René I have both bikes - a 64 cm Atlantis and a 60 cm Bombadil. I have toured on both bikes and I ride each of them regularly.
The Bombadil is definitely stiffer. That works for me because I weigh 210 and I like to climb out of the saddle even when I'm touring with a load. I also like to take advantage of rougher side routes like gravel roads and trails if the opportunity presents itself during a tour. I get a comfortable feeling of stability on the Bombadil that I like a lot. However, the Atlantis served me well as a touring bike and I'd still be touring on it if I hadn't bought the Bombadil. I bought the Bombadil primarily because I was in the market for an MTB that would fit me well enough to tour on while doing double duty as my regular trail bike. Honestly, I also thought the double top tubes looked kinda neat and that was a factor in my decision to purchase it. As for handling, I guess I'm not too critical of a judge if the bike rides well. I've got several bikes and they all have different characteristics that I adjust to after a few minutes in the saddle. Because my Bombadil and Atlantis are set-up so differently (tires, handlebars, wheels), I don't feel like I can give you a decent comparison of handling characteristics. On the road, I'm happy riding for long distances on either bike and both are fine on fast decents and in city traffic. Both handle graded dirt roads easily. The edge goes to the Bomb on trails, but that's also an issue of flat bars versus drops, 50mm tires versus 33's and thumb shifters versus DT's (Bomb versus Atlantis, respectively). Lastly, I'll say that I can relate to your concerns about sizing. I had a 66cm Atlantis that I just wasn't comfortable with - probably more of a mental issue than a sizing issue. I made the switch to a 64 after a couple of months of trying to convince myself that I was OK with the fit of the 66. I've got 3 Riv bikes (the other is a 64cm QB). All are about a size smaller than RBW recommends. I'm at the top end of the range for the Bombadil. I have a really long PBH for my size with a short torso. Even with a size smaller, I run short stems - dirt drops on the Bomb and QB and a 7cm technomic on the Atlantis. All three bikes fit nearly identically. Hope that helps, Dave On May 18, 11:09 am, Rene Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> wrote: > Could anyone who has/had both compare them? Are they significantly different > in terms of riding quality or feel? Is the Atlantis significantly flexier > when loaded vs the Bombadil with the 2 top tubes? Do they differ in their > handling? > > Thank you for the feedback! > > René > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
