Charlie: Congrats on enjoying the handling of your new ride. You are correct that we sometimes over-think our bikes. The ability of Rivendells to accommodate a wide range of tire sizes, racks, luggage, baskets, ets., and still handle well is quite amazing and a testament to Grant's experience and design talent. It's often said that Rivs are "rear loaders" but there are plenty of photos on the RBWHQ website of them with large front baskets stuffed full of camping gear, out on trails.
IMHO, discussions regarding trail, shimmy, loading, handling, etc., often ignore the rider input factor. Our position on the bike, pedaling style, tires & pressure, etc., must have a significant influence. Generally even a lightweight rider outweighs the bike, even loaded for a camping tour. Trail is only one element of bike design, and thinking about it in isolation is pointless. If one is considering a Rivendell and another bike with a significantly different trail, it would be difficult to predict handling variations. After years of time on my Atlantis and a lots of different loading arrangements, I had a 40 mm trail fork made for it. That corrected the irritating front end wander but it's a subtle change. One of my concerns was whether there was a downside hiding in the low trail concept, and after well over a year I can't find one. The fact that 25 mm can be added to the wheelbase without screwing up something is a good testament to Rivendell's design philosophy. dougP On Saturday, December 8, 2012 9:17:07 PM UTC-8, 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/-/cHaaiv9b0CwJ. 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.
