Because I wanted a 26" wheel road bike that handled better than my 1992 XO-1.
Backstory: For some reason I decided about 1990 that 26" wheels were better for road riding than 700C and, after road-ifying several mountain bikes (wonderful 1991 Stumpjumper Team was the summit and apex) I discovered that, while they were certainly fast with 200 gram Specialized 26X1" Turbos, they handled poorly with such skinny tires. Thus, when 2-Wheel Drive here in ABQ was remaindering that 1992 XO-1 circa 1993, I bought it and built it up as a gofast lightweight road bike (Sun M14A rims -- purple anodized! Chi chi Grafton (later Topline superlight) triple! 12-19 7 sp cassette! End-of-drop-bar Grip Shift!!) and that was fast too, and handled better than the SJT, but it didn't quite handle well enough. So after I received the alert that Grant was forming Rivendell, I asked Grant if he could make me a 26" wheel road bike that was better than the XO-1. He said, "Oh, it'll be better." And it was. So I put in an order for a 26-wheel road custom in late 1994, which I received in early 1995. This frame used the then-current All Rounder as model, but with steepened angles and road tubing (tout 753!!! -- tho perhaps 531 fork?). Wonderful bike, but too compact -- 54 c-c (my XO was 55 c-c), requiring a custom upjutter stem, and rather too quick with the 22 mm actual tires. So I ordered a custom gofast fixie in 1998, built by Joe Starck, delivered March 1999, still my favorite bike of all time. Then I wanted a derailleur version of the same, so ordered one that I received in April 2003, built by Curt Goodrich. Long period .... I finally woke up to the fact that the 2003 just felt too dead (subtily so, not grossly so, but over the years I came to realize that it made me work harder than I wanted to, so in 2020 Chauncey Matthews made me a clone of .8 .4. .8 531 built around the Am hub; revelation and stars and fireworks. In the interim I owned a first-gen shop floor Sam Hill and a second or third hand second gen (blue, 32s and fenders) Ram, both since sold. Upshot: the key, essence, point, magic of Rivs in ME is: they are unerringly stable in a straight line, and then they turn into corners without hesitation or over-eagerness. Even the Sam and Ram did this, tho' I found the Sam sluggish (and it didn't take fat enough tires for my use), and the Ram somewhat too staid (perhaps being used to 26" wheels affected my judgment). Now, 3 decades later, I'd like to get that signature Riv handling on a bike that will take 70 mm tires ... Corollary: When I see effusions of sentiment about XOs, I sigh: Rivs are just so much better, on road and off. -- 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/CALuTfgsG36RKWDxSvKWo8AX9vpS2a8GmnR8Hn53XwzY5WJvQ_g%40mail.gmail.com.
