Hello, I'm new to the list, but I've been following it daily for the past couple of weeks and have to say I've learned a lot about Rivendell and steel bikes in such a short time. I am new to the whole Rivendell philosophy, but discovering it has saved my cycling. For the past 7 years, since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area from Venezuela and taking up road riding in addition to mountain biking, I've never been able to ride without pain. To shorten an otherwise long and familiar story, in the beginning of the summer, tired of paying for fits and changing bike frames with no real results, I discovered the Rivendell website and poured all over it. It was radically different to anything and everything I had read over the years, and when I discovered they were located less than an hour from my house, I decided to go and check them out, to see what they and their bikes were all about.
I drove to Walnut Creek, spent about an hour or a bit more there talking primarily to Mark, tested the A. Homer Hilsen, the Sam Hillborne and the Atlantis, and drove back with an AHH frame (61cm Waterford) after waiting for Mark to install the headset, as well as some parts like 2 stems to fine tune the fit (100 & 90cm), the Noodle bars (48cm), Cane Creek brake levers, Nitto S-83 seatpost and a front Mark's rack. Rick adjusted my rear road Chris King hub from road to mountain spacing and dished it. I have built the AHH with the Sram Rival 10 speed components I had on my Gunnar CrossHairs but went with the Sram 10 speed bar end shifters to preserve the character of the bike and to try them out as I'd never used them before. I also installed a Tubus Cosmo rear rack, Brooks brown saddle and bar tape, Honjo hammered fenders (40mm) with Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 35 tires and a few other details. After riding the AHH for the past several weeks, I cannot begin to say that not only have I been enjoying it extremely and have had no pain, now I blame Rivendell for making it impossible for me to ride all my other bikes! I've already sold the Gunnar CrossHairs (58) and the Cannondale F600 (medium), and I'm seriously considering selling my recently put together Specialized Roubaix SL2 with Sram Red components. It pains me to get rid of all of them, but after riding the AHH, getting back on these bikes only serves to highlight how bad the fit was. Inevitably, I take another drive to Walnut Creek to discuss this situation and what I'm feeling with Mark, and Keven joins in. After translating my wishes into cycling lingo, I test ride an Atlantis (60) and a Bombadil (60) after re-checking my PBH with Mark, and place an order for a new Bombadil frame. You see, I have this dream of touring and camping with my bike, but I don't really know how or if I'll ever make it happen. I also have a 2009 Titus FTM Exo-grid titanium, 140mm trailbike, but am beginning to consider going mountain biking with a steel rigid bike as well. I'm not planning to sell that one just yet, I think all that travel still has a purpose in my life, but if I want to build up the Bombadil with all the parts I want, selling the Roubaix would certainly cover that and more... Do I really need a 16.5 lbs high end carbon bike when I have so much fun riding the 27 lbs (fully racked) AHH on the road? Who cares if I'm a tad slower when I'm having so much fun, even on the climbs? The Roubaix SL2 is a very nice bike, but I can't get the handlebars high enough! BTW, I'm turning 50 in January and am also overweight, but so far have lost 23 lbs this year. Still another 60 - 80 to go, and I can't think of any better way than to continue to watch what I eat and commute every day on my AHH... Keven and Mark both agreed that I should get the Bombadil frame painted and not raw with the powder coat, as the wet paint will last longer and protect the frame better. I like the raw look when it's new, but have had bad experiences with powder coated paint coming off very easily from the Gunnar, so I agreed. So many color choices... green and gold, blue and gold, Keven showed me two painted Bombadil frames they have (not in my size) in silver, and they look very nice. When I said I loved white bikes (my Gunnar was all white), he showed me the 48 Bombadil frame they have in Cream with Gold, and I just melted. I said that is the color combination I want. We also discussed getting the Bullmoose bars painted to match, but even though they felt very comfortable for the short test ride there, I'm not sure how I'd like them for longer rides. Mark says he prefers the multiple hand positions from the drop bars. I have until Wednesday morning to finalize my decision as Keven will not be in until then, so here are my questions to the group: - Is the AHH a good replacement for the Specialized Roubaix for me, not a racer, not a club rider, just interested in metric centuries, centuries and eventually as I loose weight and gain fitness, longer rides? - I am really into commuting, which the AHH is great for, and just discovered what the term S240 means. I really want to explore that dimension of cycling, but with a family (wife doesn't cycle) and work, I just don't know how I'll make that happen, so the Bombadil is the expression of that dream, but is it right for me or would a Roadeo be more indicated for riding those centuries and if I ever manage to go camping/touring with my bike, the AHH would fill that need? - If I go with the Bombadil, should I spend the extra money on the Bullmoose bar or should I save it and go with a Noodle bar or perhaps a moustache bar? Decisions... decisions... My apologies for the long rant... :-) You can check out some pictures of my AHH at http://tinyurl.com/yjptb5q René Sterental (Orthie251) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
