On Sun, 2010-11-14 at 22:05 -0800, doug peterson wrote: > Kelly: > > +1 for Jim's suggestions. It's one of those topics that can make for > endless hours of esoteric discussion, but don't let yourself get > wrapped around the axle over it. Two of the most intelligent & > qualified people to have opinions on bicycle design, Grant Petersen & > Jan Heine, are at polar opposites on the issue. Fun to understand? > Sure. How do all the elements of bike design interact? Beats me.
Grant's #1 point is, you get used to the bike you're riding and soon you don't notice the differences. I think that's true, but only up to a point: getting used to a bike won't make wheel flop at low speed go away; and, Grant likes to carry his luggage in back. He's not a fan of front-loading or of handlebar bags. If you want to carry weight up front, high trail ranges from "less than optimal" to "outright horrible". I suppose you could say, "Why would you want to carry weight up front?" but that ignores the incredible handiness of handlebar bags. They got a horrible reputation when people tried to use them on bikes with unsuitable geometry -- I know, I did it and formed that same opinion myself -- but when used with a bike designed around them, with suitable geometry, they don't disturb the handling at all, you never notice the weight, steering is great and there's still the incredible handiness of having the stuff right there where you can get at it while you're moving, or stopped, both feet on the ground, straddling the bike. -- 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-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
