I've toured on a couple of Riv's (Atlantis and Bombadil) and a 26-inch wheel LHT. Had great, extended tours on all. The only touring bike I now own is the LHT.
In my size (60 cm frame), I found the wheelbase too long on the Bombadil with the 50mm tires I prefer - and I've come to love 50's for touring. A long wheelbase, large wheels/big tires and big frame are a hassle when using public transportation and packing for travel. Folks with smaller frames probably wouldn't have this issue. It was a rock solid touring bike and my next in preference to the LHT. The Atlantis was a fine touring bike. It was lovely. But, in reality with a full load, no better or worse than my LHT. I actually regret selling my Atlantis (a 64cm), because it was a good all around bike. Now that I'm not mountain biking and touring anymore, the Atlantis would have been a good bike to ride off into the sunset on. Here's why I prefer the LHT for touring: It's a solid, relatively inexpensive bike with functional components and no quirks. It's an entirely forgiving (uses any components), easily outfitted bike that costs less for a whole bike than an Atlantis frame. The LHT is an entirely suitable bike for touring and there are tons of them out there doing it in all environments. Something Atlantis owners seem willing to forgive is that the bike isn't especially forgiving of chainring size and front derailleur type. Most of us have experienced chainsuck. The LHT, and particularly the 26 wheel bike, can use any combo of crank and derailleur on the market and the stock set up worked flawlessly for me. It is better to be touring than dreaming about touring. Now that I'm no longer able to tour, I'm glad that I was a doer and not a dreamer. There are lots of folks out there who get hung up on finding the ultimate touring bike and outfitting it with the best parts. Many of those would-be tourists never actually end up doing a significant tour. DC On Sunday, May 11, 2014 2:56:17 PM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote: > > I know that the Atlantis is R's most popular model (I think it is anyway) > and I know many listmembers use them for touring. I asked this question on > the iBoblist and got many responses, but perhaps asking it here in a more > focused fashion will raise more guiding advice about the choice as loaded > touring bike of the Atlantis in particular. > > I have a client who is a surgeon (ie, he can afford what he wants) who > wants to do some loaded touring. We got to talking and I quickly > recommended the Atlantis, and he was very interested. > > I got an email from him yesterday; apparently he had called Rivendell to > ask for their catalogue and discovered that there is a 5 month waiting list > for the Atlantis. > > My question to yawl is: considering other possibilities from the LHT to a > custom Bruce Gordon, is the Atlantis, *as touring bike*, special enough to > warrant a wait? Or would you advise other choices? > > He presently has a Trek 1420 that is about 15 years old; don't know > anything about that model. > > What about a Hunquapillar? -- too beefy/off road built? Sam Hillborne? > > Me, having owned a Sam Hill and now owning a Ram with clearance for 35 mm > Kojaks and fenders, I'd probably opt for the Ram for touring, flex be > damned. > > Thanks, Patrick > > -- > Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and letters that get interviews. > By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. > Other professional writing services. > http://www.resumespecialties.com/ > Patrick Moore > Albuquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Etats Unis > > ************************************* > > "In yourself right now is all the place you've got." > Flannery O'Connor > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
