Gunnar - that Mercian is gorgeous! Did you just get a second one? What is that twisting shifter?
I rode my'82 531 Trek daily next to the Atlantis most of last year... Very different bikes all around. Unfortunately I've got it disassembled right now so I can't provide a comparison to my Saluki. But in general the trek rides great, the 650b conversion and hetre's definitely made the front end a bit tender but the frame 'give' was noticeable in comparison to the Atlantis. And that was a pleasant experience, each stroke seemed to propel MD further than on the Atlantis. Right now I'm alternating daily between the Saluki and my XO-3, the XO handling is dominated by its smaller wheel size (very nimble), fatter tires (50cm big apples = cush) and SS drive train so I find it hard to do any frame to frame comparisons. The Saluki just feels buttery smooth at all times. Both bikes are very predictable, neutral handling rides. I wonder if the build kit was identical and I was blindfolded if I'd be able to tell the difference from riding around the block (hard to do blindfolded!). I'd certainly like to think so... But I think I'd notice the wheel size before anything else. Seems to me that many of the underlying design philosophies that contribute to the modern Riv's are a highlight reel of older steel bike traits that worked well... Tony -- 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/d/optout.
