Just a month or so ago I transitioned from front-loading to rear-loading on my Riv after asking myself the same question.
Moving that ten pound load from a front basket to the rear, complemented by my (typically one-sided only) Ortlieb pannier, makes the bike feel so much better! Note the ten pound load is dynamic (a little dog), and the stability experienced with her squirming around (she's tethered) is remarkable. For many years, I've sought only bikes with fork eyelets. (Now free of that requirement, I wish the Roadeo had seat stay eyelets!) As to the 'why', maybe had to do with appearances. Front-loading offered me the perception of a more spirited-looking ride, or something. >From here on, I may limit front loads to a light bar bag, Ian Hibell <https://thebikeshow.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ian_hibell1.jpg> stye. Cheers, Chris Ketchum, ID On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 7:14:37 PM UTC-6 Patrick Moore wrote: > Just curious, after adjusting my Ortlieb Sports Packers to the front > lowriders and carrying home about 12 bulky lbs on the front of the 2020 > Matthews which is a geometrical clone of a 2003 Riv Road custom -- Riv lost > the geometry chart but I think it's med trail. > > 10 or 12 lb makes almost no difference in handling, but it does make > wheeling the bike one-handed (gripping stem and adjacent bar) through the > aisles less easy; 20 lb does slow the handling noticeably though not > impossibly. ~15 evenly divided is about the max for happiness. > > Rear loads are more stable. 20 lb in the rear is not noticeable, 30 lb in > the rear affects handling less than 20 (evenly distributed) does in front, > and I've carried 45 with the bike still rideable. (For comparo, my best > rear loader was an early 1970s thinnish wall and normal gauge 531 framed > racing bike with long stays and shortish front-center: Motobecane Grand > Record. Though light and flexy, with a *very* stiff 400 gram Tubus Fly > this carried 45 better than any stouter-tubed road bike I've owned, > including any of 4 Riv road models (well, if a first-gen Sam Hill is > "road). Another nice rear grocery load carrier was an '80s Fuji Royale "12 > speed" that actually handled better with 20 lb in back than it did unladen; > that one hated front loads. > > So, after that long windup, what is the benefit of front loading *on > Rivendell models*. Is it purely convenience? > > And, different question: what is the benefit of front loading on > *non-Rivendell > low-trail bikes*: convenience? > > Just curious and describing my own experience. > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7bdce083-3c95-4c2b-a0ec-03442678bb1bn%40googlegroups.com.
