Originally Posted by
Moisture
So if you were designing a cruiser bike designed for good response and maneuvering at lower speeds, how would you design it?
This is the design currently (based off the fitting bike) although it will be refined a bit. It certainly looks quite unusual! I've ordered the handlebar (a swept back one) so will do another fit with the actual handlebar when that's arrived.
Originally Posted by
Moisture
What would be the primary design factors to consider between a bike designed for low speed versus high speed handling?
I think that mainly comes down to trail. A lower speed bike wants a bit more trail so it's more stable at those lower speeds. If you go really fast with lots of trail it can feel a bit too stable. But I don't really know if this is actually true in practice.
Originally Posted by
Moisture
I've heard that large frames, like 62cm or more tend to have a death wobble at high speed. Is it because the tubing and design of the frame is more biased toward smaller sizes? Do frames this large need to be designed differently?
Once you get to frame sizes that big I think you should use oversize tubing. A 1in top tube and 9/8in down tube may well be too noodly. As for the geometry, I don't know, I guess it depends on the rider. When people are bigger do they have longer legs, longer arms or both?
This guy has some interesting thoughts about it:
Dave Moulton's Blog - Dave Moulton's Bike Blog - A Different Thought on Frame Sizing
Originally Posted by
Moisture
Is it true that you can adjust the "effective" seat tube angle by adjusting the saddle angle?
If you move the seat back on its rails that's like slackening the seat tube angle. The saddle angle should then be set to whatever's comfortable.
Originally Posted by
Moisture
What about the rims? This is also an important factor to be considering for comfort reasons.
Some say that butted spokes also "feel" better. I don't know if this is true. Obviously the tyre and the tyre pressure are always going to be the most important factor. And for comfort the riding position is key.
Originally Posted by
Moisture
All in all, I like your approach for making frames comfortable, because blending in some of these characteristics into an otherwise sporty performance bike can really help further increase its performance by factoring in some compliance and stability over rough road surfaces etc.
It depends on the rider and what he or she wants to do. The only thing I'm skeptical of are the claims in the other thread that the upright "opafiets" position was fine for popping to the shops but would be uncomfortable over long distances. People used to ride those bikes enormous distances. They're slower but I think will be more comfortable at low speeds over long distances. But we will find out I guess!
Originally Posted by
Moisture
What do you think about those road bikes with a curved seat tube such as this?
You can achieve that rearwards balance you were talking about while simultaneously speeding up handling and agility with the shorter wheelbase. Id like a shorter wheelbase to help with the mostly low speed riding I tend to do. But how can you do so without really paying any penalties in stability when you do end up going fast?
I usually quite like long chainstays. They're more stable and give you more tyre clearance without resorting to yokes and dropped chainstays and things. This frame is going to have fenders and a rack for panniers so it needs to be decently long to avoid foot slap anyway.