Wspsux

Hi!

Calling Space Horse riders!

I'm sure some of you load your bikes up front. I'm thinking of setting up a ACSH with an m18 front rack and a wald strapped down to it like Ultra Romance. How does the Space Horse ride under front load?

Thanks

DirtRoadRunner

The Space Horse actually rides much better with a front load than unloaded. I'm not familiar with the racks you mentioned, but I used a cheapie Nashbar lowrider front rack and front panniers. See the pic below. I had about 15 lbs of gear in the front panniers. I took a few laps around the block to get used to the difference in steering feel, but the bike was exceptionally stable. I put tent stakes and food in the homemade frame bag, and my actual tent and a couple of other things in the trunk bag.

The extra weight really made the bike ride nice - unloaded it is really stiff, but with ~30 lbs of gear it rode beautifully and soaked up all the bumps, including some rough gravel roads. The Space Horse is underrated as a lightweight touring bike. Putting much of the gear up front keeps the front wheel from popping off the ground on steep seated climbs - which I have a problem with on this bike due to low-gearing and some of the steep hills around here.

Wspsux

great looking rig. how much do you weigh that you find the Space Horse stiff? I haven't heard or read that yet. That makes me nervous

DirtRoadRunner

I weigh 185. Unloaded, the Space Horse is stiffer than my CAAD9. This is not a bad thing as it makes the bike a capable touring rig, and the bike feels very confident when bombing a gravel descent at 38 mph.

Tim_Iowa

A medium Wald on an M18 front rack is good for light, bulky loads like jackets or sleeping bags. However, it is not good for much weight; the front end flops pretty badly if you throw a six-pack in there. I ran that setup on my Rivendell for a while, but the wheel flop got annoying.

You'd want a low-trail fork (with more rake) to carry heavier loads above the wheel in front. The Space Horse fork is mid-trail, with 52 mm of rake.

Front lowriders, on the other hand, improve and stabilize the handling of almost any bike. The weight handles MUCH better down low.

You'll note that UltraRomance runs a shopsack in the basket (probably with light odds and ends) and panniers underneath (probably with the heavier stuff). He uses a Surly Nice Rack to fit both. The Nitto 34F Big Front rack would also work to fit both, and is prettier and lighter. I have a 34F I'm not using, PM me if you're interested.