Drew, Thank you for the detailed review!
On Tuesday, 5 February 2019 15:13:26 UTC-8, Drew Henson wrote: > > I've had one for a few months and I absolutely love it. Luckily the winter > in Seattle has been very cooperative up until this week. A local shop, Back > Alley Bike Repair, built it up for me. This is the first time I've > purchased a frame and spec'd a build and it was a ton of fun. This > essentially replaces a surly LHT that was a fine bike but also is a tank > and I have no plans for a tour. The homer is the bike that drew me to Riv a > few years ago, so I jumped at the chance for a more budget friendly version. > > > The AHH splits commuting duties with an Elephant NFE and the ride between > the two bikes could not be more different, but they compliment each other > very well. My commute is between 8.5-9 miles one way and fairly hilly > depending on the route I take. The AHH climbs well enough and I feel very > confident bombing hills on it. I usually carry a change of clothes, lunch, > coffee, and some tools. Maybe an extra layer depending on the day. I think > on the Blug once Grant said he doesn't think a road-ish bike could ride any > better than the MIT AHH and I'm inclined to agree. The bike is so smooth. I > can barely feel a loaded up sackville on the back and it's not even cinched > to the rack. Although I am careful not to overload the front basket or else > the handling can be influenced in a way I don't care for. > > > *Partial build list:* > > > - Brakes: tektro r559 > - Brake levers: TRP RRL SR > - Shifters: Shimano bar end > - Crankset: Velo Orange 46/30 > - Rear Cassette: 8 sp 11-34 > - Rims: velocity dyad machine built > - Hub: Shimano LX, dyno on front > - Tires: Compass loup loup pass 38mm > - Handle bars: Nitto Rando > - Stem: Nitto technomic 90mm > - Saddle: Brooks B-17 (8 year old one I had lying around) > - pedals: shimano a530 > - Fenders: SKS P55 > - Cages: King cage & arundel looney bin > - Front light: schmidt edelux ii (bought from riv) > - Rear light: toplight (i think? i wasn't to picky hear and the bike > shop hooked it up) > - Front rack: mark's rack > - Rear rack: pletscher > - Rear bag: sackville medium > > > > Not great iphone pics-----> > > > [image: homer1.jpg] > > > [image: homer2.jpg] > > > > > *Other thoughts:* > > - Sizing - This is a 58. I measure my pbh at 87 which is right in the > middle on the size chart. It fits and I'm comfortable. That being said I > probably could have gone with a 54.5 frame just as well. > - Handle bars - the Nitto rando has a ton of positions and is > generally fine but I think the reach is just a hair long for me. I'll > eventually probably swap them out for something more compact, but I don't > think I'll go full upright yet. > - Tires - compass loup loups roll well but I've averaged a flat about > every 3 weeks (more than once to a dinky little piece of wire). They are > really the only thing i wish i'd spec'd differently on the original build. > I'm swapping them out for some panaracer paselas on Will's advice. > Hopefully these will be beefier. > - Brakes - levers are sweet, plenty of stopping power. I get disc > brakes (my NFE has them) but in my [limted] practical experience they can > be a pain. I might swap out for some pauls at some point just because i > like the way pauls look not for lack of performance from the tektros > - Sackville medium - is awesome. I've commuted in pouring rain and > stuff inside has stayed dry. There's plenty of room for my daily ride > especially coupled with the front basket. I use a outershell foldable > backpack as a stuff sack of sorts as the sackville stays on the bike. > - Aesthetics - The color is so nice in person, the web pics don't do > it justice. I like, from a purely visual perspective, bikes with a flat Tt > and shorter chainstays like the original Homer. But this bike still looks > great and you can't argue with the ride quality. > - Saddle - replaced the old worn B17 with a Berthoud aspin. I couldn't > get the tension on the B17 tight enough so it was time. > > It's a total cliche but this bike is versatile and so practical. I could > see myself riding a century on it no problem or also loading it up for a > s24o. I honestly don't understand why you don't see more talk about it on > the group. > -- 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.
