I guess I do have some other non-drops I could try out first. The grando is like, stupidly low-trail, so I really have no idea how that plays with flat/cruiser/porteur bars. We gonna find out tho.
I’d be into this if I didn’t already have like 5 derp-bar bikes.
Am I the only person here who can’t tell the goddamn difference between low trail, medium trail, high trail, crust fork or whatever? All these bikes I’ve got ride fine with or without a front load.
My literal crosscheck didn’t nohands with a front bag. But my low trail rawland crosscheck nohandses good. Make of this what you will.
No, you’re not, except hands off.
I sort of got the gist of it a few years ago but realized it’s not really what I find interesting so I just go with what is designed by the designers
my low trail bikes i can’t no-hands without a front load
my regular bikes i can no-hands whenever
that’s about it. i fell for the meme.
But I can no hands my cross bike with or without a load.
I can no hands my endpoint without a load but not with. Is the H/G low trail? How come the cross bike is so stable no matter what?
I can’t no hands my Voodoo with the Clydesdale fork at all regardless of the weight on the front.
Similarly, I can’t no hands my Kogswell regardless of load. Pretty sure that thing is hecka low trail.
My radlawn, with an assumed 70mm of fork rake and a trail of like 25mm is fine mostly when riding but is pretty much impossible to no-hands without a little weight on the front rack. The mostly fine when riding is that sometimes it feels like a bus when going around tight corners because there’s so little trail you just gotta turn and lean it over and hope. My favorite handling bike so far was my traditionial roadie with a middling amount of trail around 55 or 60 mm.
This thread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA
I can absolutely feel the difference with low trail when front loading
For a little bit
But as we all know our brains get used to bike handling very quickly and after five minutes whatever bike you’re on just feels like a bike
I absolutely have bikes that handle poorly when front loaded, especially during very slow speed climbs, and at the end of a long day I can feel my arms are more tired from holding the bike straight. My one low-ish trail bike feels the best.
By contrast I’ve had a higher trail bike get death wobble at speed with just a couple pounds in a bar bag.
Low trail doesn’t like to rail turns at speed as nicely, though.
I was about to ‘well actually’ you about this but then I just went on describing how my low trail dumpster bike rails corners at speed fine its just super sketchy. So, yea, you right.
am fixing a snapped shifter cable on an rs685 brake/shift, and couldn’t figure out where these two weird little resin balls fit back into the shifter. they were old skittles that fell out of my stem bag. took me five minutes to figure it out.
yeahhhh i’m something of a bike repair wizard
I should also add that I will never use a non-low trail camping bike ever again, partly for this reason. It’s just less exhausting in the arms. The other thing is that a front loaded camping bike with low trail just rides like a bike. You don’t have to adjust your riding style at all. Cruise around, stand and sprint up hills, whatever. It all works.
But a traditional rear load results in hellish tail wagging or a bike that rides like pure bullshit unloaded.
the odd thing is the first spirited ride i took on my old grando, i nearly crashed myself out by taking a more inside line than i thought was possible. never found that feeling again. i think it’s me being more and more bad at bikes tho
Jesus, if I tried to ride down that road at 50mph I’d be dead.
Back when I rode my single speed all over Seattle, there was a hill (naturally) that led to the bike route out of west seattle. One day while going home from west seattle I was bombing the hill when I heard a moto behind me so I shaded right so they could pass. Instead of passing they placed me and at the red light at the bottom pulled up, gave me a big thumbs up and said “45 miles an hour!” then took their free right.
Point being for a person of substance it doesn’t take much hill to hit 50.
Put it on a t-shirt.
