I, too, am excited for the Appaloosa, and the Jones Long Ranger is an interesting bike-- long mixte-like mountain bike with huge tires. Very un-Riv but beautiful to me.
NAHBS had a few longer bikes with fat tires (http://www.dirtragmag.com/webrag/nahbs-2013-fat-bikes-gallery-part-1). The longer chain-stay length reminds me of the Kona MinUte. I wonder how that rides? Is the longer wheelbase what provides the definitive riding characteristics? position/weight balance between the tire contacts? I like being able to tell my spouse that the long bike will permit a more comfortable ride for our kids on the back. Much easier to justify an Appaloosa than another bike with that reasoning. shoji On Friday, May 3, 2013 3:38:09 PM UTC-4, Philip Williamson wrote: > > Thanks for the link! I saw a picture of the bike on Jim Thill's FB page. > I'm definitely in the same boat as you, and considering starting out with a > non-spaceframe Jones for budgetary reasons, and trading up over time. > Possibly even just adding the fork to a bike I already have. The > proprietary barrier is pretty high: 135mm front hub, etc, the groovy bars. > > I would be very interested in seeing how the Appaloosa and the Long Ranger > differ from each other, and from the cargo bike longbikes like the Big > Dummy. > > Philip > www.biketinker.com > > On Friday, May 3, 2013 11:34:48 AM UTC-7, iamkeith wrote: >> >> Hope this isn't too off topic for the list. I'm still really intrigued >> by the Appaloosa concept, even though I can't quite explain why. But since >> I don't really have the opportunity to visit RBW headquarters and check one >> out in person, I'm having to pay attention to the comments from others on >> the list to try to get a better picture of it. And any other limited >> information I can find that might explain the ride characteristics and >> theory behind a "long bike" is obviously valuable too. So I was excited >> to, by chance, just find another new bike that seems to share some of the >> same thinking. >> >> The only other bikes that I daydream about and lust after as much as >> Rivendells are Jeff Jones Space Frames. I'll bet some of you are in the >> same boat, though. It's odd because, on some levels, they're about as >> opposite from each other as bikes can be - the Jones' are un-traditional in >> style to say the least; they use proprietary parts that can't be found on >> a shelf anywhere; and they're really designed for serious off-road riding >> as opposed to "occasional" off-road or versatility. On the other hand, >> Jones is another rare bird in the industry in that he equates comfortable >> riding position with performance; doesn't get caught up in the hype of >> ultra-light weight builds; and shuns suspension completely. (Just as with >> the Bridgestone mountain bikes, this non-suspended-yet-high-performance >> mountain bike is still what appeals to me most, I guess, being way more of >> a mountain biker than a roadie.) >> >> So Jeff Jones' blog has a new entry describing a concept bike he's been >> working on, that he's calling the "Lone Ranger," and it's main >> charachteristics are much longer top tube and chainstays than his "normal" >> bikes (and room for even fatter rubber). Pretty cool. And his description >> seems to echo the same things many have said about the Appaloosa - that it >> is NOT a sluggish, slow, old-guy's bike, and can hold its own quite well >> off-road! You can see it here: >> >> http://www.jonesbikes.com/?p=2828&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=58 >> >> So, for those of you who understand geometry better than me and/or have >> ridden the Appaloosa, might this actually become a whole new direction for >> the industry? >> >> (P.S.: I checked... Silver was a Tennessee Walking Horse, not an >> Appaloosa.) >> > -- 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 post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
