I didn't know anything about low trail when my Mariposa arrived, I just knew that the handling was amazing compared to my Heron, or pretty much anything else I'd ever ridden (exception being Moultons) and I wanted to know why. Digging showed that it was a combination of three main factors in the geometry of the bike, which had been optimized by Mike Barry for my preference of carrying a handlebar bag (not too heavily loaded) and saddlebag. The other two factors were the seat tube angle (72 degrees is pretty shallow these days for a 53cm frame) and bb height (designed around my 165mm cranks). The trail, though, was the part that was specifically about lightening the handling of the bike, particularly with the handlebar bag.
Further reading after the fact suggested that shortening the trail for the tandem would make it nicer for a team that tended to go uphill slowly - I'm sure the Erickson would be great for a fast team on 25C tires but for a slow team on 30Cs going uphill was a lot more of a workout for my upper body than for my legs (when we finished Tour de Blast on the Erickson my arms were jelly but my legs were fine - that's the day that I decided to replace the tandem.) -Ken On Sunday, December 9, 2012, RJM wrote: > Ride-wise, I think the Sam is great. I wonder if the floppy feeling with > certain loads is size based. I ride a 48cm, and generally keep a small > saddlesack with a tool roll, spare tire, pump, some food, some extra > clothing and possibly another water bottle in it. With that load, the only > time I get the hint of flop in the front is when I am going very slowly up > a rather steep hill. It isn't a lack of control or anything, just a feeling > that I am going too slow and should probably speed up. > > I think the low trail thing is for people who really want to put a bunch > of gear on the front of their bikes with no load on the rear. I just don't > get it all that much. > > > > On Saturday, December 8, 2012 11:17:07 PM UTC-6, charlie wrote: > >> Just rode my 'Sam' after obsessing over low trail forks for the last few >> months. With my new drop bars and hobo bag I never noticed 'wheel flop' or >> any tendency of the bike to wander as some might contend. Just a nice >> pleasant ride uphill and down and straight line performance was solid. My >> new Hillborne rides like a dream. If you are on the fence and are >> considering a low trail fork or frame over your Rivendell like I was >> starting to do......rest assured your Riv is a fine ride. I think we >> cyclists are often fickle when it comes to bikes and the latest new gadget >> or re-invented design. I guess I'm just saying (maybe for my own benefit) >> try other brands if like but know that a Grant designed Rivendell is a >> solidly designed frame. Go Grant ! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/hVYbyT2HstgJ. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '[email protected]');> > . > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '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.
