A shorter (than 180) crank is probably a good call. I 650'd my Riv Road Standard and its 175 cranks are pretty low now. I've grazed the pavement once or twice.
I put light loads in a Wald basket on the Mark's rack on front, and I can load it up to about 10lbs before it starts affecting the handling. Try 650b on your Riv custom with a small front load; it may handle just great. I bet that Eisentraut handles nice too. Have you considered going 650b on that bike? On Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 2:54 PM, Jim Bronson <jim.bron...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm abandoning this Soma idea, for me anyway. I still think this is a > nice frame at an outstanding price for those it will fit well. I am > curious to see how Nick likes it. > > I called Boulder Bicycle and they really seemed hesitant to say it would > fit. They wanted me to take a bunch of measurements of my existing bike(s) > before they would make a recommendation. I decided ultimately that I still > have over 21 months to sort out what was going to be my PBP bike and > there's no rush to go out and buy yet another frame. > > I think I can make the 650b work on my Riv custom. I can restore pretty > much the same ride height with shorter cranks and taller tires. It was > already low to the ground anyway with the lower BB and the 180 cranks. > > Would have liked to had a purpose built 650b with low trail so I could > roll with a bag in the front. But it's really not worth guessing on the fit > and plus spending more money will not endear me to my significant other at > home. > > I also have a 1975 Eisentraut touring A frameset hanging on my garage > wall. It's got a 69mm ST with a 62MM TT. I think I am going to turn my > curiosity towards that. I can put the 700c wheels I took of my Riv on that > bike, and maybe I have enough spare parts kicking around to Frankenstein it > together without spending much. I was thinking before that I would sell it > and put the money towards the Soma but I think the old Eisentraut at least > deserves a chance. > > Just got called about an impromptu 101K populaire tonight just north of > Austin so I gotta go get ready for that. I am picking up another Rivendell > owner on the way there so it will be a 2/3rds Riv Ride!! > > Happy cycling! > > > On Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 2:15 PM, Garth <garth...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Bill pointed out that it's only 17mm higher Steve in the 65cm. size. >> That's not a whole lot more than a classic steel road frame with it's >> naturally higher head tube than seat tube. >> >> On Friday, November 15, 2013 2:09:14 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote: >>> >>> On 11/15/2013 10:49 AM, Anton Tutter wrote: >>> > I think he meant that the seat tube extension might limit the size >>> > frame one can fit, >>> >>> In other words, can't the saddle low enough? >>> >>> >>> > and without the extension one might otherwise order the next size up, >>> > getting a higher head tube. >>> > >>> >>> >>> I think this entire discussion is based on a misunderstanding. Looking >>> at the geometry chart >>> http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/grand-randonneur-frame-set the >>> illustration makes it clear this is a sloper, and not just a wee little >>> one, like the Rambouillet/Atlantis, either. Even with the seat tube >>> extension, the head tube itself, never mind the headset stack, etc., is >>> significantly higher than the end of the seat tube. It looks like with >>> both stem and seat post slammed the bars are going to be significantly >>> higher than the saddle. >>> >>> >>> -- >> 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. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > > > -- > Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down! > > -- > 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. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
