I don't have an Atlantis...yet. I am trying to decide between the Atlantis, the Hunqapillar or maybe even a Bombadil for loaded touring and as a camp/trail bike to compliment my Sam Hillborne (more roadish setup). I am on the small side, so it would be 26" wheels on the Hunq or Atlantis or 650b for the Bombadil and was just trying to get a feel for what front rack combo would be appropriate. I believe the Hunq and the Bombadil have threaded holes on the top of the fork crown; I didn't realize the new Atlantis ones did too. I have a Jamis Aurora that has seen better days and probably should be made into a commuter instead of a touring bike. I used it with a Nitto mini front rack and a Wald basket for my last tour. It worked fine, but I would like to be able to get more weight down low if I buy a new "touring" bike. Thanks for relaying your experience with the quill stem/threaded headset on a front loader. It is certainly something to think about before putting a deposit down.
On Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:08:05 AM UTC-5, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > There are several excellent front racks on the market, but few work > elegantly with the Atlantis fork braze-ons. Do you have one of the new > Atlantis forks that have threaded holes on top of the fork crown? I adapted > a Surly front rack to work on my touring bike...basically by using some > rear Surly rack hardware and mounting it like a rear rack making use of the > top-crown connection. It was really strong and clean looking. I'll try to > dig up a photo. > > But there is a downside: I quit using the Atlantis as a front loader, at > least with the heavy loads the Surly rack allowed me to carry. I found it > unnervingly flexy up front when the front load was substantial. This > flexiness led me to conclude that 1" steerers and quill stems were at a > disadvantage when carrying lots of weight up front. My Curt Goodrich tourer > was 1-1/8 threadless, which felt much more solid up front regardless of how > much stuff I carried. A friend of mine reached the same conclusion in the > middle of a one-week tour when he tested a compsnion's Surly LHT after > complaining that his otherwise gorgeous custom tourer (1" steerer) was > scary with a heavy front load. I should clarify that the flexiness did not > stop me from enjoying many happy trips and overnights on my Atlantis. The > best front load solution I found was a Wald basket that I could clamp on > the handlebar and zip-tie to the Nitto mini front. Anchoring the basket > between the bar and rack made for a solid connection. Everything that I > didn't want in the basket went on the back. -- 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/-/UmikuV8QQWEJ. 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.
