Toshi I'm like you, I think. As I think you know, I've got a Hilsen and a Rawland. Unlike people who say the difference between high trail and low trail is night and day, my experience has been a bit more nuanced. In summary, I'm like Esteban, in that for me "they both work".
The low-speed stability trick that I can do on my Rawland that no other bike I've owned can do: I can ride up a >10% grade no-handed. I'm not saying that's a critical enhancement, but it is for me an objective empricism that tells me there is a difference in ultra low speed stability. Take that for what you want. What I've noticed as well is that now that the seed was planted in my mind that riding in a straight line up a hill is possible, I find myself wanting to ride my Hilsen in a straight line up hills as well. It forces me to keep my upper body very quiet with a very light touch on the bars. I get leverage on the pedals with my lean, not with a death grip on the bars. I think it's made me a better climber, and it's helped me work on my flexibility. The other difference is that my Rawland does shimmy coasting no handed at above 16mph or so and the Hilsen does not. Maybe I'll get a needle bearing headset to try and get after that a little. My Hilsen is totally shimmy-free. For long brevets if my neck and shoulders are getting tired, being able to sit up on the Hilsen is really nice. Neither the Hilsen nor the Rawland has ever had a rear rack on it, so whether there's a shimmy difference with a rear load, I wouldn't know. They are both splendid bikes, and choosing one for a ride is like choosing between a Les Paul and a Gibson (and no, I don't know how to play guitar). Bill On Monday, December 10, 2012 5:18:20 PM UTC-8, ttoshi wrote: > > I dunno what this wandering is either. Is it like when you are > stopping at a stop light and you are going nearly 0 miles an hour and > you have to turn your wheel from side to side to keep your balance? > Maybe the hill is so steep that your bike wants you to ride sideways > to cut the gradient (Is that the bike or driver)? > > Sure, I always ride with a ~8 lb (klickfix) handlebar bag on my tandem > and I've ridden up steep hills with my son and a little one in a > trailer. Yeah, I've gone slower than the bike computer would recognize > (maybe 2-2.5 mph) and yes, my front tire would wobble a bit, but it > was like when I am trying to balance at a stop light, and I was never > in any danger of falling. Would the rake of the fork potentially solve > that wobbling? (I try to keep an open mind) > > Toshi in Oakland, CA, whose squirming children cause many more > handling difficulties than the bicycle thusfar. > > On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 3:18 PM, soapscum <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > > I've never been on a bike that didn't wander a bit on climbs, and I've > > always just internalized that as "I always wander a bit when riding up > > hills". I guess once I get my technique dialed-in (I mean, I've only > been > > riding for 40 years or so), I'll start working on the bike... > > > > Shawn > > > -- 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/-/5ZOrsylVFtYJ. 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.
