Unbalanced Bike

[[email protected]]

I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
dry and less weight on my back.

The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.

So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Thanks,
Ian

 

[Paul Rudin]

[email protected] writes:

> I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?
>

I suppose it depends how much weight you have in the pannier in
relation to the total for bike+rider+pannier.

FWIW I often cycle with a single heavily-laden pannier and have
managed to avoid the problem so far.

 

[Paul Boyd]

[email protected] said the following on 12/01/2007 10:21:

> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.

I suspect the may be a missing detail there. If the weight is fixed
securely, they shouldn't have fallen off - it just means the lean into
the corner will be slightly different. If it swung about mid corner,
they might well fall off!

> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

It's always preferable to have a balanced bike, but not essential. What
sort of weight are you talking about? Could you put the rucksack on top
of the rack in some way rather than in the pannier on the side. If it's
heavy though, I would prefer it to be at the side so the weight is lower.

Ultimately though, I've often cycled with a heavy weight on one side,
and it doesn't really make an awful lot of difference.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[POHB]

[email protected] wrote:
> I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

How heavy? Unless it feels uncomfortable and you feel you're having to
lean and steer to compensate then I wouldn't worry about it. You're
more likely to have a problem when you are off the bike and trying to
lean it against a post.

There was a thread a while back discussing whether folks preferred
their single pannier on the right or left.

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:
<snip>

> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Another vote from me for not worrying.

I only ever have one pannier on, and have had no problems.

M.

 

[David Martin]

Ask the LBS if they know of anyone who didn't have an unbalanced bike,
went round a corner and fell off..

If you can balance the bike easily then don't worry.

...d

 

[Clive George]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Don't worry about it unless it actually feels bad to ride. "be careful round
corners" depends somewhat on how you corner normally - if it's like a tour
pro descending an alp, maybe ease up a little, but otherwise it'll be fine.

cheers,
clive

 

[Alan Braggins]

[email protected] wrote:
>So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
>or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Don't worry too much. I've carried a chainsaw in one pannier and nothing
in the other without problems, and seen photos of sociables (side-by-side
two seaters) with only one rider being usable.

 

[Ambrose Nankivell]

POHB wrote:
> There was a thread a while back discussing whether folks preferred
> their single pannier on the right or left.

<obviousbragging>
I like to dress to the opposite side, which balances out the weight
nicely
</obviousbragging>

To the OP:

I frequently ride with only one pannier loaded. I only have problems
when I'm wheeling the bike along one-handed by the handlebar stem and
the ground's slippy*, e.g. on railway platforms. Otherwise it's no
problem at all.

--
A
*when you try and countersteer as the pannier pulls it over, the front
wheel slides away and then the front lifts up.

 

[Brendan Halpin]

"Ambrose Nankivell" <[email protected]> writes:

> To the OP:
>
> I frequently ride with only one pannier loaded. I only have problems
> when I'm wheeling the bike along one-handed by the handlebar stem and
> the ground's slippy*, e.g. on railway platforms. Otherwise it's no
> problem at all.

Let me chime in with a negative observation -- I was in the habit
of doing an occasional 18km commute with an overloaded pannier on
one side. No problem handling or anything, but riding a bike that
was slightly off vertical gave me knee pain.

Brendan
--
Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland
Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147
mailto:[email protected] http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html

 

[dkahn400]

[email protected] wrote:

> I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Having the weight slightly offset to one side makes virtually no
difference to the handling of the bike. The only time you might notice
it is when you are walking with the bike and holding it by the
handlebars. Hold it by the saddle and even that problem will go away.

--
Dave...

 

[dkahn400]

[email protected] wrote:

> I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Having the weight slightly offset to one side makes virtually no
difference to the handling of the bike. The only time you might notice
it is when you are walking with the bike and holding it by the
handlebars. Hold it by the saddle and even that problem will go away.

--
Dave...

 

[John Kane]

[email protected] wrote:
> I like putting my rucksack in a pannier when going to work, keeps it
> dry and less weight on my back.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> So, should I avoid having an unbalanced bike, be careful round corners
> or not worry too much as it's unlikely to happen?

Seems unlikely as long as you're not riding madly. I routinely used to
haul a 22 lb bag of flour in a pannier with nothing on the other side.

 

[[email protected]]

Paul Boyd wrote:
> [email protected] said the following on 12/01/2007 10:21:
>
> > The only thing I'm worried about is story a LBS told me about someone
> > who done the same (had one heavy pannier one side and nothing the
> > other), went round a corner and promptly fell off.
>
> I suspect the may be a missing detail there. If the weight is fixed
> securely, they shouldn't have fallen off - it just means the lean into
> the corner will be slightly different. If it swung about mid corner,
> they might well fall off!
>
....snip...

I ***think*** that the OP meant that it was the cyclist who promptly
fell off rather than the load. At least, that was the way I read it.

Considering the location of paniers with respect to the centre of
gravity, I would expect that the imbalance would have to be very great
to cause real balance problems for most cyclists. Obviously, the style
of the bike and the weight of the cyclist play important roles in the
situation.

 

[Paul Boyd]

On 13/01/2007 04:34, [email protected] said,

> I ***think*** that the OP meant that it was the cyclist who promptly
> fell off rather than the load. At least, that was the way I read it.

It's they way I read it as well, and that was reflected in my response!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks everyone for the replies, it puts my mind at ease!

To answer some of your qs, I'm probably ~65kg, bike ~15kg (well,
something heavy anyway!) and pannier ~5 - 10kg. I certianley never
feel unbalanced when riding, just slighlty paranoid after hearing said
story!

BTW I go for a LH pannier, mainly cause both my panniers are LH ones
(but slightly universal)!

 

[nadir]

Brendan Halpin wrote:
> "Ambrose Nankivell" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> To the OP:
>>
>> I frequently ride with only one pannier loaded. I only have problems
>> when I'm wheeling the bike along one-handed by the handlebar stem and
>> the ground's slippy*, e.g. on railway platforms. Otherwise it's no
>> problem at all.
>
> Let me chime in with a negative observation -- I was in the habit
> of doing an occasional 18km commute with an overloaded pannier on
> one side. No problem handling or anything, but riding a bike that
> was slightly off vertical gave me knee pain.
>
> Brendan

did a 40 km each way commute for 2 years with one pannier bag, cant say
i had any probs

mike