Thanks all for the kind words. Leah, yes, I feel that our experiences are similar, and I've taken much enjoyment and feelings of solidarity from reading your roadbike journey! I feel you ride 'club' rides more than me, for what it's worth. With regards to drop bars, I can't deny that there's a large aesthetic component to it. Drop bars = road bike (or so my brain says). One day I might get over that, and I feel that there is a future for the Roadini with more swept back bars. I feel like it would still ride very very well with them.
An additional note to my impressions: the Rene Herse extralight tyres are fragile-ish and I'd been telling myself that I wouldn't use them again when I wear them out. But they feel so good, so I might just keep going with them. Has anyone else here used them? The one thing I am nervous to try on them is extended sections of gravel - but is that worry all in my head? On Saturday, 17 May 2025 at 20:41:07 UTC+9:30 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > What a pure pleasure to read. I feel like I’m reading a more polished > version of my own experience, only I went with a Charlie and you chose a > Roadini. But again, so nice to read about such a similar situation - > wanting a more clubby Riv but not wanting to part with Riv ethos and > comfort. It’s a tightrope, or it was for me! > > I also wanted a road bike, but not an uncomfortable one, and one with some > of the same accessories I enjoy on my other bikes. I love that you went > with fenders. I fendered my “road bike” and I’m glad to have some company. > I did not, however, use drop bars, and that was the biggest deviation I > made. I sometimes wish I’d given them a try because my upright bars really > affect my effort in high wind conditions. > > That shimmy you mention - I have that, too. I didn’t know what it was, but > it stops when I put my hand on the bars. It makes a little squeaky hum (the > fender bouncing around?) So that is just a flexy road frame? > > Your build is very thoughtful and interesting to read about. I’m so glad > you love the end result and that you are able to ride faster with buddies. > Club riding is fun; it’s a way to get a lot of miles and to do it in the > company of other bike people. > > Leah > > On Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 1:41:39 AM UTC-4 Dan wrote: > >> >> [image: DSC04113.jpg] >> >> >> *Background - why the Roadini?* >> >> Adelaide is a road cycling city. Strung out between a gorgeous coastline >> and the Mount Lofty Ranges, there’s good road riding to be had whether you >> love climbing or just want to get some fast, flat kilometres in between >> coffee stops. Every year in January, our city hosts the Tour Down Under, a >> week-long festival of cycling that is the first stop on the global Tour >> circuit. Early on Saturday and Sunday mornings right through the year >> you’ll see lycra-clad groups fill out the cafes and stringing along the >> main roads to and from the coast or the popular climbs into the hills. >> >> >> I’d never been that interested in taking part in this culture, despite >> its strong presence. I don’t want to wear lycra, and my cycling interests >> veer strongly to exploration and just pottering around. However, last year >> in the wake of the festivities of the Tour I started joining a social group >> ride on Wednesdays after work. Run by the social arm of a >> chill-and-friendly cyclocross team, the ride consists of a pilgrimage >> through the suburbs to dead-end road in the foothills that we all then >> proceed to ride up and down as many times and as fast or slow as we like. >> It’s a great way to clear the mind of mid-week work stress. >> >> >> In my jeans and flappy t-shirts I was never going to be ‘fast’, and I >> rode my Surly Straggler on those rides for a year, going my own pace. It >> was fun, but I began to wonder what it would be like to ride a bike that >> was more suited to this sort of riding. More precisely, I wanted more speed >> at less effort, yet in a bike that was still beautiful and comfortable. I >> wanted to finally have a ‘road’ bike. >> >> >> What did that mean to me? Wide-ish tyres, steel frame, room for fenders >> and, for mostly aesthetic reasons, rim brakes. It should also be designed >> to be fairly upright as my Straggler had a million spacers under the stem >> which I’ve disliked the look of since I got it. Other bikes I considered >> and moved on from were: the Bassi Montreal and Riv Sam Hillborne were >> stunning but perhaps slightly more touring oriented than I was going for. I >> wanted a road bike, not another Surly Straggler. The Crust Malocchio was >> tempting, but couldn’t fit 38s and fenders. I had my eye on the Roadini, >> and when I saw Blue Lug had one last TIG’d Sergio Green frame in my size in >> stock, I placed an order. >> >> >> *Impressions - what I love* >> >> This bike is beautiful. Like many here I agonised over the sizing before >> and after I ordered, wondering if I’d made the right choice. Aesthetically >> speaking, I think the 57cm Roadini looks *perfect* for me with my ~89cm >> PBH and ~77.5cm saddle height. For some reason, quill stem bikes look great >> even with the bars raised high! The colour is surprisingly nice too. I >> didn’t think much of it before ordering, but Sergio Green really is >> stunning in person. It alternates between having a silver and gold sheen >> depending on the light. I had fun picking out two colours of bar tape to >> set it off, and it’s the perfect complement to my purple Appaloosa. I also >> love the mix of classic and contemporary styling of my build: the >> timelessness of the silver parts, steel frame and rim brakes contrast in a >> pleasing way with the modern-looking derailleur, disc-section rims and >> ‘compact’ (expanded) geometry of the frame. It’s for this reason that I >> actually prefer the aesthetics of the TIG’d frame too, and I’m glad I went >> for this over the newer lugged version. >> >> >> Secondly, the bike is extremely comfortable. I selected a stem size by >> drawing up the Roadini frame and bars in CAD and tried to land on a >> position the same as my Straggler. I was disappointed at first to find that >> I was a little more stretched out than expected when I rode the bike for >> the first time. I thought I was clever and had it right! >> >> But over the hundreds of kilometres of riding since, and after tweaking >> the stem up and down, the bike and I have become used to each other. The >> main position on the hoods is both upright enough to be comfortable and >> stretched out enough to allow power delivery. The deep drops still feel >> very comfortable, and I use them all the time. And - here’s the magic - the >> Noodle bars are something else. I didn’t know how nice it would be to just >> slide my hands back a touch from the hoods, and have another 2 or so hand >> positions there before even considering the tops! It’s all very natural and >> intuitive. >> >> >> Then there’s the comfort of the frame itself. Wow. Riding this bike is, >> somehow, almost as smooth as riding my Appaloosa which has much wider >> tyres. The front end is unbelievable - the bars, stem, fork and tyres all >> flex together to smooth out most of the irregularities of the road. At the >> rear, I think the chainstay length is just right for a road bike - long >> enough to take the edge of bumps and smooth out the handling, but not so >> long that riding out of the saddle feels like a chore. I’ve read here and >> elsewhere that people consider the Roadini ‘overbuilt’ for a road bike, but >> for me it has been a revelation. The whole frame flexes in all the right >> ways to make pedalling as hard or easy as I want a joy, and I never feel >> like I’m pushing harder than the bike wants to go. The only limit is my >> own, ha. The outcome of the above is that I feel fresh, even after an ~80km >> ride through the hills. >> >> >> Finally, it’s fast, just like I wanted! No, it’s not as fast as a carbon >> road race bike, but the comfortable cruising speed is anywhere from >> 18~32km/hr, compared to ~14-22km/hr on my Appaloosa. It’s *swift* - that >> is, fast-ish and comfortable. In that sense, it’s exactly what I wanted. I >> can keep up with my friends on road bikes when we ride socially, though I’m >> notably less aero on the downhills. But I don’t mind. >> >> >> *Things that aren’t perfect* >> >> There are two quirks of my bike build that annoyed me a lot at first but >> I have since worked through and/or come to terms with. >> >> >> The first is that the combination of the narrow brake tracks on the >> Velocity Quill rims and long-reach brakes makes for very finicky front >> brake pad adjustment. I have this issue on two bikes, the other being a >> 650b with long-reach dual pivots. The thing is, if the pads aren’t set just >> so, they have a tendency to push up into the tyre under heavy braking. On >> the Roadini, this contact happens at the top of the pad, for some reason! >> After much cursing the pads can be set just so and it doesn’t happen, then >> I forgive and forget. But maybe I would recommend rims with a wider brake >> track to someone doing a fresh Roadini build. >> >> >> The second is that, well, the frame can shimmy, at least on my setup. >> When I put a Switft Catalyst bag on the handlebars and load it up, the >> whole bike likes to wobble when I remove my hands from the bars. This is >> remedied (of course) by putting my hands back on the bars. I don’t like it, >> however, so I’ve come across alternative setups for storage that don’t make >> it happen. That is, either a small bag on the bars (Outershell Drawcord >> Handlebar bag) or the Swift Catalyst as a saddlebag. The shimmy/wobble is >> annoying, but I tell myself I wanted a flexy road bike and not another >> touring bike, and that it’s the other side of the coin of the stunning ride >> quality. >> >> >> *Build highlights* >> >> - Roadini, size 57cm >> - 46cm Noodle bars with a 7cm Technomic stem >> - Microshift Sword brifters and shifters >> - SpaCycles 44-28 double crankset. 44t is almost too low for this >> bike. >> - Shimano 11-36t casette (I wanted silver!) >> - Paul Racer brakes >> - Velocity Quill rims laced to Bitex Road hubs, 32 spokes each >> - Rene Herse Barlow Pass Extralights. 38mm nominal, measure out to >> 41mm on these rims. >> - SKS P45 fenders. The tyres juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fit. My >> LBS had to machine down the bolt nut that fixes the fenders to the >> seatstay >> bridge, which is the tightest point. Otherwise I am comfortable with the >> clearance for a road bike. >> - Ergon SR Allroad saddle. I don’t notice it - the best praise a >> saddle could have. >> - MKS Gamma pedals. Too narrow for off-road riding on my Appaloosa, >> but perfect on the Roadini. >> >> >> Thank you for those of you who read this far and apologies for the >> wordiness. I just wanted to share my thoughts to give back to this >> community. Happy riding! >> > -- 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 view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/aa3ccd0f-7382-4dfb-b189-4086b5c41cecn%40googlegroups.com.
