I'm not sure where you're getting "slow" from or what it means. I have no idea what kind of riding our daughters will do on theirs over the years, but I know whatever it is the Clementine will handle it very well and be an excellent "one bike does it all." Will it be race fast? No. They don't race (at least now), and if they do in the future then they will likely want a different bike. But it will not be plodding or cumbersome or slow in a poorly designed/engineered kind of way.
It's designed to ride with upright bars, the Bosco or Albatross. My wife is on the cusp between M and L, and we got her the M because she is going to be riding with kids and on trails, so nimble was a consideration. As to long chain stays, conventional wisdom isn't wisdom most of the time. All reports I've seen from folks with long Rivs absolutely love them and are surprised (at first) that they ride great, even better than what they expected from a Rivendell (and that comes from folks who know what a Rivendell rides like). If you're going to ride the MTB racing circuit, you may want a short wheelbase for increased agility. For all other types of riding, you golden! Grab a bike and go! Grin. With abandon, Patrick -- 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.
