Curious as to how long the Charlie's wheelbase is. In particular the 53 cm size. If anyone could measure who has one? The buses around here (Cincinnati) have bike carriers on the front of them and wonder if the Charlie will be too big. Thanks.
Chuck On Tuesday, October 7, 2025 at 1:06:17 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 10:26 PM Joe Bernard <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I think it's a very cool frame (your build is AMAZING) but definitely a >> niche within the Riv niche. The road bike world is still quite conservative >> and getting them to accept pullback bars to match the long toptube is never >> going to be an easy sell. The dropped toptube is also a quirk some will >> balk at. >> > > It's certainly true that the Charlie Gallop isn't a conventional road > bike. To be honest, though, there are plenty of reasons non racers won't > pick the Charlie Gallop as well. For instance, the ultra long chainstays > mean that the Charlie Gallop would be difficult to fit into a bike box to > get onto a plane to do a bike tour far from home. (That's also what turned > me off the Homer as well) That long wheelbase also can make it hard to fit > into trains or vans or cars. (I've done it with a tandem which is even > longer, but let's just say that I've had evil stares from fellow > passengers, and obviously some bus drivers are more helpful than others) > > The pullback bars also are much much wider than narrow drop bars. So for > instance, while I can easily fit 2-3 drop bar bikes into the back of a > Honda Odyssey with the rear seats down), my wife's Cheviot would take up so > much room that I'd have to move it onto the roof rack instead even when I'm > planning to only move 2 bikes. In fact, a pull back bar at a crowded school > bike rack would necessitate that you'd park the bike backwards with the > rear wheel first, and in many cases a standard cable lock would have a hard > time reaching the rack in those situations, and don't even start talking > about a U-lock! > > Don't get me wrong, I like my Roadini (my wife shot this video on > Saturday's ride: https://youtu.be/6hBpmSL6lRc?si=v7gIUKY-4WelAjk3), but > the additional weight is definitely felt when I lift it, and even with its > relatively short chainstays (still 2cm longer than my touring bike!), I > find that when I have to stand up and sprint it just doesn't accelerate the > way more touring bike does. > -- 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/620a19ec-03d3-4395-a66f-d9ca27f16aaan%40googlegroups.com.
