Travelinggeorge

Hi

Im using an old LL BEAN Arcadia Cruiser as the bike on my xtracycle Free Radical cargo rig.

When the bike is fully loaded the front wheel can be kind of squirmy and unstable. I looked at wheel stabilizer add on kits via velo orange but the fork does not have a hole to connect it to except for the one at the front of the fork. Is there anyway to stabilize this fork w o having to replace it? I do like the suspension features but also want to ride stable when loaded.

Thanks!

cyccommute 

If the tire is squirmy, check the pressure first. But do you mean that the fork goes up and down while you pedal? That’s common with your kind of fork. If that’s the problem, your shock could benefit from a lock out. Unfortunately, you can’t add one to the internals. This guy has a pretty good idea on how to add one externally.

wesmamyke

Cane Creek makes a steerer damper upper headset, well sorta. It's more of an adjustable friction adding device. It has friction discs in a clutch pack style configuration, depending on how they are stacked adjusts the resistance.

I have one on my commuter mountain bike with a suspension fork. It works, but really needs to be on the absolute lowest setting to not be obnoxious.

https://www.canecreek.com/product/viscoset/

rumrunn6

is it possible the weight distribution on each wheel has been disrupted? meaning if the front wheel is lacking enough weight it becomes less effective?

Andrew R Stewart 

Define "squirmy". Do you mean the steering seems to wander from straight ahead? Or that the fork seems to bob up and down through it's travel? Or the steering seems to shimmy back and forth?

This thread could delve into the world of steering shimmy that has been beat to death here and on other forums, depending on what's actually going on. Andy

base2 

The OP makes me think of my Mother-in-laws Magna with a spring suspension fork. She rode that bike about a year & the forks became so loose & worn that the wheel would turn left/right about 10 degrees in the dropouts in relation to the fork crown.

That bike wandered everywhere dangerously. She asked if I could fix it. (Ha, ha, ha!) Eventually I convinced her to part with a $100 bill at a swap meet for a new bike.

OP: If your issue is similar to my Mother-in-laws, you need a new fork. Plain & simple. Figure around $250 for a reasonably decent air/oil one with a lockout such as a Rockshox Recon.

There are others at all manner of price point, of course.

Seperately:
A loaded bike should not be unstable. Your load may be too far behind the rear axle as if to lever the front off the ground. What I mean to say is: You might have a weight distribution problem. If you haven't already, try moving the load forward more central to the bike & see how that works.

Travelinggeorge

Thanks forum. To clarify the issue is that it becomes harder to steer and stabilize the bike because the handlebars are going each way.

Andrew R Stewart 

Again how rapidly do the bars/steering go back and forth. How fast are you going when this happens. There's a difference between a shimmy and a lack of straight line self centering steering.

Shimmy is generally when the bars oscillate back and forth fairly quickly, a few times a second, but don't tend to steer more then a few degrees with each swing. Shimmy can increase to greater oscillations but not always.

Lack of self centering is a tendency for the bars/wheel to flop/swing to one side and not return to center without the rider making them do so. Think of a chopper motorcycle with a very laid back steering angle. The bike wants to settle down as low to the ground as possible and the ft wheel being well off center (by tens of degrees) allow this drop down to happen.

Are either of theses situations happening? Do they happen only with your very rear ward loading? Have you mounted the Extra Freeradical rig on a different bike? Is the attachment points well secured and all in use? Andy

Travelinggeorge

Happening at slower speeds and is a shimmy. Happening when the bike is loaded heavily at the rear but not on other loads. The rest of the bike is stable.

Havent tried it on other bikes, but may stop by my local coop when things settle down more to see if I can replace the fork so i can add a stabilizer. Thoughts?

cyccommute 

You have a couple of problems here. Although bicycles are relatively rigid, heavy loads on the rear can lighten the front end and make it kind of vague. Many of us who do self supported tours have noticed this and alleviate it by loading the front wheel at a larger percentage of load than the rear. A 60% front/40% rear makes for a more stable bike.

You are also using a bike that is very long with the Xtracycle attachment and one that is no longer all that rigid. You’ve put a (slight) pivot in the middle of the bike and it is flexing which can cause the front of the bike to wander.

There are several solutions to your problem. These should all be considered on an and/or basis. Carry a lighter load. Move the load further forward so that the front frame is loaded. Move some of the load to the front of the bike. Get a rigid fork. Get a more rigid Xtracycle...one that isn’t an add on.