On Mon, 2013-05-13 at 08:48 -0700, Cyclofiend Jim wrote: > Grant's designs always whisper in your ear to take the longer way > home, then less direct route, the more adventurous vector. Always. > > There are a number of reasons for that, with the two main being the > ability to run high quality, larger volume tires and the position and > geometry of the bike. As Steve points out, there's nothing inherently > "non-modern" about either of those concepts.
If you look at some of the latest carbon offerings you'll see several examples of "non-racy" position. Specialized Roubaix and Trek Domane immediately come to mind; it's also interesting to note that the short head tube "racy" Madone is a limited, special order item as well. The standard Madone comes with an extended head tube to allow a more upright position. I think it's time for us to challenge those who (like the reviewer of the San Marcos in Bicycle Times) immediately label bikes (especially such as Rivendells) like this as "retro geometry" or "non-modern geometry." It's downright lazy thinking, and if anything, given recent trends such designs are the latest thing, not something quaintly antique. > > And, honestly, you could work in carbon fiber or aluminum or titanium > or thermoplastic and retain some of those attributes. Steel's > specific attributes have other benefits in addition to the ductility > that allows flex. > As in fact actually happens. BQ did a review of the carbon Calfee Adventure which they liked quite a lot, especially http://www.calfeedesign.com/carbon-fiber/model-calfee-adventure/ (includes a link to the BQ review) when fitted with 30mm Cypres tires. Also, the Seven Axiom (titanium, also recently reviewed in BQ) can be had with clearance for 28mm tires and is billed by Seven as a bike for long distances/randonneuring. (Curiously, although these are recently having a surge of popularity in my bike club, none have been ordered with either mounts for fenders or with clearance for 28mm tires.) The biggest limitation appears to be either the availability of carbon forks with appropriate clearance, or the mind-set of the manufacturers. -- 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.
