Re: [RBW] All-Rounder as a Loaded Tourer

[Mike Smith]

Hi Kevin- The All-Rounder (aka "Colonel Mustard") generally behaves very well when fully loaded.  I think it's a combo of 26" wheels and the low bottom bracket that give the bike a very stabile feeling: almost like you are *in* the bike, rather than *on* the bike. That said, there was ONE time I remember feeling any shimmy. I was on a tour along the Great Lakes and I was on a long descent from a high bluff down to a camping area on the shore. I decided to let 'er fly and see how fast I could get. As I was approaching 40 mph (by far the fastest I've ever been on a bike,) I did start to feel a bit of a shimmy. I had no business going that speed, so I touched the brakes to scrub off a little speed and rested my knee on the top tube and the oscillations stopped immediately.  I've never felt the need to go that fast again, and I haven't experienced any more shimmies. Cheers- Mike On Jan 8, 2026, at 8:54 AM, Kevin Lindsey <lindsey.ke...@gmail.com> wrote:  Hi Mike. Did you ever experience shimmy or other unpleasantnesses when fully loaded? As for surprises: there are good surprises and bad surprises.  Good ones are either enjoyable or fixable.  Bad ones (e.g. frame failure from overloading) are neither, and it's those that I'm hoping to avoid. All the best, Kevin On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8:46:24 AM UTC-5 M D Smith wrote: Hi Kevin- An All-Rounder isThe PERFECT bike for loaded touring! Here’s mine from many, many moons ago: I must note, however, when you say: “(T)his'll be my first time touring by bike, and I don't want any surprises.” Goodness Gracious- surprises are the *best* thing about bike touring!! Every moment and every pedal turned will bring one surprise after another. Rest assured that your AR will be a more than worthy steed! Cheers, and enjoy the ride- Mike in Somerville, MA On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8:03:52 AM UTC-5 lindse...@gmail.com wrote: Andrew: When you say that the AR tended to shimmy when the front end was overloaded, was that when you were using a rack bag, front panniers (or both)?  I can see shimmy being worse with a heavy load up high (on a rack), but would have thought that carrying a load down low in front wheel panniers would not have had the same effect. All: Greatly appreciate the feedback. Best regards, Kevin On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 7:23:42 AM UTC-5 Andrew Letton wrote: When I bought my (used) A/R in 2006, I was discussing it with Grant, and he said something like, “It’s basically a fancy Atlantis.” You’ll be fine touring with it, but in my experience, it’s best not to overload the front end. When I did, it tended to shimmy pretty easily.  cheers, Andrew in Sydney (Painstakingly pecked out on my iPhone; please pardon my brevity and tpyos.) On 8 Jan 2026, at 8:57 am, Kevin Lindsey <lindse...@gmail.com> wrote:  Greetings. I'm thinking of doing the GAP/C&O Canal trip this spring on my All-Rounder and would appreciate any thoughts on using the AR as a loaded tourer.  I use it for grocery runs and whatnot, but have never put a lot of weight in the bags and don't know whether there might be handling or other issues if I did. Any thoughts welcomed. Best regards, Kevin L. Alexandria, VA -- 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-bun...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7bd595fa-2317-40a9-84ae-51e82e8e1753n%40googlegroups.com. -- 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/RgyzYPvdnf8/unsubscribe. To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8e5a75e0-03f5-4676-b402-0e11269341aan%40googlegroups.com. -- 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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/08418213-AF2C-47CB-B68A-191A1F8D100D%40gmail.com.