It was in shallow retrospect grossly, ineptly and almost culpably ignorant of me to think I could just take 1 1/2 times a bike's weight and shove it on the back anyhow and expect the bike to handle normally. Anyway, I just got back from a brief 17 mile out 'n' back -- flat, no hills, but a few modest curves -- on the SH, this time with 42 lb in back BUT in the Ortliebs properly installed on the Logo. *What* a huge difference. It's at least as good as the Motobecane, probably a bit better -- with this amount of weight -- thanks to the stiffer rack (I assume it's stiffer; it's a Tubus and it has more struts) and, I daresay, stiffer frame -- it's not light 531, anyway. The bike still wanders, and I expect that after a couple of hours on it even this amount of wandering would get tiresome, but it is hugely, emphatically and excessively better than with the Axioms hanging off the rear of the rack. How obvious in retrospect!
Anyway, I think that the ideal, that will make this bike quite wonderful as a tourer -- and I deliberately chose it over the beefier Atlantis -- will be to take, say, 15 or so lb from the rear and put it on the front. Which leads to the question: how best to load the front? Platform or porteur rack and big bag, or low riders? I guess, from what others say, that I will be carrying 40 to 50 lb total of load and, again, perhaps 3:2 rear:front. So, porteur or low riders? And, what is the best value for each -- I mean, brands, models? I know Tubus and Ortlieb are safe bets, but they are of course expensive. Thanks. I may have an Ostrich and a Nashbar rack, plus decaleur bits, to sell. -- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW at resumespecialt...@gmail.com -- 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-bu...@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.
