Even with front and rear racks, a front basket, swept back bars and an only “slightly athletic” upright position, even with 40c tires (I’ve had 35’s and 38’s on it as well, my Gallop feels light and quick, and is super fun.
On Sun, Feb 22, 2026 at 7:23 PM Mike in BK <[email protected]> wrote: > Everything points to YES. Your desires describe what everyone says about > the Charlie. > > On Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 8:05:48 PM UTC-5 [email protected] wrote: > >> Many thanks Bill and Jason for your comments on the Gallop's ride >> qualities. My San Marcos was the first bike I've owned that allowed me to >> use swept back bars at the right height, and the first genuinely >> comfortable road-ish bike that I've ridden. Nevertheless it's always had a >> bit of a heavy, dead feeling. My goal is to find a roadish bike that will >> handle swept backs well and have a bit more spring and liveliness than the >> San Marcos. Trying to determine if the Gallop would fit the bill. >> >> Many thanks ~ >> >> On Sat, Feb 21, 2026 at 12:06 PM Bill Lindsay <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I think Jason touches on it correctly. The Soma San Marcos and the >>> Rivendell Charlie H. Gallop are very different bicycles. The Soma San >>> Marcos is a drop bar road bike. The Rivendell Charlie H. Gallop is an >>> upright bar road bike. It is possible to run a Soma San Marcos or any >>> other drop bar road bike with an upright handlebar, provided one wants a >>> bolt upright "English Gentleman" fit -OR- runs a really long stem. It is >>> possible to run a Charlie H. Gallop with a drop handlebar, provided one >>> wants an unusually long and stretched out fit -OR- runs a really stubby >>> stem. One could start to compare riding characteristics like comfort and >>> stability and take it as a given that the fit stuff has been taken care of, >>> but to me it all begins there. In other words, I don't see a Charlie H >>> Gallop as an "upgrade" to a Soma San Marcos with Albatross bars unless one >>> has concluded that the San Marcos with Albatross bars is the wrong bike, >>> and they want a do-over with the right bike. If a Soma San Marcos with >>> Albatross bars is the right bike, then a Charlie H Gallop is a lot >>> different and could turn out to be a lot worse for that particular rider. >>> >>> In summary: it depends. Perhaps you could share photos and commentary >>> on the Soma San Marcos with Albatross bars. Do you love it, but want to >>> upgrade it? Are you tired of it and want something a lot different? Are >>> you winter-bored and just thinking about potential projects? All are super >>> common. I've got like six bike projects in different stages between >>> concept and reality. >>> >>> Bill Lindsay >>> El Cerrito, CA >>> On Friday, February 20, 2026 at 3:13:10 PM UTC-8 Jason Fuller wrote: >>> >>>> I owned the proto-Gallop for about 1000 miles of riding with Albatross, >>>> and have run the same bars for a few years on my Hillborne. My feedback >>>> would be that if the setup fits you well on the San Marcos, the benefits >>>> would be purely related to the longer wheelbase. Chief among these benefits >>>> is comfort, but also it rides more sure-footed and climbs better in my >>>> opinion too. But running these bars on a bike whose geometry accommodates a >>>> drop bar fit tends to mean you're either scrunched up with the bars too >>>> close, or you're running a super long stem and your hands are more over the >>>> front wheel. I like how my Hillborne rides with the Albatross + 13cm stem, >>>> it's more nimble at the expense of some comfort, so to me it's a matter of >>>> priorities. But no doubt the Gallop is more optimally proportioned for a >>>> good fit without going extreme on stem length, and probably it better >>>> distributes your weight too >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/0NEP_PxVtP8/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> [email protected]. >>> >> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c191154c-7ddb-4149-b0de-f3f3aba01eaan%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c191154c-7ddb-4149-b0de-f3f3aba01eaan%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/0NEP_PxVtP8/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1cef9753-9774-43f8-b943-e1384dbbb75fn%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1cef9753-9774-43f8-b943-e1384dbbb75fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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