I have never found a difference in turning to be particularly important. As long as the bike behaves predictably, I, and most experienced riders, will quickly adapt. I find slow vs high speed stability to be more significant. I loved commuting on my Ebisu All Purpose with 38c tires because it has phenomenal slow speed stability. My commute ended with a mile plus of 10% + climb on a narrow, busy urban street. The Ebisu would easily go straight up as buses and trucks went by me. Thank you, thank you! And I could effortlessly roll ever so slowly up to a light, no gymnastics required. That trait is much better than the Ram with 28mm tires. But at hi speed coming down a mountain the Ram offers stability and exhilaration that the Ebisu just can't match.
Michael On Friday, February 1, 2013 12:37:50 AM UTC-5, ttoshi wrote: > > There have been posts recently questioning the differences between the > Roadeo and other Rivendell models. I am fortunate enough to own a > Rambouillet and A Homer Hilsen. To this mix of bikes, I added the > Roadeo. I have also ridden my wife’s Betty Foy. > > To cut to the chase, I can definitively say that the Roadeo handles > differently than the Ram and the AHH. I would say the Ram and AHH are > much more similar to each other than the Roadeo is to either of them. > > I will describe my feel of the bikes so that perhaps we can have a > common language or maybe an understanding of how I describe the > handling of the bikes. > Every Riv I’ve ridden feels very stable, yet responsive. The > responsiveness I refer to is in the shift of weight from side to side. > If I’m going into a right turn, I can twist my hip to the right and > the bike immediately responds into a turn—I basically don’t have to > turn the handlebars to initiate a turn. Anyone who has ridden no > handed through turns knows what I’m talking about. You obviously > can’t turn the handlebars because you are riding no-handed. You just > twist/lean to the side and the bike turns. All bikes in the Riv line, > I can make a weight adjustment and easily turn, so for side-to-side > changes in weight, there is immediate response and a sprightly > responsiveness that I don’t get from other bikes. > > The responsiveness in terms of steering input is quite different on my > array of Rivendells and bikes I’ve ridden in general. For the Betty > Foy, to me, twisting the handlebars really has minimal effect on > leaning the bike. If I had coaster brakes and downtube shifters on > the Betty, I bet I could spin the handlebars 360 degrees (while nearly > stopped) and have no problem staying upright. > > In contrast, on my “racing-style” steel bike, if I turned my > handlebars too much, the bike would flop over and I’d be on the > ground. In fact, one of my few falls involved a nearly zero mph fall > where a bottle slipped from my hand and I tried to grab it, but the > handlebar twisted a bit and I went falling. > > OK, for the Ram and AHH, I would say they are relatively insensitive > to steering input compared to my racing-style bike mentioned above > (but more sensitive than the Betty Foy). The forgiveness in the > steering is one of the aspects that make the Ram and AHH great > randonneuring bikes, for example. I don’t have to worry that a little > wobble will put me on the ground. I don’t have to worry that some > weight in the handlebar bag will affect handling because I don’t use > the handlebars much to turn anyways; I turn by shifting my weight and > turning my hips. > > If you count on turning with the handlebars, then these bikes may feel > “sluggish” to you because in my opinion, the Riv responsiveness is to > side-to-side weight changes and not as much in handlebar input. At > least that springy side-to-side responsiveness has held for every Riv > bike I’ve ridden. > > --OK, what about the Roadeo? > > The Roadeo (for me and my bike size) is much more responsive to > handlebar input compared to the Ram and AHH. However, in contrast to > my racing style bike where I had to be on edge or I could crash, this > bike feels extremely stable. I don’t know the technical details, but > Grant lays out some in his description of designing bikes for smaller > riders. All of those details sound good, and Grant/Mark got the ride > right for the Roadeo. > > The best I can describe it is that the bike really carves into the > turn with the handlebar input. It’s like the difference between power > steering on curves where you can’t really feel the road, versus a > manual steering car where you can feel the road and feel the traction. > There’s just that kind of comforting grip on the road that you can > feel and control on the bike—very nice!!! On the other hand, there is > little danger of me over-turning of the handlebars causing a flop of > the bike onto the ground. It’s still very stable in that regard. > > Does the Roadeo replace any of my other Riv bikes? No, it’s kind of > like your kids. When you have one kid, you wonder: how can you > possibly love another kid as much, but you do-- they are different. > > The Ram with the 650b Hetres is just so stable, fun and > confidence-inspiring, perfect for brevets. The AHH now has a back rack > and I’ve geared it towards light touring and commuting. I’ve never > felt more comfortable on a bike than I do on the AHH. You might think > that if you had the same cockpit, that you’d be just as comfortable on > another bike, but it just doesn’t work that way for some reason. To > be able to commute on such a wonderful bike makes me very lucky > indeed. > > The Roadeo is fun, fun to ride. I’m not going to encumber it with > fenders/dynamo lights/racks all that other stuff. It will be my fair > weather club/supported event ride. I can’t wait to keep riding it > more. I'll try to take pics this weekend! > > Toshi in Oakland > -- 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. 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