Beautiful bike! One question. Are you getting flex with the Towel rack and delux stem combo? I had to pull my set up off of an Atlantis recently because I was feeling nervous about how much flex I was getting from a technomic. I bought a cro-mo Nitto short stem (UI-71?) from Japan but it was worse. I'm back to Albatross bars now. I'm happier all around even though I love the towel rack, after three bar set-ups I'm convinced that that frame is made for albatross bars.
My plan now is to use the towel rack and a dirt drop on my '93 XO-3 (the good year with the same-ish geometry as the orange XO-1) as an excuse to finally build that into a fancy retro gravel bike. It spent the last few years with a parts bin build, set up to pull kids trailers. The XO (59cm) is a bit small for me so the dirt drop will work better on it than on my 59cm MIT Atlantis which is a much bigger and longer frame. Love the bike and especially the look of the wide bars on there so I hope it's working for you. Brynnar indy On Tuesday, December 25, 2018 at 9:43:00 PM UTC-5, MCT wrote: > > I have been a member of the bunch since about 2009-2010. Few months ago, > I accidentally hit the leave group button and have been in moderation > purgatory since then. > > > Going back in time to the year 2011 when I lived in California, I should > have purchased an A. Homer Hilsen. I headed up to Rivendell and had to > decide between the Sam Hillborne and the A. Homer Hilsen. I ended > purchasing the Sam Hillborne because the frame was less expensive. If my > memory serves me correct, my size in the Homer needed to be ordered and I > did not want to wait. The Sam served me well, but I always had a Homer in > the back on my mind. > > > Over the years, I owned a 60cm Sam, 62cm and 64cm Quickbeam, and a 64cm > Sam. The 64cm Sam was a little too big. I had a little hiatus from > Rivendell bikes for about two years. I was feeling like I need to get back > on a Rivendell. I was checking things out and there it was in the > Rivendell Garage Sale page. There it sat was a 65cm Rivendell Homer Hilsen > (MUSA Type) in color English Blue, 49cm chainstay, and 130mm dropouts. > This frame had dream bike written all over it. I just fit into a 65cm, > which is perfect because I like a bigger bike. I got spouse approval and > made the purchase (As I am writing this, she wanted you all to know she is > awesome). I did have to make an agreement to not sell it for at least 5 > years. I have a habit of buying and selling bikes. I am sure some of you > also have this habit. I told her not to worry. I will not be selling the > bike. > > > Next, came building it up. > > > *11 speed* - I wanted to go 11 speed, but was a little torn on shifting. > With the frame having downtube shifter bosses, I wanted use downtube > shifters. I like the look and it keeps me from shifting all the time. If > I have brifters, I shift too much. The issue I had was I only found 10 > speed downtube shifters, which are the dura ace type. However, I was > perusing Velo Orange and there they were Dia Compe 11 speed down tube > shifters. I was in business with 11 speed. I ended up with a Shimano 8000 > Rear Derailler and Cassette (11-28). I went with the 6800 front derailler > because I liked the look better than the 8000. The crank is the Sugino > Mighty Tour 901D double at 48/33. Riding in the Oklahoma City area is flat > and flat, so I pretty much use it as a 1x11. I am sure I will use the 33 > when riding in different areas. > > > *Wheels *– These wheels were a take off from another bike. Dt Swiss R450 > with White Industries T11 front hub and MI5 rear hub. The rear hub was > spaced to 135mm. The beautiful engineering on the hub is I called White > Industries and purchased a non-drive side end cap for $10 and shazam, now > spaced at 130mm. Do a little re-dishing and ready to go. In my opinion > the rims don’t really fit the bike, but the are almost new and will use > them up. I have Compass Barlow Pass (700x38) and work like a charm. I > found 55 psi rides well and probably where I will stay at. I was at 60 psi > and felt a little stiff if that is a good word for it. > > > *Handlebars/Saddle* – I was bouncing around on what drop handlebar to use > and I ended up getting the Crust towel rack. It is wide and awesome. I > feel like I am cheating on Nitto, but I love the feel of the Crust and > found a winner. I got a Nitto deluxe stem for a deluxe bike. I wanted to > give a Gilles Berthoud saddle a try. I use open in the middle saddles and > found I like it better than the Brooks imperial. The Gilles is a little > stiffer at the get go, but I know will loosen up a little. Seatpost is the > Nitto S83. > > > *Brakes* – I had two choices between the Paul Components Racer and Tektro > R559 due to reach. The Tektros are simpler and less “messy” and have a > more classic look. I have owned Paul Racers in the past and work like a > champ, but for this bike I didn’t want cable hangers hanging around. I am > not missing too much difference in stopping power between the Racers and > R559s. For levers, I went with the awesome TRP RRL, gum hoods, > non-drilled. I don’t like drilled look. > > > *Pedals* – I have Velo Orange Touring Pedals with Velo Orange Toe > Straps. The pedals are great and look great. > > > *Bags* – At A1 Cyclery, I found the last known new Sackville Barsack for > sale. I got the barsack along with the Nitto F-15. This combo is working > out well. The Barsack is well made and looks great. I also have a > Carradice saddlesack for really long rides and/or if for some reason I need > to carry a bunch of stuff. > > > *Bits and Pieces* – Right now I have a Cateye commuter on there. I don’t > like the sensor on the fork blade, but it will do for now. I will be > getting a GPS one here in the near future. I only have so much cash to > burn. Right now, I have a sprintech mirror in the bar end. It works > great, but doesn’t look right with the bike and color scheme. I will be > getting a Gilles Berthoud mirror and bar end plug to match the saddle. > They should be in stock soon at Compass otherwise, I will have to get it > shipped from overseas. With upcoming birthday money I plan on getting Paul > Comp Skewers. Right now I think it is Summit brand on there. They work > great, but the Pauls are the Pauls and I might as well. I know I sound > like a kid with the birthday money. I am 36 and my Dad still sends me > some…no to tell him no and stop now. > > > *Weight* - With all of the parts noted above, except the handlebar bag, > the bike weighs in at 24 pounds. With the handlebar bag 26 pounds. Not > too shabby. I wasn’t looking for a weight weenie build, but I wasn’t trying > to have the bike weigh 35 pounds. > > > As for the ride, it cruises like a Rivendell. Well balanced, comfortable > and straight like an arrow. I need to do some fine tuning on the saddle > placement as in nose up and down and back and forth. Otherwise, I will > keep on riding. > > > I will take some more glamour shots on my Christmas Eve bike ride tomorrow. > > > > [image: Homer 1.jpg] > > > > [image: Homer 2.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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
