Is my new-old touring frame a "wimp?"

As an experiment, try loading the bike differently and reducing the
front tire pressure.

I built my tourer on an old Bianchi cyclocross frame. It's a 58-cm
size, about like yours.

With 10+ lbs strapped to the rear rack and everything else empty, it
shimmies hands-off in the 15 mph range -- yet you can't feel it with
hands on the bars. The shimmying is reduced by adding weight to the
panniers, which are lower and not rigidly attached to the frame, and in
the handlebar bag.

I don't lose any sleep over it.

DEAR PARANOID
gotta take it apart-new bearings and wheels cones-wheels axle-freehub
deore-can't tour ona freewheel-cr-18 rear conti tt tires-NEW CYCLE
SPECIFIC GREASE!!
and seattle? have it stripped of inside rust-search bike tech archives
or dump thinned linseed or thinned white rustoleum maybe after the
linseed
reliable sources claim nothing ferrous in seattle is forever
the manufacturer got it right-your load balance is off-try two gallon
jugs half filled with h20 ropped together and looped side by side over
the top tube up near the head tube-slide back and forth an inch or two
a new weight balance from this experiment while riding-especially
downhill on a bridge in rush hour-will cure the shakes but not the
seattle blues-
try taking one hand of the bars while moving the jugs whilst on the
bridge!!

Quoted message said:

DEAR PARANOID
gotta take it apart-new bearings and wheels cones-wheels axle-freehub
deore-can't tour ona freewheel-cr-18 rear conti tt tires-NEW CYCLE
SPECIFIC GREASE!!
and seattle? have it stripped of inside rust-search bike tech archives
or dump thinned linseed or thinned white rustoleum maybe after the
linseed
reliable sources claim nothing ferrous in seattle is forever
the manufacturer got it right-your load balance is off-try two gallon
jugs half filled with h20 ropped together and looped side by side over
the top tube up near the head tube-slide back and forth an inch or two
a new weight balance from this experiment while riding-especially
downhill on a bridge in rush hour-will cure the shakes but not the
seattle blues-
try taking one hand of the bars while moving the jugs whilst on the
bridge!!

Another dangerous use of dihygrogen monoxide.

Ron

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
: DEAR PARANOID
: gotta take it apart-new bearings and wheels cones-wheels axle-freehub
: deore-can't tour ona freewheel-cr-18 rear conti tt tires-NEW CYCLE
: SPECIFIC GREASE!!
: and seattle? have it stripped of inside rust-search bike tech archives
: or dump thinned linseed or thinned white rustoleum maybe after the
: linseed
: reliable sources claim nothing ferrous in seattle is forever
: the manufacturer got it right-your load balance is off-try two gallon
: jugs half filled with h20 ropped together and looped side by side over
: the top tube up near the head tube-slide back and forth an inch or two
: a new weight balance from this experiment while riding-especially
: downhill on a bridge in rush hour-will cure the shakes but not the
: seattle blues-
: try taking one hand of the bars while moving the jugs whilst on the
: bridge!!

Can somebody translate this for me? I don't have the time or the inclination
to decipher it.

Pat in TX
:

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
: DEAR PARANOID
: gotta take it apart-new bearings and wheels cones-wheels axle-freehub
: deore-can't tour ona freewheel-cr-18 rear conti tt tires-NEW CYCLE
: SPECIFIC GREASE!!
: and seattle? have it stripped of inside rust-search bike tech archives
: or dump thinned linseed or thinned white rustoleum maybe after the
: linseed
: reliable sources claim nothing ferrous in seattle is forever
: the manufacturer got it right-your load balance is off-try two gallon
: jugs half filled with h20 ropped together and looped side by side over
: the top tube up near the head tube-slide back and forth an inch or two
: a new weight balance from this experiment while riding-especially
: downhill on a bridge in rush hour-will cure the shakes but not the
: seattle blues-
: try taking one hand of the bars while moving the jugs whilst on the
: bridge!!

Can somebody translate this for me? I don't have the time or the inclination
to decipher it.

Pat in TX
:

Huff some gasoline and try it again. Should make more sense then.

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

RonSonic said:

Quoted message said:

DEAR PARANOID
gotta take it apart-new bearings and wheels cones-wheels axle-freehub
deore-can't tour ona freewheel-cr-18 rear conti tt tires-NEW CYCLE
SPECIFIC GREASE!!
and seattle? have it stripped of inside rust-search bike tech archives
or dump thinned linseed or thinned white rustoleum maybe after the
linseed
reliable sources claim nothing ferrous in seattle is forever
the manufacturer got it right-your load balance is off-try two gallon
jugs half filled with h20 ropped together and looped side by side over
the top tube up near the head tube-slide back and forth an inch or two
a new weight balance from this experiment while riding-especially
downhill on a bridge in rush hour-will cure the shakes but not the
seattle blues-
try taking one hand of the bars while moving the jugs whilst on the
bridge!!

Another dangerous use of dihygrogen monoxide.

For this reason I would recommend using urine instead. Preferably
someone elses.

Quoted message said:

This time, I'll just skip it. If a person can't bother to use

punctuation, I

Quoted message said:

can't bother to try to make sense of it.

Ah, but that's your loss: regular readers will agree, he only hits the
sweet spot once in a while, but man, when he does, it goes right out of
the ballpark!

Pedantus said:

This link shows you what I bought on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7138266478&ssPageName=ADME:B:BN:US:1

I love the style, weight, and the fit of this bike, but when I put the racks
on and loaded it up fore and aft, she oscillates at the drop of one hand,
and wiggles like Jell-O...🙁 What gives--will it break on me if I try to
tour on it ????????

Bridgestone usually knew what they were doing (at least in the era of
this bike), so I'm guessing the culprit is elsewhere. If you are using
a handlebar bag, try one ride w/o it - can make a world of difference
for shimmys. If so, adjust / rebalance load from there.

Mark

41 said:

Quoted message said:

This time, I'll just skip it. If a person can't bother to use

punctuation, I

Quoted message said:

can't bother to try to make sense of it.

Ah, but that's your loss: regular readers will agree, he only hits the
sweet spot once in a while, but man, when he does, it goes right out of
the ballpark!

Well said.

This was one of his moments.

Ron

: >> This time, I'll just skip it. If a person can't bother to use
: >punctuation, I
: >> can't bother to try to make sense of it.
: >
: >Ah, but that's your loss: regular readers will agree, he only hits the
: >sweet spot once in a while, but man, when he does, it goes right out of
: >the ballpark!
:
: Well said.
:
: This was one of his moments.
:
: Ron

I'll never know if it was or wasn't. When he wants to actually get his point
across to the majority of people, he'll learn to put his writings in a form
that will do it. Until then, it's strictly a yawner.

Pat in TX
:

Mark Janeba said:

If you are using
a handlebar bag, try one ride w/o it - can make a world of difference

Quoted message said:

for shimmys. If so, adjust / rebalance load from there.

Quoted message said:

From what I've seen, the handlebar bag can have this effect only if

it's loosely mounted in one way or another. For example, lots of
handlebar bags hang from metal holders. If the load in the bag is free
to swing side to side, it can cause a wobble.

If the load and the bag itself are prevented from moving with respect
to the handlebars & front fork, a handlebar bag has no bad effect. It
may make steering slightly less twitchy, but that's no problem.

- Frank Krygowski

Your problem is not as bad as it seems-
But the bearings and grease need immediate attention. Grease dries over
time and your bike's grease is shot if left unserviced over that long
a time. Grease tends to "go off" in a year.
Taking old bikes apart that sat for a long long time I found the
bearings and cones pitted on one side. Grease, especially grease from
that period, probabbbbley contains water. The grease sits over the
water drops, slides to the assembly's bottom and the top pits. That
happens here in the humid gulf area and surely in seattle.
The other parts will wear out over one or two year's time. Replace
the old stuff with winter sale items either in September or February
mail odor. The axle on a freewheel will bend when you breath on
it-it's unsupported. The deray does not have the extra joints the
shimano deores do-cheaper sans chrome.
You need bearings and tools-take a gander at biketoolsect.com
They sell bearings and a tange headset-the bearings will offset
shipping right away then buy your tools.
Take a look into the tubes in strong sunlight after talking it apart.
Hold it up and twirl it around-it is possible to peer into it.
Search to DIY in bike archives and the downloadable Barnett cycle works
on the net

<: Your problem is not as bad as it seems-
: But the bearings and grease need immediate attention. Grease dries over
: time and your bike's grease is shot if left unserviced over that long
: a time. Grease tends to "go off" in a year.
: Taking old bikes apart that sat for a long long time I found the
: bearings and cones pitted on one side. Grease, especially grease from
: that period, probabbbbley contains water. The grease sits over the
: water drops, slides to the assembly's bottom and the top pits. That
: happens here in the humid gulf area and surely in seattle.
: The other parts will wear out over one or two year's time. Replace
: the old stuff with winter sale items either in September or February
: mail odor. The axle on a freewheel will bend when you breath on
: it-it's unsupported. The deray does not have the extra joints the
: shimano deores do-cheaper sans chrome.
: You need bearings and tools-take a gander at biketoolsect.com
: They sell bearings and a tange headset-the bearings will offset
: shipping right away then buy your tools.
: Take a look into the tubes in strong sunlight after talking it apart.
: Hold it up and twirl it around-it is possible to peer into it.
: Search to DIY in bike archives and the downloadable Barnett cycle works
: on the net

I am stunned! Good advice in a readable format. Thanks for an interesting
post.

Pat in TX
:

Quoted message said:

Mark Janeba said:

If you are using
a handlebar bag, try one ride w/o it - can make a world of difference

Quoted message said:

for shimmys. If so, adjust / rebalance load from there.

Quoted message said:

From what I've seen, the handlebar bag can have this effect only if

it's loosely mounted in one way or another. For example, lots of
handlebar bags hang from metal holders. If the load in the bag is free
to swing side to side, it can cause a wobble.

If the load and the bag itself are prevented from moving with respect
to the handlebars & front fork, a handlebar bag has no bad effect. It
may make steering slightly less twitchy, but that's no problem.

That's not my experience. Even a very stable bag has caused shimmy for
me. I think all that mass suspended so far from the steering axis
changes the resonance frequency of the bike/handlebar/front wheel system.

I'm not saying this will happen for all bikes - but I do believe
unloading a handlebar bag, esp. if it mounts far from the steering axis,
can help - it's easy to try, after all.

Mark

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Your problem is not as bad as it seems-
But the bearings and grease need immediate attention.

{...}

Errr....did you see the page I supplied the link for?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7138266478&ssPageName=ADME:B:BN:US:1
(description🙂
"[..] Gyro Master sealed bearing hubs, [..]
No rust so it must have been stored in a dry environment. [..]"

Thanks anyway,
Rog

claiming this has no ugh ugh bearing on the fact the grease is done for
and blah blah...

u talkin cycles or cows?

whinning abt mastergyro's ins't gonna alter the ugh ugh bearing on the
fact the grease is done for
and furthermore blah blah...

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

claiming this has no ugh ugh bearing on the fact the grease is done for
and blah blah...

Ther'es no play in the smooth rolling bearings.
After carefully balancing the load on the bike, there is no spontaneous
shimmy; but it one can give her a shake and flex the whole frame like a
medium action fly rod...🙂