I had lowrider bosses brazed onto my Sam and installed a Tubus Tara, and to test it I attached a pair of Sports Packers and loaded them up with 2 1-gallon milk jugs full of water in each pannier — about 35 lb total I think. Absolutely no overquick steering here! I could hardly make the bike turn; it just wanted to keep on going straight. It’s a good thing I tested this on a flat road.
OTOH, when I put ~56 lb of cinderblocks — 2 large ones — into the Wald Newsboy I installed with OEM struts and clamps onto a 1980s Schwinn Voyageur, I couldn’t keep the wheel straight. That experiment ended in about 50 feet. For the record, I’ve carried close to 30 lb balanced in low riders on other Rivs (26” wheel 2003 Curt and the Matthews geometrical clone, and while sure, 28 lb is 8 lb less than 35 lb, the steering was acceptable for short return trips from the grocery store, even though it was indeed too “stiff” and slow for fast chicanes. On Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 1:29 PM Corwin Zechar <[email protected]> wrote: > You wanna talk about heavy steering? > > Try riding a Bilenky Viewpoint. The stoker sits directly over the front > [20 inch] wheel. My stoker weighs about 150 lbs. Makes for steering that is > both heavy AND quick! > > Regards, > > > Corwin > > On Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at 11:35:29 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote: > >> Others have said that they don’t mind front loads in bar bags on their >> Rams; Andy did notice it; I too noticed it. I daresay it comes down to what >> a particular rider “noticing threshold” — at what point a handling quality >> becomes first, noticeable, and then, annoying. And I would also guess that >> it might have something to do with your riding position. I set up my bikes >> with a rearward saddle position and knee well behind pedal spindle, which >> would leave the front end light except that I use drops and so put more >> weight on the front wheel than with a swept back bar. OTOH, when I’m >> climbing seated, I’m shoved back with hands lightly resting on the ramps. >> >> I haven’t noticed a tendency to wander when climbing slowly thus seated, >> at least on my various custom roads and on the Ram, at least, if there is a >> tendency, it was negligible; where I did notice it was on the first edition >> Sam, where yes, indeed, it was annoying. All bikes unladen in front and >> with and without rear loads. But I daresay that adding 10 lb to the front >> of these road bikes would indeed exacerbate the tendency to the point of >> annoyance. >> >> I did noticed even very modest loads on the front of my ’99 Joe Starck >> gofast, though this was with one of those very old-fashioned bar bags that >> uses a steel bracket that slips over the bar and under the stem, with >> prongs that fit into sleeves on the side of the bag; thus holding the bag >> an inch or two out from the bar. But I had only 3-5 lb in the bag and it >> was very noticeable, tho’ not to the point of intolerable, just annoying. >> >> At any rate, for my Rivendell road bikes and others modeled on them, I >> much prefer rear loads. I did ride 2 low-trail bikes with front loads and >> didn’t care for their handling. The first was a Kogswell Porteur (I think >> that was the model; at any rate, it was low trail and had a big platform >> rack on front to which I attached some medium laden panniers, perhaps 30 lb >> total. Unexceptionable handling, but I much prefer the handling of my Rivs >> and didn’t take a shine to it. >> >> The second low trail bike I owned and rode for 18 or 24 months: an >> otherwise lovely 1958 Rene Herse (the old builder, not the modern company) >> with custom front and rear racks. That bike fit perfectly from the first >> ride and was one of those rare gems that consistently in all conditions >> encourage you to ride 1 tooth smaller in back, but here too I just didn’t >> care for the handling. And it didn’t take well the sometimes heavy grocery >> loads I carry, either in front or in the rear. Even unladen I found the >> handling, what, dull or unexciting, the opposite of that signature Grantian >> handling of supreme straight light stability with unerring turn-in in >> corners. So I sold it on. >> >> Different strokes for different folks, as the refrain went from that >> archly annoying song by Sly and the Family Stone. But man! I do love me the >> handling of my mid-trail (I guess) Rivendell road bikes, unladen or with >> rear loads! — that Sam notwithstanding. >> > -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgshAErnUpH7ct%3DNEbQO-ZU-wMShb0HcjoZmo6D7JkROZg%40mail.gmail.com.
