Ken, Strongly consider that orange Ram on eBay if it is just your size. You can make it fit the bill you were describing, that of a versatile bike that is easy to ride fast with the fasties if your body is able. I absolutely love my Rambouillet, because I can set it up as a pure road bike and it fits Jack Brown greens.
Also, its 132.5 mm rear spacing is really nice. Almost always, it has 130 mm road wheel. But I have taken it on loaded overnighters, where I just replace the usual rear wheel with a 135 mm touring wheel. As I mentioned before, Ram and AHH are a bit different in how they ride. There's a very good chance that that orange Ram could be very close to the Roadeo you want, close enough that the cost savings are probably worth it, and you probably get it sooner, AND it's the best color ever AND it has the older riveted headbadge. What you would miss that the Roadeo offers is JB capability with fenders, but that might be it. Also, you describe a very nice experience with your AHH. So definitely keep doing that. If you've figured out a way to ride long without pain, then don't second-guess: ride away and consider yourself a lottery winner. If you've been a happy rider, don't second-guess the AHH just because it might be too big. What you could do with this second bike (Ram or Roadeo) is set it up the seating position similar to your comfortable AHH, but have one bike be the "tourer" and the other one be the "racer". That's what I do. I even alternate commuting on the two of them, because when I have to bring more stuff to work or need to use lights, I use the AHH with its mini-racks. When that's not needed, or I want to climb home a bit racier, it's the Ram. My Ram is 64, and my AHH is 65, so the situation would be similar to yours. In my 64 Ram size, a 63 Roadeo would have the same gauge tubing, because they do that with the bigger Roadeos. I'm pretty sure I'm not missing out on too much by having the Ram instead of the Roadeo. In your size, the tube weight could be a bit different, but I'll bet it's negligible. Geometry would be a bigger factor. You could compare the charts. Looking at the chart just now, I see that my Ram and a Roadeo would be very similar. But there are two things I like better about the Ram: The biggest is 132.5 mm rear spacing. The other is that the Ram has a 4 mm lower BB. A Roadeo has 1 cm shorter chainstay. Sometimes I find that appealing, but I probably wouldn't notice. And then the Roadeo fork rake is 43.5 while the Ram's is 42.5. My Racey brother road my Ram last weekend, and he's really not into touring bikes or bikes he considers "heavy". He was very impressed with my 23.2 pound Rambouillet and its Jack Brown green tires. (For me, it's the JB tires on my Ram that really put it over the top. In fact, I bought my AHH before I discovered how those tires enhance the Ram. If I had found out sooner, there is a chance I would not have bought the AHH. (15% chance.)) So... fun times for you, whatever you do. (And by the way, I have no connected interest in that eBay Ram.) - Jim W. On Dec 5, 2010, at 7:54 PM, Kentileguy wrote: > Lots of great input. Thanks! According to Riv's sizing chart I'm right > between a 57 and a 59. I bought Homer used, so I didn't have much > choice. On the plus side, it was local, like new and reasonably > priced. I have no regrets about buying it and after alot of tweaking I > think the fit is just about right. The 7cm stem is probably not ideal > and I am a little leery about squeezing the 135mm rear triangle around > a 130mm hub. I'm not fixated on weight, but I was very surprised at > how much different the lighter wheelset felt. I've considered the Ram > (there's a sweet 58cm orange one on ebay right now), but I thought it > might be too similar to the Homer. Ideally I would test ride a Ram & > Roadeo side by side to be able to form my own opinions, but there's > little chance of that happening, so I'm relying on the collective > wisdom of the group. > Thanks, Ken > > On Dec 5, 9:09 pm, Bruce <[email protected]> wrote: >> .8/.5/.8 was what they used on Toyo Rams for TT and DT. Isn't Rodeo a tad >> lighter? >> >> ________________________________ >> From: cyclotourist <[email protected]> >> To: [email protected] >> Sent: Sun, December 5, 2010 9:00:45 PM >> Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Roadeo vs AHH. Your thoughts? >> >> Yeah, I just don't remember, but thought they were the same tubing...??? >> >> On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Bill M. <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> According to one member of our club (he may chime in here), the Roadeo >> >>> he has now is built lighter than the Ram he once owned. I believe >>> that Homer would be heavier than either. >> >>> Bill >> >>> On Dec 5, 5:07 pm, cyclotourist <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> Are you sure that the Roadeo has lighter tubing? I thought at some point >>>> the discussion was that they both are built with 8-5-8 maintubes. >>> nch?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
