I second what Matt's saying here. If you carried the weight down low in panniers, it would feel a lot more stable.
When I first set up my girlfriend's San Marcos, she tried a lovely House of Talents basket <http://houseoftalents.com/shop/bicycle-basket/asungtaba-bike-basket-368/> on the handlebars, supported by a VO Constructeur <http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/vo-constructeur-front-rack.html> rack. She hated how much the wheel flopped with any load in the basket--especially her awesome-but-heavy Abus chain. For RAGBRAI, I switched those out for a Campee Classic <https://www.benscycle.com/p-2125-nitto-campee-front-rack-26.aspx>, with medium panniers on the lowrider frames. She loves how the low load makes the front end more stable, even with the load unbalanced to one side or the other (seriously, that chain is like 3.5 lbs). Her San Marcos now obeys when she tells it to "sit" on its single kickstand. She refuses to give the rack and bags back! But that's OK, because I'm paid back by her satisfied smiles when she rides it. Of course, getting set up with a front lowrider rack and bags wouldn't be cheap. The HAR <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/rmf2.htm> would bolt right on to your Betty, as would the Big Front <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/r5.htm> or the similar/cheaper/less pretty Surly Nice Rack <http://surlybikes.com/parts/cargo/surly_rack>. There are other lowrider racks, like the Tubus one that Peter White has <http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tubus_racks.asp>, but I don't know if their mount points would match up easily to your mid-fork eyelets. But clamps work fine. >From there you could attach any kind of bags (waxed canvas is great, waterproof roll-tops are great) or even buckets <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GlsdABloJOQ/TBkVKXFdfKI/AAAAAAAAACM/_oWNBycvU6g/s1600/Buckets+2.JPG> or baskets <http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/da/99/92/da9992ed8733caf20f22024a129bb1e7.jpg>. The Ortlieb hooks <http://www.ortliebusa.com/ProdList.asp?scat=21> are secure yet easy-on/easy-off, and could be attached to anything. A double kickstand would be cheaper! But moving the load lower on the front would improve handling while riding and while parked. Something to think about. Cheers, Tim On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 8:42 PM, 'hangtownmatt' via RBW Owners Bunch < [email protected]> wrote: > Cecily, > > A possible solution could be the Mark's Hub Area Rack. Due to it's lower > center of gravity I'd think it would have less flop. That combined with a > double legged kick stand should almost guarantee a solution. But hey > ... no guarantees :>) > > Matt > > On Friday, October 31, 2014 5:25:43 PM UTC-7, Cecily Walker wrote: >> >> Since putting a Mark's Rack and a basket on the front of my Betty Foy, my >> front handlebars flop most prodigiously (and annoyingly) when there's >> anything in the basket. I'm writing to get you folks' opinions on wheel >> stabilizers, or any other solutions you can think of to fight the flop. >> >> Cheers, >> Cecily >> > -- > 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 post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- 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 post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
