and not in a fun way -- even with an appropriately-trailed fork. Front-loading, rear-loading; one is not necessarily better than the other. Just different. That said, I remain a rear-loader kinda bike rider. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
