Hi Mike. Did you ever experience shimmy or other unpleasantnesses when fully loaded? As for surprises: there are good surprises and bad surprises. Good ones are either enjoyable or fixable. Bad ones (e.g. frame failure from overloading) are neither, and it's those that I'm hoping to avoid. All the best, Kevin
On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8:46:24 AM UTC-5 M D Smith wrote: > Hi Kevin- > > An All-Rounder isThe PERFECT bike for loaded touring! Here’s mine from > many, many moons ago: > > [image: IMG_0680.jpeg] > > I must note, however, when you say: “(T)his'll be my first time touring > by bike, and I don't want any surprises.” > > Goodness Gracious- surprises are the *best* thing about bike touring!! > Every moment and every pedal turned will bring one surprise after another. > > Rest assured that your AR will be a more than worthy steed! > > Cheers, and enjoy the ride- > Mike in Somerville, MA > > > > On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8:03:52 AM UTC-5 [email protected] > wrote: > >> Andrew: When you say that the AR tended to shimmy when the front end was >> overloaded, was that when you were using a rack bag, front panniers (or >> both)? I can see shimmy being worse with a heavy load up high (on a rack), >> but would have thought that carrying a load down low in front wheel >> panniers would not have had the same effect. >> >> All: Greatly appreciate the feedback. >> >> Best regards, >> Kevin >> >> On Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 7:23:42 AM UTC-5 Andrew Letton wrote: >> >>> When I bought my (used) A/R in 2006, I was discussing it with Grant, and >>> he said something like, “It’s basically a fancy Atlantis.” >>> You’ll be fine touring with it, but in my experience, it’s best not to >>> overload the front end. When I did, it tended to shimmy pretty easily. >>> cheers, >>> Andrew in Sydney >>> (Painstakingly pecked out on my iPhone; please pardon my brevity and >>> tpyos.) >>> >>> On 8 Jan 2026, at 8:57 am, Kevin Lindsey <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> Greetings. >>> >>> I'm thinking of doing the GAP/C&O Canal trip this spring on my >>> All-Rounder and would appreciate any thoughts on using the AR as a loaded >>> tourer. I use it for grocery runs and whatnot, but have never put a lot of >>> weight in the bags and don't know whether there might be handling or other >>> issues if I did. >>> Any thoughts welcomed. >>> Best regards, >>> Kevin L. >>> Alexandria, VA >>> >>> -- >>> >>> 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 view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7bd595fa-2317-40a9-84ae-51e82e8e1753n%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7bd595fa-2317-40a9-84ae-51e82e8e1753n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- 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 view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8e5a75e0-03f5-4676-b402-0e11269341aan%40googlegroups.com.
