Bill, I think this is a smart way to explain the differences between the bikes: "On the Roadeo and on the Black Mountain Road, I feel a little bit weird if I'm not wearing racing kit. On the Leo, I felt a little bit weird if I was wearing racing kit." For me, another way of thinking about bicycle differences would be to ask, "would I run flats or clipless on this bike?" That might also determine if I'd wear a racing kit or not on that bike.
Last winter, I did a big 80 mile dirt road loop in southeastern Arizona with a group that included Ultraromance (I don't want to start an Ultraromance debate here--he was always been friendly and open with me). He was riding a pretty 61cm blue Roadini with a mix of old and new components with cream colored 38mm tires stuffed in. I was on my Ritchey Ascent with 650b x 48mm tires. I rode the most technical part of a big long descent right by him and I was impressed with how fast and confidently he road it on dirt. I know this is mostly due to the rider, but I suspect the long chainstays helped too. Based on chainstay length (also not trying to start a fight about that here) I would guess the Roadini would have a slight advantage among these three if you were going to do more or your riding on dirt roads than pavement. Bike insights has geometries for the Roadeo, Roadini, and BMC road on their site and using the "Bike on Bike" comparison, the 63cm Roadeo and 61cm Roadini are very similar. The only sizable differences look to be stack height and chainstay length: https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries[]=5bb29e327581960016665a33&geometries[]=5b8578f548f3a30004789b19&builds[]=&builds[]= When you compare the 63cm Roadeo and 62cm BMC road, they are really similar, but the BMC road has a bit less trail, and a bit longer reach, and less stack. Bike insights categorizes the BMC as "Somewhat aggressive" and the Roadeo and Roadini as "Somewhat upright." Bill's first-hand observations, which I'd trust more than the numbers based Bike Insights, are interesting because just looking at the numbers, the Roadini and Roadeo would seem more similar to each other than the BMC. https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries[]=5a1e64fe62315c00144448d7&geometries[]=5b8578f548f3a30004789b19&builds[]=&builds[]= As some of you might have seen, I posted at WTB for a 63cm Roadeo a few weeks back. I had a couple of responses, and I let one in the Bay area slip away whilst I dithered. Part of my hesitation was that a 62cm BMC road is such as bargain and is pretty similar, minus the fancy lugs, and MUSA heritage. I like lugs fine, but I nice fillets and even clean TIG work, so I've also thought about having another US builder make me a medium reach brake road frame along the lines of the Roadeo, but minus the lugs. Nobilette was one of the builders I was looking at after listening to a podcast interview with him over the holidays where he said that things were slow and he was looking for more work. It looks like the good folks at Rivendell heard this as well and stepped in. So now, if I'm ordering fancy new semi-custom, it might make more sense just to get a Roadeo as I'd be able to support both Rivendell and Nobilette with the purchase. It really just all comes down to budget, at 4.5x the cost of the BMC Road, the Roadeo is definitely more of a stretch to afford. Scott On Sunday, January 12, 2020 at 6:45:04 AM UTC-7, Bill Lindsay wrote: > > I'd call the Black Mountain a low cost Roadeo. Fits similar. Rides > similar. It's nowhere near as beautiful, and well crafted aesthetically, > but I consider it functionally equivalent. Having one of each in my > collection (which I do) only "makes sense" if I'm going to keep them at > different locations (which I do). My Black Mountain Road lives at my mom's > house. I can grab it off the hook and rip off a 20 - 120 mile ride and > it's like an old friend. The Black Mountain Road is different from the Leo > in exactly the ways the Roadeo is different from the Leo. > > Another way to represent the difference in attitude that I've used before > and that a couple listers found useful is this: On the Roadeo and on the > Black Mountain Road, I feel a little bit weird if I'm not wearing racing > kit. On the Leo, I felt a little bit weird if I was wearing racing kit. > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > > On Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 9:00:18 PM UTC-8, ted wrote: >> >> Thanks Bill. Could you also expound on how the black mountain road (not >> plus) relates to the Roadini and Roadeo? > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/87494ca2-26aa-4be3-9361-b55db547f101%40googlegroups.com.
