Recumbent bicycles · Public discussion

adding trail to a tailwind

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Recumbent bicycles
Published
10 June 2005
Last activity
14 June 2005
Original author
Email address hidden
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6
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  1. Hiya

    I'm sorry if this has shown up for the 4th time. tech problems.

    Any suggestions on how much trail I should get added to my
    tailwind? The
    high speed stability is fine but anything below 7kph / 4mph and the
    bike is
    a handful. I was thinkin about 4 inches. The trail is currently in the
    1
    inch or less range. I have a feeling that the brakepads and rim wall
    may not
    line up if the fork is straightened too much.

  2. Quoted message said:

    Hiya

    I'm sorry if this has shown up for the 4th time. tech problems.

    Any suggestions on how much trail I should get added to my
    tailwind? The
    high speed stability is fine but anything below 7kph / 4mph and the
    bike is
    a handful. I was thinkin about 4 inches. The trail is currently in the
    1
    inch or less range. I have a feeling that the brakepads and rim wall
    may not
    line up if the fork is straightened too much.


    I think that adding trail will make your low speed problems worse.

    --
    Order Lords of the Chainring
    http://www.calpoly.edu/~wpatters/lords.html

    Or use pay pal

    Reply to [email hidden]
    [email hidden]
    [email hidden]

  3. I'm with you. Adding trail aids high speed stability to the detriment
    of low speed stability. If you want low speed stability, lose some
    trail at the possible cost of making steering twitchy at higher
    speeds.

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

    Quoted message said:

    thanks guys

    I changed my handlebars to a wider set yesterday and noticed an
    increased
    stability at low speeds today. What also seemed to help is having just
    one
    hand on the bars at a time. Weird

    It sounds like you are tying to overcontrol the bike by using 2 hands

  5. "Mark Leuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:


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

    Quoted message said:

    thanks guys

    I changed my handlebars to a wider set yesterday and noticed an
    increased
    stability at low speeds today. What also seemed to help is having just
    one
    hand on the bars at a time. Weird

    It sounds like you are tying to overcontrol the bike by using 2 hands

    I was thinkin the same thing. I'm surprised that I didn't figure this out
    years ago.

  6. Quoted message said:

    thanks guys

    I changed my handlebars to a wider set yesterday and noticed an
    increased
    stability at low speeds today. What also seemed to help is having just
    one
    hand on the bars at a time. Weird

    Handing qualities suggests that we have an anti spring at low speed. The
    equation for this.

    The force on the handlebar of the anti spring is

    weight X B/A X trail X Sin(beta)/Rh

    B is the horizontal distance from the rear wheel to the riders belly
    button.

    A is the wheel base

    Beta is the head tube angle measured from the vertical

    Rh is the radius of the handlebar.

    So increasing Rh will reduce the effect of the anti spring. You did
    exactly the right thing. I have seen other riders actually add a bungee
    cord to act as a centering spring to overcome the anti spring.
    --
    Order Lords of the Chainring
    http://www.calpoly.edu/~wpatters/lords.html

    Or use pay pal

    Reply to [email hidden]
    [email hidden]
    [email hidden]

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