Photos here: *http://tinyurl.com/3fm72ch*
This was my first bicycle camping trip on the Romulus. It also included my two longest rides on the Romulus at 55 miles each way from NYC to Croton Point Park, NY. My previous longest ride on the Romulus was 25 miles. I front-loaded it, and loved the way it handled. My last camping trip was on a front-loaded Kogswell, and I loved the way that felt as well. I find it much more difficult to shoulder a front-loaded bike, but everything else is preferable to me over a rear-loaded bike. Some of you may remember I was trying to figure out which color Ortliebs would look best with the Rom blue, but I decided none of them would look nearly as good as palping Berthoud 372s, so I went with them instead. They are fantastic. I will definitely be picking up more grey Berthoud luggage for the next trip, either another pair of panniers, or a deep handlebar bag paired with the 604 saddlebag. Two things: 1. I stripped the fork's right side fender braze-on somehow throughout the course of the trip. The bolt holding the Nitto Campee rack had come loose, and maybe with all of the weight that's when it stripped. Or maybe I over-tightened it when I realized it was loose. Either way, it is stripped and I'm not sure what to do about it. I ran about four zip ties just above the drop out in all of the holes the Campee tab has. That got me home. But now I need to figure out what to do. Perhaps that braze-on can be removed, a new one installed, and then repainted? And maybe at that point I have two additional added above the drop out, since it will be repainted anyway, and that's preferable for front rack mounting... 2. I'm just not a huge fan of the mustache bars, as much as I try to like them and really love the look. I think I'm going back to Noodles, but 46cm this time instead of 44cm which always worked very well in the past, other than feeling a tad narrow to me. Maybe I'll do the splitters thing, keep the mustache on for commuting and use the drops for longer rides. Also, if I do go with a Berthoud handlebar bag the drops will work much better. I don't know if it would even be possible or convenient to install a decent sized handlebar bag with mustache bars. Curtis -- 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.
