gear weight balancing question.

[VickoRano]

Hey there, so I've been wondering about weight balancing & ease of riding. I've noticed it's fairly difficult to pedal with gear over the back tire & I see lots of people explaining that it's not common to use a gear rack when bike packing anyway, so I'm going to take off the rear rack. However my current bike (which is all I've got to work with at this time) has a pretty hefty frame as it is, so I'm wondering if a lightweight front rack might balance this particular bike for easier riding.

I also know most prefer frame packs but my bike has an odd frame shape, both tubes form an 's' rather than the typical triangle that better affords space for gear. Just wanted some input from people who understand bike weight balancing from experience, so I can make the best of what I've got. I think my bike is very back-heavy from the inherent design. Anything that can make it easier to ride would be helpful. I'm not interested in racing or fast paced trips. I'm not out for records. I like to meander.

I rebuilt the bike back in 2017 with the help of my late father; opened the wheels, cleaned out the old grease & replaced the bearings, new derailleurs, new chain, new cassette, new gear shift, new brakes - the bike is 10 years old at that point, now it's 15... getting on in years. But I can't afford a new bike right now, so I'm just keeping up maintenance with this one since it doesn't have any other problems. I rode it to class in college & for college PE, so not a lot of ride hours.

In any case, my goal is to get fit enough for longer distance cycling. But the balancing is off so it's really hard to ride around even for short distances. I'm definitely getting that rear rack off ASAP. Just hoping for some thoughts on working out the weight issue.

Also, if anyone has any frame pack design suggestions for this particular frame shape, I'll be glad to read em! Thanks!

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[IScreamTruckin]

Personal opinion here. You have a comfort cruiser style of bike, which puts you very upright, putting most of your weight over the rear wheel. You could put a light load back there, but too much (25lbs+) and I would worry about taking wheel damage from potholes and the like.

Putting a rack on the front suspension fork, with the low weight up front and the steep headtube angle, I'd be a little concerned about how heavy the steering would get. I run an Ice Cream Truck with a wide front rack, and when it's loaded beyond about 15lbs out ahead of the steerer tube, the steering gets way heavier and less fun to deal with. Fine if you're hauling a little wood back to camp for a campfire, less fine if you're putting up 60 mile days.Testing would be needed.

If you're married to the idea of a front rack, the Topeak TetraRack M1 front rack (and MTX bag system) is the rack I'd be looking into because of it's compatibility with a suspension fork, and the bag's fairly generous capacity with the panniers deployed.

So given all that, and assuming you're hoping to bring enough basics for camping, my instinct leads me to ask, have you considered a trailer? It would eliminate the need to balance loads, it'll reduce the risk of damaging the rear wheel, and be a great workaround for the challenges with attaching gear to the bike. The trade-off is pulling weight, but you did mention you're not out to set records. If I'm riding your bike, a trailer is the solution I would personally pursue, depending on how much cargo you're trying to carry.

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