patrick, the hunqapillar can be light and nimble. the second top tube feels natural to me anymore, and folks often comment on how light my bike is (and it's a 62). i notice the stiffness when i'm out of the saddle pulling on my bullmoose hbars, relative to my atlantis in similar conditions. for a beefy steel frame, it ain't bad.
what i like most is having a bike that handles like my other rivs, but is set up for offroad riding. i'm using 29x2.1" knobbies and having a blast. look at some of my photos, and you'll see that with 29" tires you end up with not too long of a wheelbase--an inch or so of clearance between the seatstay and the tire. if i get into a flow and let off my brakes on descents, i can carve into corners just as easily as with my old karate monkey--but the front end handles more like a road machine which is something i appreciate--feels more responsive if a bit dulled with a slightly longer wheelbase (hope that makes sense). i had to go to knobbies, as big apples slid too much in the loose stuff at speed--i know you like BAs, maybe that'll help you decide. descending straighter lines, well, that's pretty damn magical--the riv stability surprising translates well onto pretty gnarly downhill lines. i'm using light weight components, but nothing crazy (still got steel hbars, for instance). i love my bike, and feel like i'm riding the 29" equivalent of an early mtb. it's a lot of fun. photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hunqapillar/ (i'm user cosmiccountry) more generally: http://bikenoir.blogspot.com/ erik "klunking is dusty in the summer, and muddy in the winter" On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 6:20 AM, PATRICK MOORE <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Please keep us informed of your off road ride experiences. I am still > tempted by a Hunqapillar to build up as a ss off road bike, to > complement the Fargo, but I want something that feels lighter and > nimbler (the Fargo is lovely but it is heavy at 33 lb with the fat > wheelset). > > I am rather put off by the extra diagonal, but that may be overweighed > by the trademark Rivendell ride quality, so I am particularly > interested in how the H feels in cornering and acceleration. > > Or I may just get a ti or -- gawd 'elp us -- crabon fibre frame. > > Why the so-high bars? Not criticizing, just curious. I find that I > need a certain torso angle and forward reach, otherwise I feel as if I > can't get any power. I'm 56 so I'm no spring chicken, either. > > On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 10:32 PM, René Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I spent today afternoon building up the Hunqapillar and fine tuning its > fit. > > Pictures of the initial build are > > here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orthie251/sets/72157627319515196/ > > I put 40mm Marathon Extremes as I have a set of 2.25 Nobby Nics on order. > > They ride extremely nice on the pavement; can't really tell them apart > from > > the 50mm Supremes. > > Setup is as follows: > > - 58cm Hunqapillar frame > > - Mavic A719, 36 spoked, XT hubs wheelset built by Rich > > - 12/36 9 speed cassette > > - DuraAce 9 speed down tube shifters to try them out and make it easy to > > play with the cockpit to fine tune it. > > - 200mm Bullmoose bars with Shimano brake levers and Specialized XC grips > > that I'm going to try to wrap with tape and shellac to see what > happens... > > - Polished Paul front Neo-Retro and rear Canti brakes > > - Black Berthoud Touring saddle > > - Front Nitto Mini Rack > > - XT Low-normal rear derailer > > - Microshift front derailer (only option at RBW) > > - Phil BB > > - Sugino XD2 crankset 24-34-46, 175mm > > - Shimano A530 pedals > > - Nitto S83 26.8 seatpost > > - Tange headset > > Initial comments: > > The bike feels just great riding near my house. I feel a bit stretched > out > > on the bars but as I've fine tuned the saddle angle everything seems to > be > > getting better; I'll have to try it on longer and rougher rides and may > even > > decide to try the shorter 150mm Bullmoose bars. I've been surprised by > how > > great the bars feel. I tried the bike at first with the Nitto Touring > bars > > but it felt just like my Atlantis (great but I wanted to try something > > different). I don't think the Touring (Butterfly) bars are very good to > go > > mountain biking with, and after playing with them for a while in the > normal > > and rotated forward 180 degrees just to see how that felt, I settled for > the > > Bullmoose which I believe are going to stay on it for a very long time, > at > > least while I keep it as a mountain bike. The frame feels significantly > less > > flexy than the Atlantis when wiggling the bars, which was to be expected. > I > > tried to ride it no hands to see if it would shimmy like the Atlantis, > but > > there was no sign. I know, different tires, no rear rack and no load, but > > it's a great initial impression. > > I'll try it on longer rides and commute on it to see how it behaves with > the > > Nitto Big Rear Rack and the panniers. It might end up being my > S240/touring > > bike (when I'm finally able to start touring...). It might be too > redundant > > to have both the Atlantis and the Hunqapillar unless the Hunqa stays > > configured as a mountain/adventure bike and the Atlantis remains as my > > commuter and full fendered touring bike. We'll see, but I have to say I'm > > very happy with my bike stable right now. > > I may also try the Extremes on the Atlantis to see if the shimmy changes > in > > any way, the 50mm Supremes or Big Apples on the Hunqa, etc. > > I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far, > > 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-bunch@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. > > > > > > -- > Patrick Moore > Albuquerque, NM > For professional resumes, contact > Patrick Moore, ACRW > patrickmo...@resumespecialties.com > > A billion stars go spinning through the night > Blazing high above your head; > But in you is the Presence that will be > When all the stars are dead. > (Rilke, Buddha in Glory) > > -- > 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-bunch@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. > > -- oakland, ca bikenoir.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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