Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I am curious. Have you actually noticed a problem due to mismatched weight from side to side? If so under what circumstances? Heavy load? Light load? How imbalanced?
I ask because I never have notice any at all. I often read where folks advise taking care to balance the load and I do typically try to balance the load by not putting all the heavy stuff in one side. That said I have often had an extra liter or even two of water on one side and never seen a problem. My companions had 50 ounces of water in a camelback bladder in one front pannier and often emptied it during the day. They never mentioned any handling issue when doing so.
I have gone as far as using a pannier on one side in the front when just riding for the day and didn't find it problematic. I probably never had much more than 5 pounds in it though.
My experience makes me wonder if everyone just assumes that they never had a problem because they were always careful with balance when loading.
I've run some really imbalanced loads recently and not noticed any issues whatsoever other than with having her stay up on the kickstand. I didn't think I'd be carrying all that much and left with a single Orlieb on my rear rack when I rolled from Olympia to Bremerton (almost a full century with the trip to the train station, my errands in Oly, and the ride home from the ferry). I ended up putting a fair amount in there (spare clothes, 1st Aid kit, etc) and then stopped at a nice fruit stand and ended up picking up several jars of pickled goods. That and an old-shcool bottle of Pepsi I bought from a lonely Mexican taco truck outside Shelton when they didn't have Horchata meant that overstuffed Ortlieb was pretty heavy and I had no load anywhere else.
I also brought home a lead apron (x-ray shield) from work along with a heavy pair of work shoes and clothes, and three heavy books, all stuffed into a single Ortlieb again. On neither trip did I notice any issues with handling etc. It may help that I am a Clydesdale though.
I will say that I like to have my load balanced when fully loaded for touring because:
A) I like to be able to have the bike actually rest on the kickstand
B) handling is a little shaky when taking off from a full stop as it is (front rack & pannier load), I figure no need to exacerbate that any!
Around town or for short trips with nothing on the front rack though I am no longer concerned about balancing my load at all.