Ride On
Posts:537
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| 05/18/2014 01:45 PM |
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Seems like a bikes weight distribution would not be even left to right correct ? Drive train on one side, nothing on the other. Seems like that percentage of unevenness would be getting larger since frame weight , bars, everything that is split 50/50 left right has come down in weight by a large percentage over the past 10 years but drive train while it has gotten lighter might not have come down as much. A chain is a chain, sprockets are sprockets. Has this made any difference in how a bike rides ? |
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 05/18/2014 02:33 PM |
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| It makes a difference in touring doesn't it? Load one side down with 20 extra lbs and you notice it. At what point does it start to matter ? |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/18/2014 02:51 PM |
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When I pack my lunch* or my laptop in my left panier I can definitely feel it, but the effect of drive-train on a road bike? Nah. One it is not that heavy, two it is still relatively close to bike centreline unlike paniers which are further out.
* its a very big lunch :-) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/18/2014 03:38 PM |
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What matters is leverage or "moment". That is the weight multiplied by the distance from the point of interest, in this case the centerline of the bike. Say we have a 5 pound drive train and it is 2 inches off the centerline. That is 10 inch-pounds. Now look at a 20 pound bag with its weight centered 6 inches off the centerline. That is 120 inch-pounds or 12 times the effect on the bike of the drive train.
Another way to look at this is: how far do you have to lean yourself and the bike to compensate? (Say you stay in line with the bike and lean everything like you and the bike are a unit.) Bike plus riders = 175 pounds. 175X = 10 inch-pounds. X = 0.08 inches = a little over 1/16". If your center of gravity is say 36" off the pavement, that is 0.1 degrees of lean. Not much of an issue. But that 20 pound pannier. That's 1 1/2 degrees. Ride-able but quite noticeable.
Now, put that 20 pounds in one low-rider pannier and add that to your steering and it becomes VERY noticeable!
Ben |
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 05/18/2014 03:57 PM |
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| Thanks Ben that makes perfect sense. |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 05/19/2014 10:47 AM |
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| When my wife won't sit still on the tandem. I can definitely feel it :-) |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 05/19/2014 11:41 AM |
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Posted By Spudly Crumpett III on 05/19/2014 10:47 AM
When my wife won't sit still on the tandem. I can definitely feel it :-)
LOL! reminds me of a time when my then 11 year old daughter and I were on the tandem doing Biking Across Kansas. I felt the bike get a little goosie and glanced to my left and saw the evidence of my daughter sitting up and making shadow puppets on the pavement … duck, dog, squirrel, bird. She kept that up for a mile or so until she became bored with that and went on to find some new entertainment back there. |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 05/19/2014 02:53 PM |
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| First ride with my step-son, the bike was all of a sudden tilting to the right. He was back there trying to slap the mail boxes as we passed by them. |
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