So I took some advice from you guys on this list and decided to tinker with the Sam Hillborne over the weekend.. and ride as well!
I took off the Albatross bars, along with their 10cm Tallux Stem and swapped in a pair of 46cm Noodles that I already had built up as a complete cockpit with a DirtDrop stem. Took it out for a ride on Saturday, just 5 or 6 miles, and had just loved it. First time I'd felt good on drops. Ever. I didn't want to get too excited, so I took it for a much longer ride today - 30-35 miles perhaps, broken up into two parts, before and after church. The bike is completely transformed! I just felt faster, quicker, more in control.. it was great. How does a bike feel more responsive at the pedals based on cockpit alone? So I know that the DirtDrop stem seems real short, and it looks a little funny, but I've come to realize that I have the PBH (88) of a man 6' or taller. Trouble is, I'm only 5'10", so those inches had to come from my torso. So, my tall seatpost and short dirtdrop stemmed Noodle cockpit just seem to work really well for me. If I get tired of the slightly weird look of the dirtdrop, and want to rewrap the bars sometime, I'll get a 7cm Tallux. Or something. Or just be happy :) Also I inflated the Resist Nomad 700x45c tires up to 50psi rear 40psi front, and that make the bike feel quite a bit quicker. They were at 40/30 previously. Now I'm awaiting my 700x38 Barlow Pass tires to show up from Compass sometime this week and hopefully take the feel from the tires to the next level.. :) I think the ills I felt toward my bike earlier this week are fading away.. cockpit swap, and next a tire swap will do it! Link to photo below of current setup. Current Bike Setup<https://www.flickr.com/photos/122008974@N05/13682203014/> Here's a picture from the ride today, with fellow list member and new Riv A. Homer Hilsen owner Michael Fleischmann! Ride Photo.<https://www.flickr.com/photos/122008974@N05/13682212644/in/photostream/> I still find it amazing that these bikes are at home on singletrack, dirt, and gravel as much as they are on a smooth road. Love it. Avery in Indianapolis -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
