Sorry, in lieu of the recent conversation about the state of things, I'm one of the guys that's been quiet. Back when I was posting more I was in the middle of planning my wedding and I think the stress made me a bit snippy when I didn't mean to be, so, I backed out for a while. Which turned into a longer while, as I only have the one Riv (I keep spending all the money that could buy me a second on cameras, which I feel is also on-brand since the last two were an overhaul for an OM-2N and a Bronica ETRSI...) and not a lot to add most days. But now, I've got some of those new Billie bars all flipped on my Clem because while I came to terms with the Boscos they were still never really what I wanted, and since I ride my Clem on the 'I just barely fit' side I never could quite get them as low as I wanted. The Billie's sounded nice and I needed a pre-summer project, so, I bought a pair and threw on. Since there's not a lot of pics of them out and about yet I brought the camera along for a few rides so far. So, consider these my contribution to the sum knowledge of how the new bars look.
Image album (sadly not shot on film, but maybe I'll add one once that OM-2N comes back...) <https://imgur.com/a/5f8erlC> There's a 3-shot pic in there of how it rides at the ends, middle, and hooks. On a 52cm Clem H with a 100cm Technomic Deluxe (the short one, not the Tallux) at minimum insertion, Billies flipped. Note: I'm only about 5 rides in (and all reasonably short, 7 miles or less), so, the adjustment's maybe not final, but it feels like it's getting close. I also feel I can't comment too much to the ride yet, because it's not really enough time to get to know them, but, I can give some initial impressions? 1. I want to love it. I think I might. They feel very natural in a way the Bosco never did for me, and remind me a lot of using my Albastache on my old Fuji rebuild, except the come back farther and that's welcome. 2. The Clem feels a lot zippier. I don't know that it is, but it feels it and that definitely changes my impression of the ride. It also always keeps my hips rotated right so I'm getting better pedal strokes, so, it might prove to make the Clem faster over time just for that reason. 3. Man they make the Clem look even longer. Long and low indeed. 4. The curve of the hooks when flipped is just perfect for me. Love it. Can't get enough. Find myself jamming in them even when I told myself I'd take it easy. On a slightly different note, I'd been experiencing a little wrist stiffness on the Boscos after the winter wind tunnel effects that I think were because they were a little too high, and that seems to be getting better the past few days after the switch. If that keeps up it'll have been worth it for me regardless of the rest. That so far they make the bike just feel fun is really just a bonus, but it's a nice bonus. -Zed, commuting away 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
