I've ridden quite a few road bikes and by far my favorite is my Rivendell Roadeo, so I would say go with that. The Riv builds up really nicely, is very comfortable riding, and when you give it the gas the bike just goes. I can't really express how glad I am I bought the Roadeo.
I built mine up in a not so Riv fashion using a complete Shimano 6800 Ultegra group with some Rolf Vigor RS wheels. I went the quill stem route and use a nice looking Nitto lugged quill stem, mark's bar, Nitto seatpost, some lighter weight saddle, and I switch the tires between 25c Conti tires or 32 Compass Stampede Pass tires. My 53cm Roadeo sits at under 20 pounds right now. When I got my frame from Riv, I had them paint it Orange and it came out great, but I have to say the blue color they have as a stock frame color is really top notch looking, IMHO. I'd say go on a test ride and then make your decision...but just realize that if you feel like it, you can build up the roadeo lighter than their "stock" build, if that matters to you. On Monday, January 4, 2010 at 3:54:01 PM UTC-6, sjauch wrote: > I currently have a 2005 Specialized Allez Comp. It was my first road > bike and it is about a size too big and only recently got comfortable > riding it once I put an 80mm stem on it. > > Anyway I have been looking for a new road bike and want to go with a > steel frame, preferably lugged. I have been eyeing the Rivendell > Roadeo, as well as the De Rosa Corum (not lugged) and custom builders, > Jeff Lyon and Circle A Cycles. I am very close to sending in a deposit > to Jeff Lyon because of his experience with building the type of > frames I'm interested in. However, I have resisted because I am drawn > to the Rivendell Roadeo since it is similar to what I would like Jeff > Lyon to build me. Also I am out in CA two or three times a year and > stay pretty close to where Rivendell is located. So, I can visit them > and test ride a similar frame to what I would be buying. They have 2 > 55cm's built up and I'm a 52 or 53, so even though It's not my size I > can hopefully still get an idea of how it rides. > > I also really like the De Rosa, but none of the shops I called keep > them in stock and if I am going to buy it locally I'd like to be able > to take it out for a spin to see how things feel. If I'm dropping over > 2k for that frame I might as well send my $ off to Lyon and let him > build me something since I couldn't test ride that either and is > probably more what I want. > > That brings me back to the Rivendell and Lyon dilemma. I want a lugged > frame that is as light as practical and can fit fenders if I want to > use them. I like the Lyon option because for about the same as the > Rivendell I am getting something made just for me. However he is > relying on the measurements and info I provide to make the correct > frame. With the Riv bike I can visit them and let them take my > measurements to determine which size Roadeo is the best fit. > > So I am really confused and am asking here to see which way some of > you would go. > > Thanks! > > -- 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.
