kevinmccune
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Has anyone here tried a friction drive, realizing of course every rider is not as small as Court.?
You're right, that must be why I crash almost every time I try to ride with a pannier on my bike.The disc brake drives add weight to the rear and left side. Like a sailboat designed by a nautical engineer, you want any added weight low and centered. Not at the back or off to one side. Some short cuts work, most 'easy' ones do not.
I've seen similar comments re/offcenter weighting, and I don't get it. Sure, logically it should make a difference, but in my experience off- center weighting makes no difference whatsoever. I have folding baskets on both sides of my rear luggage rack, and typically use only one side when I grocery shop. Sometimes the loads are fairly heavy. I notice no unbalancing effect at all. It seems my body (which must have built-in, unconscious verticality reflexes) automatically compensates. So I probably am riding with the bike a bit skewed, but it's not something I feel at all. Of course, if I did this all the time, eventually the tires would wear more on one side.You're right, that must be why I crash almost every time I try to ride with a pannier on my bike.
I take your point, and I would greatly prefer a version with an external battery that could go in the center triangle. Having said that, the height is not bad and the weight is not extreme. How much weight do the shifters/cassette/chain/derailleur/chainring/chainguard add to the right side of the bike? Point is we are OK with adding off center weight when it adds functionality. I think the trade off could make sense for a lot of people.
PedfalUma, you are a "craftsman" of the "331/3" degree order. I practically gave an electric away the other day to make room something facinates me about ebikes perhaps its because I was never well off enough to "Hotroad" autos( Hotrodding' refers to making anything better than stock to suit your tastes it could be anything from a foxtail on the antenna to a monster edrive unit to drive or make a hybrid. The assist unit that attaches to a disk brake is another fascinating piece of kit.I see the strong appeal of something that easily clips on and off the bike as a contained unit. I am on the other hand about to pull wire thru a handlebar and frame, soldering bity wires inside a mid-drive motor.
Sam Pilgrim on YouTube took one of those side by side bikes down a mountain bike trail. A friends mom had a low end tandem that us kids would take out on adventures. Never seen a side by side in person.We had a side by side bike growing up - used to ride it solo sometimes. You have to lean over about 15 degrees to get over the center of the bike but it was no problem to ride as long as you didn't try to make any sharp right hand turns(pedal strikes). Could turn on a dime to the left though
Really not worried about 15 pounds low and just off the center of gravity. I'll have to see if one of my relatives can dig up a picture of my sister riding with her boyfriend who was at least 2.5x her mass.
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Neither have I.Sam Pilgrim on YouTube took one of those side by side bikes down a mountain bike trail. A friends mom had a low end tandem that us kids would take out on adventures. Never seen a side by side in person.