Patrick, I'm at a loss why your Hillborne is behaving that way. My experience is exactly the opposite; after many many miles touring on my Expedition (which I still love) my Hillborne in comparison is rock solid with a loaded rear rack, and is one of the easiest bikes to noodle up a steep slope. Mine is a 52cm frame, Tubus Vega rear rack and some ancient REI large panniers I've been using for years. Could it be my frame uses 650B wheels? I tour with cheap Col de la Vies, but run Hetres around town. The Hetres do make a difference speed wise and though it's not exactly like hurling along on my Heron with skinny tires, I don't find a problem pushing along at 18-20mph on my morning runs. My drop bars (Nitto Noodle) are ever-so-slightly below saddle height and although the front end is lighter feeling with a full camping load on the back I do not experience the front-end vagueness you're experiencing. I'm not downplaying your experience, I'm just not sure what's causing it. I hope someone else might shed a light.
Phil Roberts Chandler, AZ On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 3:56 PM, PATRICK MOORE <[email protected]> wrote: > Disappointment. I've owned 3 Riv customs, designed for fast road riding, > and all, particularly the second two, have been magnificent in fit, feel and > handling, even with rear loads. So I was hugely disappointed to take my SH > out for a quick 20 mile shakedown ride with 35 lb or so in the rear (An > Ostrich in the front, but lightly loaded). Too much front end vagueness: > fast downhill sweeper was uneasy-making, and, coming back up sitting at 5-6 > mph, the front end wandered all over the place. > > I have the bars about even with the plane between rump and nose of saddle; > don't want them higher. > > Riv build, so Jack Browns; stiff Tubus Logo rack. The panniers were not > optimal, having been borrowed from my (better handling under rear load, > actually) '73 Motobecane flexy 531 racing bike and sitting a bit further > back than they need to be. > > But what can I do to reduce the front end flop? New fork? New bike? > > -- > Patrick Moore > Albuquerque, NM > For professional resumes, contact > Patrick Moore, ACRW at [email protected] > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<rbw-owners-bunch%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
