Really enjoying this bike! I bought a new Ram in 2005 and after 25 years of riding didn't ever expect to have a bike I enjoyed riding more than the Ram, but this Saluki is challenging that. For years I read the posts and claims for the benefits of 650B, in this case Pari-Moto's, with some skepticism but wanting to try it out for myself. I still love riding the Ram and it does quite well even on dirt roads with Grand Bois Cerf tires but the extra comfort factor definitely goes with the Saluki. The Ram is lighter, a little (but not too much) quicker on acceleration and climbing, while the Saluki is a bit more stable. Equal in the speed category. They both downhill fabulously but the wider tires give more confidence. Saluki's longer TT completely eliminates the slight TCO I get with fenders on the Ram. Biggest problem has been deciding which bike to ride but both bikes very quickly feel like extensions of my mind.
Here are some pics: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2532ODW4XTk4 I rode the bike as it came to me for a few weeks but knew I would need a shorter stem, so had to sacrifice a gorgeous 13 cm Pearl. (FS) I also liked the Mafac Levers. They are well made, very handsome, comfortable, especially standing up, and work great; but I decided I didn't want to go back to non-aero levers. I kept trying to rest my water bottle on the bars and found the cable in the way. So I figured while I had the cockpit torn apart I would swap out the 8 speed BE Shimano for 9 speed DT Silver. Also nice Superbe pedals were too small so my White/Bruce Gordon went on. But they may get replaced with Speedplay Frogs. I've never gotten 100% into Riv clipless riding. I'm going to post a separate review of the new levers and a question about a small quirk in the Specialized cranks. Michael -- 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.
