Thomas Adams wrote:
> Here's a chance to test another old wive's tale. I was always told
> that you wanted 60% of the weight on a level bike on the rear wheel
> for stability: that too much weight forward would make the bike
> unstable generally, and dangerous in hard braking or descending when
> the weight shifts forward, possibly leading to crashes when the rear
> wheel would unweight and skid. Eddy Merckx was sited as the
> authority for rear weight bias: his legendary descending skills were
> attributed partly to having his frames built with extra beefy rear
> triangles to avoid the evils of too much weight forward.
I'd heard that as well, so I was a bit concerned when I built a frame in the early 90s to try out those new-fangled aero-bar thingies. I'm not a racer, but my philosophy has always been "whatever the racers use so they can go faster, I can use so I don't have to work as hard." At the time, these bars were still pretty new, and most people who used them (triathletes for the most part) just mounted them on standard road frames. The triathletes felt that they could get a more aerodynamic position by moving the seat forward on the rails -- there were even seat post extensions for this -- so I figured I'd just build a frame with a steep seat tube to avoid that concern.
The frame I built has a 74 deg. head tube and a 78 deg. seat tube. I don't know what the weight distribution is -- nor do I know how to go about measuring it -- but the first time I built up the bike to ride it felt like I was right over the front wheel. I was really concerned about doing a face-plant if I used the front brakes. Almost 15 years later, I'm still riding the bike and have never face-planted! I suppose the handling could be characterized as "twitchy" but I like it nonetheless. It has become my standard ride for club rides. It climbs well, and seems to descend well also but we don't have any of those long, harrowing descents that more hilly areas boast.
Pictures if you're interested:
http://www.os2.dhs.org/
--
-John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA