So in a couple months I'm heading to Oregon for a 10-day tour on the Atlantis. Some of you may remember when I first got the Atlantis I had many difficulties getting the BB length right with a White Industries double setup. I picked up a few cheapo BB's to test the length after the manufacturer's recommendations didn't work out. Well, the $5 BB finally kicked the bucket on Tuesday. It feels like the ball bearings are cubes! So I ordered a new Phil Wood BB in the proper length and the Atlantis is out of commission for the time being.
So that means... what do I ride now?? I have a bunch of bikes, but none of them are much like the Riv. Most of them are very race-oriented. So I took it upon myself to "Riv-ify" my single-speed CX bike, a Ti prototype frame I picked up a few years ago. I pirated parts from some other bikes, the parts bin, and even a few new goodies and came up with this: <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LZdL6TvhUEg/VQrfjd3HnDI/AAAAAAAAKPw/GinnqcDYZS0/s1600/DSC_1544.jpg> Here's how I built it up: - Albatross-esque generic cro-mo bars - TRP cx 8.4 mini V's - 32 spoke Phil Wood/H+Son wheels - 46t white industries outer ring to a white ind. 18t freewheel, - Carradice Camper Longflap - Brooke Cambium C17 - MKS Lambda/Grip King pedals - Continental 35mm CX Speed tires - Random crappy plastic fenders, plus an elk mudflap - King Cage Iris The bars give me the nice upright position I've become accustomed to with my Atlantis, but it was certainly very different. Here are my observations: - The steep, aggressive geometry of race-y bikes is no fun for general riding around. It felt so twitchy and unstable, though I think it was greatly amplified by having a heavy saddle bag - on that note, I definitely do not like having my stuff packed into a saddle bag only, as opposed to a front basket. I can ride comfortably with 40 pounds in my basket. Even 15-20 pounds in the saddle bag makes the bike feel tippy. I'm definitely a front-load kinda guy - Riding with a bigger gear has been interesting. I've realized that with all the gears and the laid-back nature of the Atlantis, I've become a bit lazy! The 46x18 is by no means a crazy gear, but I've got to ride about 5km/h faster or more to 'get on top of it' and spin comfortably. A few days of riding this gear and my legs feel a bit sore from getting used to it. It's a good thing though, summer is here, time to get in shape - single speed is fun! - This is my first bike with a mud flap. What a huge difference! Improves fenders by a huge margin. - It is really nice to ride a bike that is so significantly lighter. It accelerates quickly and feels very nimble. Aggressive handling aside, it's been a lot of fun -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
