FWIW, I converted two Rivendell bikes to low trail forks and liked them better that way, one I sold (Hunqapillar) and the other one I'm keeping (Atlantis). I preferred their handling vs. the original handling because I wanted front loads, and in the case of the Atlantis, because it shimmied for me with a rear load. Now it doesn't.
I love the handling of the Homer and the Betty in their original geometries, but don't front load them other than a super light load (wallet, phone, glasses). My upcoming custom is low trail 650b, but not a Randonneur geometry. While you can probably get used to anything, it's when you've compared and liked something more, where the decision to invest to go that way or stay the way you are comes into play. You can search the forum for my past lengthy posts if you're interested. René On Tuesday, June 14, 2016, jeffrey kane <jsk_onl...@mac.com> wrote: > Reed -- there has been a near endless run of low vs not-low discussions > here and on the iBob and the 650b list. I feel like I've read them all and > agonized over the damn concept myself for years. But I've never seen a more > sensible and succinct assessment of the whole thing than these quickly > punched out 9 posts above. Bill L nailed it one way, Evan B pretty much > said what GP himself has been saying forever, which, is you can probably > get used to anything given some time and Steve P knows his stuff and has > real experience with some pretty darn nice bikes. > > Me, I've got only this to add: having bounced through 5 similar yet > different 650b rides in the last six years (2 typical trail Rivs, a V/O low > trail and now 2 Jeff Lyon even lower trail bikes) I'd say that there can be > some unpredictable bike-to-bike variations in performance that don't just > fall in line with the "spread sheet" of expectations. Why? I have no idea > but I have a Saluki that does not play well front loaded and Bleriot that > does (yet, supposedly they are super close in geo). The V/O worked nicely > but didn't incite much passion, The 2 Lyon's: one with drops and the other > with uprights exhibit somewhat different tendencies, which, I suppose, > speaks to the bar choice and riding position. > > I ended up on flexy front loading low-trail rides though ... and I don't > see myself going back. Maybe I'll go in another direction altogether but > for now, I couldn't be happier. > > > > On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 6:24:31 PM UTC-4, Reed Kennedy wrote: >> >> I've been a Rivvy sorta guy for the last ten years, owning several of >> their bikes and numerous others built up in Riv-inspired ways. Recently >> I've been reading through back issues of Bicycle Quarterly, and back posts >> on Jan Heine's blog. It's got me wondering about this whole >> alternate-universe practical bike thing he describes, which seems to be >> characterized by low trail steering geometry, flexible frames, and carrying >> loads up front. >> >> I'd love to try it, but such bikes aren't exactly common. >> >> Does anyone have experience with both Rivvy (mid-trail, burly rigid >> frame, carrying stuff all over) and the more French rando / Jan sort of >> bike? What did you think of each? >> >> >> Reed >> > -- > 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 > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com');> > . > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com');>. > Visit this group at https://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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
