Thanks for all your comments. I am indeed loving this bike even more after a few days of commuting on it and a couple of recreational rides, I don't feel the need to have both this and the Hillborne in the stable, so I will probably put the Hillborne frame up on the wall and appreciate that I have a great backup if needed.
The Hillborne won my heart with its reliability and robustness. I marvelled at how I could ride it on trail yet join club rides when necessary, then shop for groceries on the way home. While I'd never complain about its ride and handling, I couldn't say I really enjoyed it either. With the Hillborne I loved the maturity and sensibility of design. The Roadeo, on the other hand, has awoken the part of me that loves the tactile experience of cycling and being at one with a bicycle. It throws the sensibility of racks and bags and a kickstand out the window. It instead rewards with responsiveness to pedal and steering inputs that is both sensual and sensational, and really brings out the joy of riding in a puritanical way. It is very pleasurable to ride, even if wearing a backpack with a hefty lock and change of clothes, one feels like an athlete, moving with strength and purpose on it. I had thought this type of riding was no longer for me, but the Roadeo suggests otherwise! I will still put on fenders and the Bagman support with the Carradice Nelson when they arrive in the mail though, and hope they don't affect the character of the Roadeo too much. If I still lived in Chiang Mai or a place with some dirtish rides or possibilities of camping, I'd build the Hillborne again in a heartbeat, because Sam is perfect in those situations. In Singapore though, it is either mingling with the road traffic or aggressive XC trail, so having just the Roadeo and my hardtail mtb fit the bill well. How the Roadeo compares to a Lyon or Boulder though, not something I might ever know! -- 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.
