Ultimate Touring bike

Every one will hate me for suggesting that recumbent bikes are superior for touring, so I wont say it.

I do under stand the weight on the pedals problem when climbing hills, so I spent time building more leg muscle.

My primary motivation is to build a bike that I can spend more time on with out hurting my arthritic spine or my carpel tunneled wrists.

STEERING GEOMETRY.

I get arguments that a bike should have neutral steering. With 56 degree seer axis that may be 2.85”; creating way to much wheel flop. (Wheel flop pulls the line of travel to one side in a turn.)

With 7” to 10” of tiller the counter balance stabilizes a 20” wheel even at 50mph.

At very low hill climbing speeds it is very maneuverable because the front wheel will turn the bike with less input from the hands.

The long wheelbase eliminates the twitch that a short wheelbase produces by shifting your weight back and forth across the line of travel.

All the factory bikes that I know of use the same mass-produced forks made for short bikes. This dictates that the steer angle be around 60degrees and the trail about 2�.

Most factory bikes have a weight limit. Some are flexable for no more than a 275lbs payload.

mark stonich:

We regularly went over 50MPH, one handed, on our loaded tandem, w/1/2" trail. Steady as a motorcycle.

Gyroscopic isn't a major factor IMHO. But a wider front contact patch has significantly more self aligning torque.

Weight distribution is more important than wheelbase.

If you can't get self centering from your steering ergonomics, you may find that low trail leaves a vague feeling to the steering that's worse than resisting the wheelflop from too much trail. The only SWB I've ever ridden that handled OK had an 80 degree head angle.

Weight distribution and distance from the riders shoulders to the steering axis are what determines how well a 'bent can be made to handle. I have MWBs with wheelbases of 42" and 45" that are so stable that on steep, fast downhills I ride with one hand in my lap to reduce wind drag. They have 2/3:1/3 weight distribution, 6 and 9" of tiller with optimized handgrip orientation.

MWB = BB between 2" ahead of the front axle to 6" behind the axle. Easy to get good ergonomics and weight distribution. Once you get the BB even with or slightly behind the axle heel strike is not a problem.

I was locked into some of the geometry on this one so it could use a little more tiller and I rarely get a bit of heel strike. 42" WB

On the 2nd MWB I moved the front wheel 2" forward and used a slightly steeper head angle to eliminate heel strike and optimize tiller. I moved the rear wheel one inch back to maintain weight distribution. 45" WB

This one, built for a customer, has a shallower head angle and a 54" wheelbase. http://bikesmithdesign.com/Paul/PaulBlue.jpg

All 3 handle about the same.