There is a happy connection between frame/fork design, notably the tendency of the front wheel to turn of its own; weight over the front wheel -- and this includes body weight, and changes with stem length and bar height; and the rider's tolerance for or perception of or preference for a bicycle's self-steering behavior. Further! How the weight is attached to frame or fork and how far it is from the steering axis and, further, how high it it is, all affect the final result.
But generally speaking, Rivendells don't handle front loads as well as lower trail/lower flop designs. I have a Herse which is designed for at least modest front loads and two Rivs (customs); the Herse can handle up to, say, 15 lb in front with little degradation of handling while, with the Rivs, anything more than a couple of pounds makes the handling worse. I personally like the way the Rivs "turn for me" better than the more "aloof" quality of the Herse steering. My erswhile Sam Hill handled foully -- to my taste -- with anything over a couple of lbs in front; even if the weight were low, in low-riding panniers. But then, I found the SH to handle in a rather mediocre way all around except in its quality of carving fast downhill sweepers with confidence and accuracy. My other three (custom, one sold) Rivs felt far more stable while in no way feeling sluggish in turns -- best of both worlds, so to speak. OTOH, others on this list have said they sling considerable weights in front of their Sam Hills and find the results perfectly acceptable. Upshot: your own tolerance or predilections will count for a lot, but generally speaking riders who like weight in front will choose lower trail designs. Me, I have a medium sized bag on the Herse into which I will carry a load up to, say, a six pack or a goodly sized ham. The Herse can take rear loads up to say, 20 lb, as long as there is at least 10 lb in front, but it is very unhappy with rear biased heavy loads. For very heavy loads I'd need the front low riders. On the commuter Riv, my front loads are limited to kit, Edeluxe and other stuff no bigger in bulk than the size of my two fists. I have a small VO Randonneur rack and -- thanks to Ely Rodriguez -- a custom front bag about the size of a Banana Bag. The bigger loads go on the rear. On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 7:50 PM, Shifty <1upand1d...@gmail.com> wrote: > So, I was just about to plunk down a couple of hundred dollars on a > Berthoud front bag at Rene Herse. Mike kindly returned my phone call and > immediately asked about the bike I was going to put it on. A Rivendell, I > replied (A. Homer Hilsen). He said, do you know that the bag's weight will > affect the handling somewhat; some people can't live with it while others > aren't bothered by it at all. He said it was because of the "trail" high or > low (I don't recall which) of all Rivendell bikes and that Herse bikes have > a (high, low?) trail that accounts for weight carrying in the front. > > So what do YOU think Rivendell front bag owner? Have you ever regretted > the effect the bag has on your Rivendell's handling? > > Thanks, > Shifty > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/bO1QlWfKRuIJ. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@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. > -- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW http://resumespecialties.com/index.html -- 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-bunch@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.
