It's my experience that a stable front platform beats basket struts hands down. I've no empirical proof of that, just my own experience. :-)
I generally ride with 7-15 pounds up front without trouble on a regular basis. I'd be okay up to 20 lbs in a pinch but at that point would definitely add rear panniers and redistribute things. If I'm doing a shopping trip (or camping trip) that's definitely what I'd do. I tend to do a lot of smaller shopping trips (living in Hawaii I'm never far from a store). I wouldn't try 45lbs on that particular setup. Besides with that much weight a shift in position could probably break the zip ties I use to secure my basket to the rack. When I used the platrack under the basket things were a lot more stable than with just the mini-front, but even that's an improvement over basket struts. I just find the 'sway' using basket struts way too disconcerting. The handling with a firm mount is definitely much better and more stable. I never seem to have trouble while underway, just when stopped and forget I've got a load. :-) I ride in Honolulu in traffic regularly so my experience is definitely in 'light auto traffic.' Actually coming home it's often heavy auto traffic but at that point I'm faster. :-) The mini-front is only rated to 4.4 lbs according to Riv so I definitely overload it, but have never had an problems. Keeping the load stable in the basket is also important. Having things moving around is generally not good. I use a net to keep things in place, tightening it down as necessary. If I had 45 lbs to haul I'd try for 15/15 in the rear in panniers and 10 up front. Robert Harrison rfharri...@gmail.com www.statrix.com On Aug 3, 2013, at 9:04 AM, Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Robert: that is interesting: a stable platform makes a front basket much less > likely to affect handling? All my Newsboy and slightly smaller experiments > were without racks, just using the basket struts. > > I'm curious since, IMO, a big, front-mounted container is the easiest way to > deal with things like groceries. But before I splurge on a Newsboy again, I > want to be sure that I'm right. > > How much weight at most can you carry in your rack-supported basket without > feeling endangered in tight auto traffic? (That is the particular condition I > am interested in learning about: the sort of traffic that you get at and near > busy strip malls.) I carry up to 45 lb of groceries at one go. > > Thanks. > > On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 11:44 AM, Robert Harrison <rfharri...@gmail.com> wrote: > I see you are using a Wald with the strut attachments. I've never much cared > for that arrangement as the basket does seem to move side to side a bit. I > always attach my baskets directly to a front rack - usually the Nitto > mini-front and in the past (and future I'm sure) on the now discontinued > platrack attachment. That brings the basket down a bit from where I see yours > in the photo and, as the base is steady, keeps the basket from swaying. I've > never had any particular handling problems that way, though it does handle > differently than an unloaded or very lightly loaded front. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/8111374065/in/set-72157631824788937 > > I have had front baskets set up the way yours is and yes, that's dicey. :-( > > Aloha, > > Bob > > > > Robert Harrison > rfharri...@gmail.com > www.statrix.com > > On Aug 3, 2013, at 7:21 AM, SMP <sume...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I had a similar experience on my Riv: > > http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0092009/photos/sumehra/5629443174/ > > > > Fully loaded with groceries... "Dicey" doesn't even begin to describe the > > handling. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > > -- > > http://resumespecialties.com/index.html > patrickmo...@resumespecialties.com > http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ > > > Albuquerque, NM > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
