Z
Zoot Katz
Guest
On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:58:43 -0700, jim beam
<[email protected]> wrote:
>> Looking at the side-view pix of the Yuba Mondo,
>> it appears to me that the problem /has/ been addressed,
>
>not adequately imo. the main lateral loading is via the flex induced at
>the bb, and this has none. yes, it has some through the quasi "mixte"
>seat stays, but i have trouble believing that'll be adequate once you
>get the vehicle out of the parking lot.
Having owned an Xtracycle for a year during which I rode it as my
daily mount for five months, both light and laden, perhaps too much
is being made of "lateral stiffness".
Sure it flexes and that is perhaps just the nature of the beast. That
and a few other handling issues presents a short learning curve.
The way the bike is loaded affects its handling more than could be
compensated by any reasonable amount of truss work, IMO.
That these longtail bikes are beginning to be introduced now
indicates that the market is ready for them. They're attractive to
people contemplating going car-free or reducing their number of
automobile trips. There's bound to be some sorting out of design
issues with the bikes. It's disappointing that Kona didn't include
mounting for side-loaders. I think motorising them will become a
popular modification.
.. . . that and a keg carrying sidecar.
--
zk
<[email protected]> wrote:
>> Looking at the side-view pix of the Yuba Mondo,
>> it appears to me that the problem /has/ been addressed,
>
>not adequately imo. the main lateral loading is via the flex induced at
>the bb, and this has none. yes, it has some through the quasi "mixte"
>seat stays, but i have trouble believing that'll be adequate once you
>get the vehicle out of the parking lot.
Having owned an Xtracycle for a year during which I rode it as my
daily mount for five months, both light and laden, perhaps too much
is being made of "lateral stiffness".
Sure it flexes and that is perhaps just the nature of the beast. That
and a few other handling issues presents a short learning curve.
The way the bike is loaded affects its handling more than could be
compensated by any reasonable amount of truss work, IMO.
That these longtail bikes are beginning to be introduced now
indicates that the market is ready for them. They're attractive to
people contemplating going car-free or reducing their number of
automobile trips. There's bound to be some sorting out of design
issues with the bikes. It's disappointing that Kona didn't include
mounting for side-loaders. I think motorising them will become a
popular modification.
.. . . that and a keg carrying sidecar.
--
zk