Originally Posted by
Skyler_WA
I have a 52cm LHT with a LonePeak H-100 handlebar bag. I've hit 48mph at least once and 35-40mph many times and have never had any front end instability.
I too have a 52cm LHT and this summer I rode part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Several times I exceeded 40+ mph on long descents and never experienced any loss of control, wobble, or other stability issues and I carried a little more than 10 pounds in my handlebar bag.
While training for that ride, I frequently rode with front panniers and my handlebar bag and the combined weight I carried was 40+ pounds (15 each pannier plus the handlebar bag). Even with that load I was able to ride short distances without holding my handlebars.
Most likely there are small, random variations in alignment across LHT forks (this is probably true of most bikes) and one that is off a few mm can probably create less stability.