Peter, Your resurrection of this thread is timely, in a way. This past weekend I took the Hunqapillar on an overnight trip from Seattle to Port Townsend. My route was a conscious choice of more climbing for less traffic, so I became pretty intimate with how it climbs, and how I climb, too. I had spinal neurosurgery in June and this was the first big ride since, and given that recovery had compromised some of my fitness there was some concern that all those hill might very well wear me out. And they mostly did, too, but I made it. The bike was very comfortable and stable climbing, and with a couple of exceptions I was able to stay in the middle ring. I was carrying approximately 10 lbs. in the front basket and that load up high made for a noticeable wobble when climbing out of the saddle; nothing unpredictable or overly flexy, but you could feel it's effect on handling. Descents were pretty much all grins and wahoos, though. Overall, I love the Hunqapillar. We're carfree so it gets ridden daily for transportation/utility, and it's always a joy. Living in Seattle I can't go anywhere without climbing a hill, and frankly if my beat-up physiognomy can ride it up the hills, I'm confident that you won't be disappointed either. For context, I'm 47, 5'9", 175, lifetime unracer, recovered mountain biker, infrequent tourer. If you're on the fence about a Hunqapillar, I say dive in. As the others here can attest, it's a wonderful bicycle.
A couple pics of my 'camping' trip to Port Townsend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45524179@N08/sets/72157634765980946/ I should mention that I didn't actually DO any camping. I ran into old friends in PT who took me to dinner, bought me beers, and made me a warm bed for the night. That's a first-class campout in my book! Cheers, Shawn M. Seattle, WA (Fremont) On Monday, July 22, 2013 1:57:25 PM UTC-7, Peter wrote: > > Shawn, > Thanks for these great looking photos. How's the bike working out for you? > How is it on hills? I love looking at your photos, very tempted to buy one, > but concerned if I'm strong enough to ride it on steep hills, whether it > would wear me out or not. Would appreciate a report if you see this and > have time to respond. > All best, > Peter D. > > > > On Saturday, September 22, 2012 11:35:22 PM UTC-5, shawn m. wrote: >> >> While I'm still smarting from the loss of my beloved Hillborne (long >> story, things happen, ends well), I'm more than a little consoled by the >> addition of a 54cm Hunqapillar in my life. It's built up from the parts >> from my Sam; virtually everything moved right over, right down to the >> Honjos (an aside: fenders took longer than the rest of the build all >> together and the front fender line is still a work in progress). I rode out >> to Golden Gardens to snap some pix of it's virginal purity, which if you're >> interested you can find here: >> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/45524179@N08/sets/72157631600410033/ >> >> It's a lovely riding bicycle. >> > -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
