I've asked myself that, since I've also felt similar if not equal qualities with other bikes. For the ease of rolling/maintaining a gear, I can't say that it is "planing" only because at least 1 of these bikes was rather stout-tubed; another uses thinwall but OS tubing, and I had 1 lightweight 531 racing bike that didn't feel the same way. It's not weight, since the other 2 nice rolling bikes were quite heavy. It's not geometry only because the 2003 Curt was almost identical to the '99 Joe, and the 2 other nice rolling bikes (2015 Matthews RBFD and Herse) had/have very different geometry. Ditto for postion, as all my bikes except the Monocog are set up much the same.
I don't know! But the experience reliably repeats -- with the 1999, since April 1999 -- so it's not all in my head. The feel of the 1999 is a combination of quick acceleration, easy rolling (easy to turn over a gear), and nimble handling. The Matthews 2015 RBFD and 2020 RBFR come close in the way they roll; in fact I'd say that the RBFD is at least as good if not slightly better in ease of maintaining a gear, but of course does not accelerate as fast or turn as nimbly; the newer Matthews comes closer in acceleration, is not quite as easy in maintaining a gear, but when shod with the same Elk Passes (instead of the current Naches Passes) felt similarly nimble in handling -- with the NPs it's slightly less nimble. Note that the 2020 Matthews is about 26 lb with AM hub versus 18 lb for the '99, so that affects the feel, but the NPs roll almost as well as the EPs. The 2015 Matthews is 30 1/2 lb. So perhaps it's a combination of light weight, good tires (even the GPs and Pro Races were decent tires), geometry, and setup/fit. On Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 5:42 PM 'John Hawrylak' via RBW Owners Bunch < rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote: > Patrick > > Very good description. You stated the Starck was better in "fit, feel, > and above all, the energetic response to pedaling input". The 'fit' seems > to imply the cockpit dimensions are closer to your body than the others. > The 'feel' seems to imply the frame geometry is better for you. > > Any idea of what gives the Starck the energetic feel?? Is the frame > stiffer than others or more flexible and 'planes' better? > > John Hawrylak > Woodstown NJ > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtoObWH1S6aY03r-f%3DXZ2RbzhQTV1RECg58akQmqJH54Q%40mail.gmail.com.
