Erik, I live in San Francisco Bay Area, and though it's not exactly Boulder, there's plenty of climbing here, too. I have a Hilsen as well as a MCRB. The Hilsen (with Jack Brown "blues") outweighs the MCRB by a good 10 lbs, and on the same routes, I'd say that I'm about about 1 mph slower on the Hilsen. That's a "so what" difference when I'm on my own, esp. since I enjoy riding the Hilsen more than the MCRB on most days. If I were trying to keep up with a faster-riding group (whether they were on MCRB's, vintage Schwins, recumbents, or unicycles), I'd probably grab the MCRB first. But that's the only situation in which I'd reflexively grab the MCRB before the Hilsen. I use the Hilsen to fetch groceries and take-out food. I've taken the Hilsen on fire-roads and trails. I use it to get around the city. I've taken it on the train. You get the picture: super versatile. I use downtube shifters out of nostalgia more than anything else. My wife's Saluki has bar-cons, which are great. The MCRB has brifters.
If you think that most of your riding will be unloaded, fast-ish club rides, then I think you might be better off with the Roadeo and 28mm tires. That will lean you in more in the direction of performance at the expense of some versatility, but it will still be way more versatile than a MCRB. If you go with a Roadeo, I'd stay with brifters. Bar-cons really shine (for me at least) with loaded riding. I don't think downtube shifters are an option on the Roadeo (which seems to have cable stops), but I don't know that you were even considering those. FWIW, I'd love to see a Roadeo set up as more of a vintage racer with downtube shifters. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
