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1983 Schwinn Voyageur - touring qualities?

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1983 Schwinn Voyageur - touring qualities?

Old 07-22-19, 11:36 AM
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Phamilton
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1983 Schwinn Voyageur - touring qualities?

I've never done any sort of tour before but have been kicking the idea around for a while.

I just recently got this Schwinn Voyageur that I've been using for my commuter/everything bike. It came with front and rear racks. I've had it set up with a few different bar/stem combos, including a Northroads-type bar and a basket on the front rack.

I've settled on the current pictured setup as best for my needs at the moment, with the front rack carrying my mini pump and a tie down for whatever small cargo that might not fit in the basket on the rear.

I really like this bike, but after riding it with various loads on the front and rear I question how well it would work for loaded touring.

1 - this is the flexiest frame I've ever ridden. It's delicious and smooth and comfortable when it's just me on the bike, or with a light load. With a 30lb load on the rear, the handling becomes "noodly".

2 - It doesn't seem to handle weight on the front very well. With the rack alone, the front end has a tendency to "death wobble", a small disturbance will provoke oscillations of increasing intensity until stopped by applying more pressure to the bars. No hands-free riding with the front rack. With the rack and basket (and upright bars) the effect was less. So I'm not sure how to predict the front end will behave with, for instance, panniers, until I try it. It could be a headset issue maybe, I don't know. I overhauled the headset when I got the bike and have tried it a little tighter or a little looser with no difference.

Apples to oranges comparison, I also have a Trek 700 Multitrack that is nearly the stiffest frame I've ever ridden, and when I put a big basket on the front and load it down with 20lbs it seems to have a stabilizing effect on the handling.

I imagine fork rake or trail or whatever might be a factor but I'm largely ignorant of how this affects handling.

Any advice from someone who has toured on a similar Voyageur?

Edit, I'm 180 lbs.

Edit 2, Voyageur is Tange Champion double butted, Trek is hi-ten w/ Cromo seat tube




Last edited by Phamilton; 07-22-19 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 07-22-19, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Phamilton
I've never done...
It's not the type of tubing that makes a frameset more rigid, rather the tubing diameter (and to lesser extent tubing wall thickness) that increases rigidity. Diameter of downtube, top tube, stays, headtube and fork steerer tube all play a role in load-handling capability of a loaded-touring bike.

Your 180lb weight is not particularly high in these days of normalized obesity. The biggest issue in your bike's setup is the huge basket on top of the rear rack. This is the worst way to carry a load on rear to prevent shimmy (front loading has a lot less to do with shimmy than rear). For best results, use panniers which hang from the rear rack rail. This change alone should fix the shimmy problem. Leave your headset alone, it has no bearing (unintentional pun) on shimmy. Also, panniers on the front are easier to handle than loaded basket.

Last edited by seeker333; 07-22-19 at 12:44 PM.
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Old 07-22-19, 01:48 PM
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getting weight lower makes a huge difference to how a bike handles. Even having heavier items at the bottom of panniers, and also having more or less balanced panniers for weight, makes a diff in how a bike handles.

simply put, that rear basket high up like that is the worst thing you can do for your bike.
Borrow some panniers, and you'll see that with the same weight, the bike will be a lot more stable, and the "tipping point" that can come rather easily with a high up load like that, will be a lot less.

same with front panniers, lowrider racks work because of exactly the same principal as the rear.

now sure, granted, I don't know this bike, I know my 1990 tourer is more flexible than my newer bikes, but still, I and all the others here who toured back in the day on bikes like yours, generally had decently behaving bikes with panniers on them.
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Old 07-22-19, 01:54 PM
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Ok, thanks for the replies so far. I failed to mention that I would not intend to use any baskets for touring, they simply work really well for commuting. For touring I imagine I’d want to use panniers. I’m not sure if panniers would work on that front rack? It seems better suited for a handlebar bag support. I am guessing for touring it would be more desirable to mount low rider panniers racks to the fork. I think that’s common?

Edit: I get the shimmy even when there is no load on the front or rear, so long as the front rack is attached. No shimmy when I take the front rack off. For comfort, I’ve considered switching to an 80mm stem from the 100mm that’s on there. Maybe that would have some small effect?

Last edited by Phamilton; 07-22-19 at 02:11 PM.
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Old 07-23-19, 12:33 PM
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Just in case- check your headset. Make sure its not loose and the bearings for smoothness.
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Old 07-23-19, 01:41 PM
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I had a bike with a bad shimmy, I gave up trying to figure out how to fix it and got rid of the frame.

Generally, if you get a shimmy on a fast downhill, pushing a knee against the top tube is a generic cure. That obviously is not going to work when you need to pedal, but that method can save you from crashing and injury if you suddenly get a shimmy on a downhill. It is something you can practice ahead of time so if you need to do it later, your brain already has an idea of what exactly to do.
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Old 07-24-19, 11:24 AM
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I have a Blackburn front rack like that on my Raleigh Wyoming:


I'm not sure of your dimensions, but I can get panniers to fit:


I've found putting heavy items in the bottom of the front panniers, and trying to get the weight equal, means stable handling. True, it makes the steering a little stiffer, but weight up high on the back rack makes the bike squirrely.
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Old 07-25-19, 05:47 PM
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I have a 1985 Schwinn Voyageur. Great touring bike. With front panniers the ride gets more stable. I had the below setup but have since gone with a lowrider rack. What a great ride. You have lowrider mounts on yours. You might want to try that.
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Old 07-25-19, 07:41 PM
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@unionmanbirch sweet ride! Unfortunately mine does not have any fork braze ons. But I have heard of people using clamps to attach low riders to a fork without them.
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Old 07-25-19, 07:43 PM
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Originally Posted by gna
I have a Blackburn front rack like that on my Raleigh Wyoming:


I'm not sure of your dimensions, but I can get panniers to fit:


I've found putting heavy items in the bottom of the front panniers, and trying to get the weight equal, means stable handling. True, it makes the steering a little stiffer, but weight up high on the back rack makes the bike squirrely.
I have a Raleigh Marathon of similar vintage and paint! Nice!
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Old 07-25-19, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Phamilton
@unionmanbirch sweet ride! Unfortunately mine does not have any fork braze ons. But I have heard of people using clamps to attach low riders to a fork without them.
Sorry. Thought you had braze ons too. I used the Axiom Journey lowrider rack on a mountain bike without braze ons. It worked fine but wasn't quite level.
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Old 07-26-19, 06:26 PM
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As mentioned, your shimmy will be Much worse with the weight up high on the front. In general, you'll have to either go very light weight or you're going to have some noodle issues with an old touring bike. I would try to get stiff racks if you can. That will help. Nothing in the rear with adjustable height. Low-riders in the front with your heavy, compact items as low as possible. Lighter, bulky weight in the rear(sleeping bag, etc). Maybe you could find a cheap replacement fork to use for touring. I think there are steel ones available for fairly cheap. Check a local bike co-op or used parts place if you have one nearby, bike swaps, etc. I've seen them for less than $30.

It's a shame Nashbar isn't around anymore. They had some good value forks.
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Old 07-28-19, 06:49 PM
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I used clamp on front lowriders on my 1980 Trek 414 for my ride across Ohio in May. They worked well. I was having issues with my back wheel, so moved the bulk of the weight to the front until I could get it straightened out.
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Old 09-27-19, 10:59 PM
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Tubus LM1 fork adapter-mounting set is very good if forks are missing lowrider mounts.
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Old 09-28-19, 08:01 PM
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Another thing you might look at that could contribute to the shimmy. Is there any play in your front wheel bearings? I had a competition bike that would get that shimmy, so I can empathize with you. They replaced the headset, which did not help. The shop finally looked at the front wheel, and found that it had noticeable play. After they tightened it up it seemed to help. I also found that when I tensed up on the bars, it would exacerbate the shimmy. I finally ended up switching bikes.

Last edited by Doug64; 09-28-19 at 08:05 PM.
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Old 09-28-19, 09:12 PM
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Recently I had a shimmy while decending at about 30 mph on my new-to-me 86 Voyageur. I tightened the wheel hubs and it went away.
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Old 09-29-19, 04:00 PM
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Clamps for lowriders work fine. I toured across the US and in Europe with clamps for low riders. There are a number of reasons why a frame would shimmy, headset, frame mis-alignment, unequal weight distribution, maybe the wheels, etc. With panniers it is important to balance the load on either side: especially the front load.

It should be a fine tourer.
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