Stand up to pedal

[Christopher]

hi tourists
My dumb question is: do you ever stand up to pedal on a fully-loaded tourer?

W/e before last, I was riding my new Dave Yates Audax, with rear rack only, with 2x18litre panniers and a tent bunge'ed to the rack. No bar bag or front panniers so all the weight was at the back. If I stood up to pedal the bike swayed all over the place, but was fine sitting down and the bike rides fine unladen. Is that normal? Is a full-blooded tourer quite stiff laterally then?

 

[alicat]

Sounds normal to me. My sit up and beg bike handles very strangely if I stand up to pedal when there is shopping on the rear rack.

 

[Cathryn]

The husband does, I don't...I found it quite unbalanced as well.

 

[mickle]

hi tourists
My dumb question is: do you ever stand up to pedal on a fully-loaded tourer?

W/e before last, I was riding my new Dave Yates Audax, with rear rack only, with 2x18litre panniers and a tent bunge'ed to the rack. No bar bag or front panniers so all the weight was at the back. If I stood up to pedal the bike swayed all over the place, but was fine sitting down and the bike rides fine unladen. Is that normal? Is a full-blooded tourer quite stiff laterally then?

It all depends on the tubing, particularly the external diameter. Old 531st (super tourist) which had beefed up tubes was supposed to be an improvement over 531c but even it was whippy as hell with a load on.

 

[vernon]

hi tourists
My dumb question is: do you ever stand up to pedal on a fully-loaded tourer?

I never stand up to pedal on a fully laden tourer or any other of my road bikes - I let the gearing do its job of making pedalling easier.

 

[yenrod]

It never surprises me what people like Mickle say about 531; my 1st frame was Tange DB and stiffer than 531 would ever wish to be !

I got hold of a 531 roady frame kitted it out (years ago) and noticed it was really bad for flex.

I also recall seeing some Paris-Roubaix footage 70's...and you could see the frames flexing on that (in the sprint)..sure they were the Raleigh Team

 

[mickle]

It never surprises me what people like Mickle say about 531; my 1st frame was Tange DB and stiffer than 531 would ever wish to be !

I got hold of a 531 roady frame kitted it out (years ago) and noticed it was really bad for flex.

I also recall seeing some Paris-Roubaix footage 70's...and you could see the frames flexing on that (in the sprint)..sure they were the Raleigh Team

People like Mickle? Are there people like Mickle? Yenners I was saying that 531 is whippy. Even 531st which was designed to be less whippy was quite whippy.

 

[andrew_s]

No bar bag or front panniers so all the weight was at the back. If I stood up to pedal the bike swayed all over the place, but was fine sitting down and the bike rides fine unladen. Is that normal? Is a full-blooded tourer quite stiff laterally then?

Yes, it's fairly normal.
If you climb out of the saddle, try to make an effort not to rock the bike from side to side. After 2 or 3 days you get used to the way the bike handles, and everything feels normal again. Then when you take the luggage off, the bike feels really twitchy.
You can minimise the difference in the way the bike handles by using front low-rider panniers. Using good stiff racks like Tubus also helps too.

 

[yenrod]

People like Mickle? Are there people like Mickle? Yenners I was saying that 531 is whippy. Even 531st which was designed to be less whippy was quite whippy.

Mis-understood Whippy !

99 anyone.

 

[jags]

i have the same set up different bike ,it's just a case of getting used to the feel of it when your out of the saddle, remember it's a loaded touring bike your on, so its not going to react the same as a carbon road bike it's going to be sluggish and heavy ,but it's good to get out of the saddle if only to stretch the swaying feeling will soon disappear after a couple good spins.

 

[Bodhbh]

Seems you get used to it pretty quick. Had similar problems tonight with my first play with front panniers and the full camping regalia. Very wobbly particularly when slow, feels like there's a bit of flex somewhere between the bars and the forks. Eithe got used to compensating or stopped noticing somewhere along the line. Take it this is normal too?

Tempation is to put all the large fluffy stuff in the big back panniers where they fit and all small items in the front, which tend to be all the heavy stuff and luxury items (books, radio, camera). Think they were about 8kg.

 

[Christopher]

Thanks for the replies everyone, you have put my mind at rest!
I suppose a tourer that didn't flex like they do would actually be un-rideable.

Given the chance I will put the same load on my neice's 55cm Galaxy and see how much that flexes. My Yates is a 59cm FWIW.

 

[maurice]

The handling of my Allez with loaded rear panniers felt pretty shocking at first, but seemed to get better as time went on and I got used to it. On windy downhills it got pretty unstable above 35.

I almost crashed going uphill the first few times I stood up to pedal! You learn to try to keep sideways movement down.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

It is possible to 'honk' a touring bike and can be useful for quick accelerations, but it's a different technique from a normal road bike.

On an unladen road bike, you concentrate on keeping the upper body and head as still as possible, with the bike being flicked from side to side under you, in opposition to the push / pull on the pedals.

If you try a similar technique on a fully loaded touring bike, the weight moving around from side to side will have so much influence that no (ridable) frame will keep it all under control, especially if only one end is loaded. So try to keep the bike upright and going straight, and move the body instead to keep it all balanced. Even a whippy old 531ST will then behave.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Yes I do all the time, especially on short sharp hills, or over cobblestones to take the weight off the rear wheel a little. But i dont stand up for the sake of it.