Hi Andrew. Thanks for the information. Given that your frame is so much bigger than mine, I would expect it to handle a bit differently, but maybe not. At the end of the day, I'll just have to load it up, take it out, and see how it behaves. All the best, Kevin
On Friday, January 9, 2026 at 12:40:22 AM UTC-5 Andrew Letton wrote: > Hi Kevin, > Some more context: My A/R is a 65cm frame and has 700c wheels and Berthoud > 50mm stainless fenders. I was probably running 35mm Paselas back then, > though I've experienced it with fatter tires as well. My feeling is that > the load affects it more than tire size. (Lateral oscillation of the fender > may have contributed to the shimmy.) > I think I had a densely loaded Riv big boxy handlebar bag and a small > Nitto rack with all sorts of stuff strapped to it on the front and a big > Nitto rear rack with large panniers and a sleeping bag and tent strapped on > top (Or maybe the tent was strapped on the front; I don't remember, as it > was nearly 20y ago) > The shimmy I experienced would happen when I tried to ride no-handed or > one-handed with a very light touch. The tendency to shimmy increased with > front load and decreased with speed, and I never experienced the shimmy > that Mike mentioned at high speed...and I like to descend fast! I don't > think I ever had any shimmy with both hands on the bars. > FWIW, I am not able to ride no-handed, even with no bags on the bike. > I hope that helps! > Cheers, > Andrew in Sydney > > > On Friday, January 9, 2026 at 12:03:57 AM GMT+11, Kevin Lindsey < > [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/da1ce7d9-94c2-4c29-b432-9db1ed4921efn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/da1ce7d9-94c2-4c29-b432-9db1ed4921efn%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/b9cb0d2d-1945-4300-a26d-c845937a85abn%40googlegroups.com.
