Re: belt drives

On 1/29/2025 1:37 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>
I think for equivalent loads, having the weight in a large saddlebag
(like a Carradice) affects handling less than having the weight in
panniers. Maybe that's because the added weight is closer to the center
of mass of the bike+rider.

 I’m sure yes, my old MTB which is converted into my main commute bike,
having just two panniers it felt particularly if laden very rear heavy, and
definitely effected the handling, adding a bar bag, plus being more
convenient made it feel a lot lighter even fully loaded as the handling or
rather the weight was in the right places.

I think it matters less for normal road riding or touring, compared to off-road. I've always felt my Cannondale touring bike perfectly handled four panniers plus a handlebar bag. Like the bike was designed for that - which it was.
The Bike Friday is a bit of a strange animal. We've toured on them pulling trailers, but that introduces complexities and faff. For our next trips to Europe I arranged tall Rick Steves backpacks
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/classic-backpack
vertically on a rear rack above the 20" rear wheel, also fastened to the back of the saddle.
While rolling, that was fine. But the lack of a top tube meant we had to take care to not lose our grip on the bars while standing at a stop, else the bike would tip.
I delivered newspapers for many, many hundreds of miles as a teenager with a huge front basket weighted with many pounds of papers, so I'm fine at handling front loads. For future Friday tours, I'm thinking about the Rick Steves bag mounted on a low rack above the front wheel.
--
- Frank Krygowski