Random thought: can you flip the rear brake caliper and mount it on the underside of the seat stays? Like a Havnoonian.
On Friday, November 28, 2025, Christopher Young <[email protected]> wrote: > Guy, > > Great questions. > > - Attached is a picture showing the original installation, as done by > Riv. As you can see the back strut connects to a point near the dropout, so > those struts were even longer. And the rack was even higher above the rear > tire. I've got it a bit down and can go a little further. Maybe they put it > high thinking I might add a fender? > - I did add the basket and agree that's contributing to the problem. > i'm planning to move it to the Clem, but note that it's the wald "racing" > basket, so pretty minimal. Note also that in this earlier picture, the > basket isn't there, but I'm pretty darn sure the shimmy had already shown > up. > - I'm definitely going to try to figure a way to connect those forward > struts to the the higher connection points, by the brake. That's going to > be challenging. > - If i do that, and I've still got issues, I may also move the back > struts up to the connection point where the forward ones currently are. > That would seem to be more in line with other installations I've seen in > photos on the Riv site and elsewhere. > - bottom line: I think this weird installation has everything to do > with the brake blocking easy access to the higher attachment points. You'd > use those if you could get to them. I'm a little surprised the Riv guys > didn't tell me this might be a problem and suggest a different rack setup, > but maybe they thought I wouldn't put much weight on the rack (not that > I've been really loading it up). Anyway, I definitely don't blame them. I'm > the one that picked that rack and said to put it on the back. I could have > asked them what they'd recommend for that bike. > > I appreciate all the suggestions! The basket is going for sure, and I'm > very likely going to get a Bagboy, but I still want to try to fix this > issue. It just shouldn't be like this. > > Chris > > On Thu, Nov 27, 2025 at 9:03 PM Guy Jett <[email protected]> wrote: > >> So many questions: >> * Would be nice to see the original Riv installation. >> * Did that installation include the basket or did you add the basket? >> * Was the rack initially that high above the rear tire? >> >> Additional Observation: >> * There is basically no triangulation in this setup, especially with the >> near vertical angle of the diving board. As a result fore and act >> movement may be a contributing factor to the lateral motion and shimmy. >> >> Suggestions: >> * Get rid of the basket. That only contributes extra weight very high up >> that exaggerates the shimmy. >> * Reduce the height of the rack to 1 cm or less above the tire. Will >> shorten the rear stays a bit. >> * Connect the forward stays directly to the fittings above the brake. >> They will be much shorter and provide better triangulation to the rack >> system. >> * Get rid of the bend in the left rear stay. Alternatively consider >> bending both rear stays inward as this may counteract the lateral motion. >> >> Hope you find a solution, >> GAJett >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Nov 27, 2025, 12:13 PM tom butcherboy <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Beware of free advice..but. I think your rack might benefit from some >>> 'fore/aft' connection. it seems mostly side to side. And as the load get >>> taller, center of gravity rises. Your seat stay eyelets are both raising >>> their hands looking for work. I had a similar issue when downhill braking >>> and rebalancing some sort of front-end load was helpful. Tom. >>> >>> On Thursday, November 27, 2025 at 11:56:05 AM UTC-8 [email protected] >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi All, >>>> >>>> I have a 61.5 cm AHH with a rear rack installed by Riv when I bought >>>> the bike. The rack looks great, but I've noticed that when I have it >>>> loaded, I often get a front-end shimmy when I am riding fast and take my >>>> hands of the grips, and people riding behind me have confirmed the rack is >>>> moving a lot. It sounds exactly like what Paul M described in a 2024 post >>>> about his 64 cm Clem: >>>> "I also experienced a front-end shimmy if I took both hands off the >>>> handlebars with a loaded rear rack trunk mounted on the top of the rack". >>>> Exactly!! >>>> >>>> Because of the size of the frame and the way it's installed (see >>>> picture), my theory is that those vertical supports are very long and hence >>>> not so rigid and I'm getting some sort of harmonic motion (like a >>>> mini-version of the Tacoma Narrows bridge). Anyway, I've tried some minor >>>> adjustments to try to make the rack supports shorter and hence more rigid, >>>> but with only minor (if any success). At this point, I'm thinking of a >>>> couple of options: >>>> 1. more radically changing the attachment points for the rack to get >>>> those longer supports a lot shorter. This could get tricky though, working >>>> around the rear brake. >>>> 2. Removing the basket (it can go on my newly acquired 64 cm Clem L) >>>> and changing to a rear bag (e.g. Sackville Bagboy) that hangs from the >>>> saddle and hence doesn't really rest all its weight on the rack. I can >>>> still strap lighter stuff on the rack. >>>> >>>> I'm strongly leaning toward option #2 because I like the look of the >>>> rack as is and I think the behind the seat bag might look very nice. I >>>> guess another option is to install a different rear rack with more rigid >>>> supports, but again, I like the look of this rack and this isn't my bike >>>> for hauling heaving loads (that's be the Clem). >>>> >>>> Have others experienced this sort of problem and if so, how did you fix >>>> it? >>>> >>>> thanks >>>> >>>> Chris Young >>>> ABQ >>>> >>> -- >>> 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/15fae32a-4bd1-464d-b5a9- >>> 13b304bd8de9n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/15fae32a-4bd1-464d-b5a9-13b304bd8de9n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> Guy >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/ >> topic/rbw-owners-bunch/G8tosK9y08k/unsubscribe. >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/ >> msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAMHQv6XuTqMO%2BrWJshbJrWuwx96zSZk% >> 3DQP8fAobxrZOou%2Boh6Q%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAMHQv6XuTqMO%2BrWJshbJrWuwx96zSZk%3DQP8fAobxrZOou%2Boh6Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > 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/CAC_3U-3xe9wvm-ty827XMGgRH1FccqM9tN4LiZwKNtcH > 9MAVGA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAC_3U-3xe9wvm-ty827XMGgRH1FccqM9tN4LiZwKNtcH9MAVGA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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