Newlite Roadbike. The ROADEO <---final name, final spelling, thanks for all your input and don't take offense.
This is really Mark's bike, by which I mean he asked for it/suggested it as a bike for clubbies. He's a club rider a couple of days a week, and rides his cross bikes--which to me are light enough, at 19-20lb, even with fatty tires (and he's still the fastest by a good margin, and the humblest). But he sees his fellow clubbies buying road bikes with carbon this and that, and was thinking hmm, they should get a nice lugged steel bike, and if we made it light enough and roadynuff they probably would. Originally,'twas gunnabe for short reach brakes, but nobody here really rides with those anymore, so, with some input from Jay's, they'll use standard reach brakes, which means...about 56mm reach, about like the 'bouillet. TUBING: The goal is a clubbie bike, so it's going to be clubbie light, and it should, ideally, be ridding by somebody who is, if not clubbie light, at least knows how to ride light. A Nureyev-like 225-pounder who lifts over bumps and veers around pothholes and rides 32mm tires at 85psi rides lighter than a Nagurski-like 150-pounder who rides 23mm tires at 115psi and hits everything with a stiff body and locked arms. So, it's hard to give this bike a weight limit. I should point out that you aren't buying an engine with this bike; you're supplying the engine, and it's good to somewhat match the engine's weight with the frame's weight. OK: Up to 57cm, the main tube butts are 0.65, with 0.4 bellies. Bigger than that, 0.8 butts with 0.6 bellies. It's superstrong heat-treated steel, so strength isn't much of an issue. Flex is more of an issue, but nobody really anymore believes that flexless frames are the goal (I never have). A more rigid frame matters if you're toting weight, but not as much if you aren't, and as we introduce this as a superlight clubbie-bike, its flex-under-a-touring-load shouldn't matter. NEW SS bike (QB's replacement): The name is locked in, we have the artwork, and I'm reluctant to throw it out there at this point, but Gino knows, and if you can pry it from him (he loves the name, I'm happy to say!), more power to you. It's a simple name, a humble name that befits the bike. It will be virtually the same geo as a QB, which seems to be able to handle any road and nearly any trail just fine. The same 2-deg upslope. It will be simplified and downpriced accordingly. Still cantilevers, although a case can be made for sidepulls. But cantis it is, and they're good, you know. ------ We are getting a new shipment of Atlantis frames in mid-August, and if you've ever wanted one, and you can barely afford it, this might be a good time to buy. They're still built in Japan by Toyo, but Toyo's prices have climbed, and the US dollar has fallen, to the point where something's got to change, and it will. Not sure what yet, but it is truly a good time to buy the Atlantis. ----- The economy is stressing everybody out. We are doing OK, not great, but better than some, and for that I can't complain. Your purchases mean everything. They are all that keeps us going. I hope we can continue to make things you need and like. Thanks. G --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
