I asked this on the boblist, but this bears more directly on Rivendell models.
I’m not ready to buy one yet, but longer (for me, >30 miles) or hillier (steep or long hills on distances over 20 miles) rides the bikes I now own are non-ideal, at least for a rider who is basically fit but 70 years old. I need, or would like, a wider range, more ratios, and a freewheel.
The wonderful 1999 Rivendell Benchmark Bike is handicapped by its fixed drivetrain and, even with the wonderful TF hub, I get only 1 alternate gear, 25% below direct/cruising; thus with the usual 76” direct the climbing gear is 57”.
The Matthews #1 — dirt road road bike — has the widest gear range, not surprising because it’s the only one that has a derailleur drivetrain; with the Soma slicks, from 96” down to 32”. But while it rolls very nicely on the flatlands I generally ride it on, on steep hills either the weight or the admittedly non-sparkling Somas (despite their 360 gram weight for 51 mm), it felt rather like a pig on the steepest climbs last Sunday: too much effort expended for forward and upward movement gained. [I think to myself that the 1999 fixed gofast at 18 lb versus 30 lb might well climb as easily: much better on shallow inclines, not too much worse, although requiring standing, on the steep ones; but it’s the steep and long ones that worry me.
The Matthews #2 might be better: fixed gear, but 3 of them: 72” 65” and a stump-pulling 54”. But it weighs 26 lb and with the extra light RH Naches Pass 42s it just doesn’t feel as fast-running as the gofast.
Both Matthewses were predicated on a more or less Rivendell-like handling; that was one of Chauncey’s principal remits; and the #2 is a geometrical clone of a custom Riv road so that’s all right. The Matthews #1 handles rather like a Riv road with the 622 X 51 mm Somas but obviously even quite light 29” wheels are not going to handle like very light 26” wheels with narrower tires.
Long, long windup. Question begins here:
Should I look at a Roadeo? I see that there’s a 14 month or more waiting period after a $1400 non-refundable deposit, but one might score a used 57.
Used Riv Road?
Roadini?
Used Ram?
I’d probably use 32 mm tires, RH extralights. This will be a road bike for longer distances and hills; I have all rounders and dirt road bikes.
But I owned a Ram and while it was “not bad at all,” it just felt a bit staid even with Paris Roubaix open tubulars. I hear the Roadini is quite stout, and was even told once that I ought to bypass the Roadeo because with its OS tubing, probably not thinnest-wall, it would probably not match my proclivity for light tubing. As I’ve said, I sold on m 2003 Curt custom because the stout tubing (so I assume) seemed always to slightly hold me back, this over 17 years of riding it.
Other suggestions? Several suggested LeMonds from a certain period.
I think of getting a builder to custom-clone that 26” wheel 1999 road fixed gofast for a derailleur drivetrain; probably not much more expensive than a Roadeo or a high-end off-the-shelf model as I’ve got most of the parts for a build.
Thoughts, general as well as particular?
Again, just thinking out loud at this point.
I might just get narrower, 44 mm, RH extralight Snoqualmie Pass tires with TPU tubes on the Matthews dirt road bike. I have a 50mm+ knobby wheelset and don’t need 50s; the Somas don’t do well in sand, as it turned out. Worth the expense?
Thanks.
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Patrick Moore
Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum
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