Front load and handling - taming a jerky ride - front weight?
 

Hi All,

I have a bike I love, but the handling is a little on the jerky side. It has very low trail, and 35mm tires. I'm wondering if anything can be done, short of a new fork, to make it handle a little more stably.

Would front weight help, or just lead to an even weirder ride?

Is there anything else that is commonly done in this situation?

I'm trying to get some clues before I start spending money on racks and bags that don't fix the problem.

Thanks for your help!

-Jim

What bike is it? Pics?

http://www.avaghon.nl/download/Naloo...y-Forkrake.pdf
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~fajans.../bicycles.html
http://www.dclxvi.org/chunk/tech/trail/

The best thing you can do for stability is to lower the center of gravity by getting weight loaded as close to the ground as possible. Many folks find that a 60/40 ratio of front to back weight distribution helps too. Some geometries are inherently less stable and adding a new fork, as you mention, may be the only way to fix a squirrelly bike. At that point you need to ask if the tool is right for the job and a more "relaxed" geometry is in order.

My touring bike is much more stable, less jerky, with a lcg load. Distribution 40/60. Straight fork.

more info, what kind of load do you have now that makes it jerky or is this it's normal handling unloaded? Without knowing the bike and a few more details like where the bars/seat are located most of the answers will be somewhat general. ie. keeping weight close to your mass and low, once the load is extended further behind the rear axle the whippier(jerky?) the front will be.

Low rider rack .. as you put the load forward it adds stability.
As Bike Trail is the opposite of caster , shopping trolley wheel trail..

flipping the fork backwards has been demonstrated to be self steering,
David Gordon Wilson (PhD MIT) took the bars off a bike
and let it go down a hill

it went straight ,until out of momentum, it fell over..

[Probably on you tube somewhere]

Center the panniers to the front wheel axle so the panniers sit 50/50. This is done by adjusting the clamps on panniers.

Lots of good advice. I'll try to borrow a front rack and see how it goes with different weights. Thanks, all.