Pretty bike, even nicer with the Midge! But c'mon, how about some prettier tape? I know, I used black (Liz Skin DSP, thicker) on mine, but the Fargo is not nearly as pretty as your AR.
26" tires slow? Not at all; it's not the size, it's the kind of tire. I've been riding 700C exclusively off road now for several years. My brother brought out a nice, light titanium 26er (just my size -- he tends to ride a size or two too small) and I was very surprised at how nimble it felt compared to the Fargo and the Monocog 29er. Of course, it plows through sand where the Fargo floats, and that is what counts with me. And my 26" Riv road bikes feel faster than anything else I've ridden, but again, I think that tire quality is 99/100 of that. I am no expert, but aren't Kenda tires rather, well, thick-walled and stiff? I will be interested to hear further opinions of the Midge. I have been finding it difficult to avoid pressure pain on my very sensitive left palm -- the outer "heel" of the hand, in particular: where road drops perfectly level are almost fine, any tilt to any sort of bar makes it hurt. So after raising and lowering it, I finally, this evening, raised it to the max with this stem (~10* rise): it's now 1" above saddle. I also went counter-intuitive and tilted it down more. I'll try it tomorrow and see how it feels. On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 6:15 PM, jinxed <hbcl...@yahoo.com> wrote: > OK. So after some excellent and insightful RBW list input I went ahead and > ordered the OnOne Midge bars some Cane Creek levers, and some Kenda MTB > tires. > > My immediate goal was to alter the hand positions. I've been pretty > content with the mustache bar set up, but have come to really enjoy the > flats and wide sram hoods of my cross bike. My default position on the > m-bars was basically on the very ends with my palms hanging over the bar > end shifters. I thought adding the closer brake position and the flats of a > more traditional drop bar would be a welcome change. > > As soon as the bars came in, I was happy I made the purchase, even if they > dont remain on the Rivendell. Right out of the box they looked > interestingly comfortable. NICE wide top flat section, short reach, tight > and short drop. They flair but not out of control. I had heard the drop > section was short, and it is, but to me seemed perfect. > > I got them installed with a vacant stem so I wouldnt have to completely > disassemble my M-bar set up. The stem is a little too long, but the short > reach on the bar still pulled the levers back vs the m-bar. I set up the > Midge essentially parallel with the ground with the drops pointing down. > The levers then become a nice flat extension of the bar and make for some > good hand placement real estate! The flair on the midge is restrained > enough to still use the tops of the lever hoods. This is what I was looking > for. > > I also wanted to add some knobbage to the marathonesque bonty tires I was > using without going full on 2.1 mtb. I am VERY happy I ran across the Kenda > Klimax 1.9 tires. They were exactly what I wanted. Good enough knobs to hit > some aggressive singletrack, but civilized on the pavement. > > So now in V.3.0 I took to the road so to speak. I did a nice meandering > 30+ mile ride in mixed terrain to get some initial impressions. The extra > width and positions of the bars were very welcome in varying conditions. > Having the flats gave a nice upright comfortable cruising placement and > then the wide hoods were awesome in the dirt. I was so impressed with the > feel off road, I would consider these on my dedicated mtb. The drops worked > surprisingly well on the couple steep dirt climbs I encountered too. I had > quick access to the shifters without having to move away from reaching the > brakes. So overall I think this is a positive change. > > I will say this however...when you ride a 700c CX bike and a 29er > MTB...jumping on a 26" feels SO SLUGGISH. I kept checking to see if my > brakes were dragging! I kept wondering if I could shoehorn a 650b in there > and get some brakes to work! The AR is an awesome bike, but I will say that > my old too small Bleriot felt loads more efficient. > > Here is a beautiful shot of the garage door with the newly altered bike > obscuring the view. > > http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8531/8561112128_8bc9a3e879_b.jpg > > -- > 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 > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- __________________________________________________________________________ BUSINESS BUILDING COME-ON!! $300 off a $600 resume + letter or Linked In profile package with referral that leads to full price sale! Refer two full-pay clients and you get the package for free! I am not cheap, but I am very good. So they say. Patrick Moore, Ph.D, MBA, ACRW, Albuquerque, NM, USA http://resumespecialties.com/index.html * patrickmo...@resumespecialties.com __________________________________________________________________________ -- 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 http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
