Dear Michael, The Heron Touring bikes were almost all 700C machines (the 53 cm was the exception), with 8/5 OS top tube and 9/6 OS downtubes (they were definitely O/S and I believe those are the gauges of my 1998-produced model), round fork blades (super-comfy, too), clearance for 35-622 fenders, and long-ish chainstays. It was a wonderfully comfortable American-style touring machine It was a smooth and stable ride year-round with a saddlebag load and big Paselas or fat (for the era) cyclocross tires. That machine hated, hated, HATED a handlebar bag front load. It shimmied and would dive for the ditch without a firm hand when front loaded, even at lower speeds. It also had horizontal dropouts and the bridges were placed to maximize "clearance" not provide optimal fenderlines. It was exceptionally well-behaved otherwise, though it was pretty amazing/disconcerting to watch the longitudinal fork displacement under hard braking. All part of the charm of this kind of bike.
However, it was the best trailer-towing bike I've owned, and my brother (the bike is somewhere between "on permanent loan" and "his", leaning toward the latter) still hauls his youngest around the hills of Burlington, VT with my 55cm. It is sparkly green, equipped pretty much like this one <http://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/rivendell.pdf>, though with a SON hub, B+M halogen headlamp, and (fairly marginal) Dia-Compe 960s. I should put a set of CR 720's on the front the next time I visit, or at least swap the pads. It remains one of my favorite bikes, actually, though not a fire-breather from a climbing performance perspective. On Monday, December 7, 2015 at 4:27:54 AM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I couldn't agree more. A canti Hilsen, or perhaps more exactly, a > prototype Saluki. I have never quite understood why GP has moved away from > canti brake designs. My experience has been that good brakes set up & work > better than budget brakes, no matter the style; but for wide tires on a > road bike good cantis give the best fender and tire clearance, and good > cantis have great stopping power. > > Michael > > On Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 1:37:26 PM UTC-5, James Warren wrote: >> >> >> Those Heron Tourings are great frames. Basically canti-Hilsens, maybe >> just a bit stouter (but maybe not.) I only traded mine away, because it >> wasn't the perfect size. >> >> >> On Dec 6, 2015, at 8:46 AM, MartyG wrote: >> >> >> Took the grandkids to see Santa last night, and came across a beautiful >> Heron Touring rig on CL this morning only 10 miles from home! It's a >> Christmas miracle! Not my size, but should fit my wife nicely. Amazing mix >> of parts: TA Zephyr crankset, Phil rear hub, XTR front hub, Brooks B17, >> Caradice Super C panniers to name a few. Santas elves had fun putting this >> one together years ago! I'll get to the clean-up and post more pics after a >> long Winters nap... >> >> >> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GqwzfF4YFIo/VmRl2JKQT3I/AAAAAAAAASE/0SH0IrwBT4Q/s1600/IMG_7593.JPG> >> >> >> -- >> 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. >> >> >> James Warren >> [email protected] >> >> - 700x33 >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- 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.
