Going back to the OP, what a fun thought experiment. For me, after the 2004 Rambouillet, I've come full circle (cue "Circle of Life" from Lion King) and landed on a 1994 Bridgestone RB-T. As I wrote on iBOB, "wow... just wow." This probably deserves its own post another time (62cm Ram vs. 62cm RB-T), but after a long 20-year quest* I’ve found the RB-T to come closest to my ideal of a drop-bar all-rounder that sees way more pavement than gravel: effortless acceleration, moving naturally with my cadence, and intuitive handling at any speed. YMMV, of course.
*That quest took this road: 64cm Ram > 62cm Ram (ah, better) > 62cm Quickbeam > VO Campeur > VO Rando Mk1 > 61cm Crust Lightning Bolt 650b > 60cm VO Polyvalent Mk3 650b > 62cm Bridgestone RB-T. The Crust is up for grabs on eBay if anyone's interested: https://ebay.us/m/gTeRzD Cheers, Will M in NY On Tuesday, October 7, 2025 at 11:52:38 PM UTC-4 Jason Fuller wrote: > The bikes that I tend to be interested in are the ones that are designed > and produced by people who know exactly what they want from a bike and are > not influenced by popular trends. Obviously Rivendell is a prime example, > but there are other similar sized brands out there operating the same way. > The most pertinent example for me is Stooge Cycles out of the UK producing > fat tire trail bikes that the owner, Andy, wanted to see in the world. > While I am happy to ride my two Rivendells well into the woods, in all > sorts of weather, what Andy is producing bridges the gap perfectly between > Rivs and modern MTBs for me. They are rigid, use establish standards, but > are capable enough to ride steep and technical MTB trails. > > I also appreciate Black Mountain Cycles and Stridsland for the same > reason: run by a single person who has a very clear vision for what they > like to ride. While I don't have a bike designed by either of them at this > time, I do have a Crust Wombat which was designed by Garrett at Crust > Bikes, and this bike exudes the same qualities: it's absolutely a > no-compromise expression of the designers' vision, regardless of > marketability, and the ride experience is better for it. It took me almost > a year to fully appreciate it, but now it's irreplaceable. -- 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/bd3b15fc-36b3-45c6-9f72-faa8e9ceefc8n%40googlegroups.com.
