Hi John, I own a Surly Cross Check and a Surly Long Haul Trucker. The LHT has a more comfortable feel. The primary differences in the bikes is that the angles on the LHT are a little more slack and the bottom bracket on the LHT is lower. I'm not sure I can quite explain it, but the slack seat tube takes some of the pressure off your hands and contributes to putting you a little more upright on the bike. The slack seat tube also requires the bike to have a little longer chain stays, which I think gives a little softer ride.
You also want a similarly slack head tube to go with it or the bike will really stretch you out with a longer cockpit feel. IMHO The more upright angles make the bike feel a bit more zippy, so my theory is that you lose a little zip with the more slack tubes, but you gain comfort and smoother ride that you can sustain all day. The bike will also want to track straight with the more slack the head tube. I notice that a lot on the LHT. I recently replaced my wife's Surly Cross Check with a Betty Foy. She is amazed at how much more smooth comfortable it is. I would say the difference is noticeable but not large. I haven't ridden my LHT more than four hours in a day. But after four hours my neck and hands weren't sore at all. If you are planning on racing your buddies up steep grades, I would NOT get slack tubes. If you are planning on long hours at an enjoyable pace, slack tubes will make the ride more pleasant. Some of the other people posting said to just move your seat back on the rails. I think that would help, but that would not change the head tube angles or length of chainstays. Hope this helps. Scott On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 1:32:54 PM UTC-7, John Hawrylak wrote: > > Hi > About 20 days ago, you replied to my question concerning relaxed STAs on > Rivendells. You said you can definitely feel the relaxed STA. > Can you described what you feel in a little more detail???? > I'm looking at an Ocean Air Rambler 650B low trail frame/fork, and it has > a 72degree STA and 72.5 HTA, STA same as a AHH and very similar to other > Rivendells. The Rambler is more relaxed than other 650B frames out there > and RBWs are more relaxed than other normal trial frames also. > My existing frames have 73.5 and 74 degrees STA, so I am not as far back > as I would be on a Rambler or a RBW. I also have the bars at the saddle > height (Nitto Technomic used), which is the typical RBW location (at or > above). While the RBWs are not low trial, I feel the relaxed rear > geometry effects are more or less the same regardless of trial. > So I'm trying to understand if you see the relaxed rear geometry effect as > a small, medium, or large effect and what does it feel like. > John Hawrylak > Woodstown NJ > > > On 12/29/15, Utah<scotta...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote: > > The slack seat tube works together with the slack headtube which you can > definitely feel! > > > > On Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 5:32:11 PM UTC-7, John Hawrylak wrote: >> >> A relaxed rear geometry seems 1 major feature of all Rivendells (except >> the Roadeo), i.e s*lacker Seat Tube Angles (STA)are used compared to >> other frames*, whether large or small builder. The STA angles of the >> small to medium frames vary from 71.5 deg (Sam, Joe A, San Macro) to 72.5 >> deg (AHH, Atlantis, Ram) which are less than: >> >> - Small 27"/700C frames which typically have steeper STA, 73 to 74 >> deg, to avoid toe clip overlap. The exception being a long top tube, >> requiring shorter stems to maintain reach within limits >> - Larger frames even are less than 73 deg, a typical British STA. >> >> The slacker STA puts you further back, 6 to 18mm, depending on the STA >> compared to 73deg STA. >> >> My questions to the group >> >> 1. Is the relaxed rear geometry something you can feel when compared to >> other frames?? >> >> 2. Do you see it as a positive?? >> >> The relaxed rear seems to go together with the higher head tube, bars up >> to saddle height and further back, which also seem to differentiate >> Rivendell, assuming lugs & great paint jobs don't affect the ride. >> >> John Hawrylak >> Woodstown NJ >> >> >> >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/j0vrJR2W_78/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com > <javascript:>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
