John, I concur, 650b seems just the right size. Particularly for the size bikes I ride, which luckily for me is a touch smaller than you. As I am lucky enough to have a 1st generation Bombadil, I'm not looking at a Joe Appaloosa as a Bombadil stand in. But if I were, my ~83 pbh would probably put me on a 51 which of course is 650b. Too bad for you that you are too tall.
I was just up at RBW WHQ and the Appaloosa protovello and a bunch of Clems were in the "showroom". Running up there to do some test riding and in person size assessing would probably be good fun (you do live just ~30min south don't you). ted On Friday, November 13, 2015 at 11:53:24 AM UTC-8, Surlyprof wrote: > > The thing that has always drawn me to the Bombadil is the 650b wheelset. > For road riding, I love 700c but when riding in the dirt, I've found > 700c/29 to be a bit clumsy and 26 to be a little on the small side. 650b > in the dirt just strikes me as the perfect middle ground. Both the Hunq > and Appaloosa use 700c in my size (85pbh). I know this points me in the > direction of a 52 Clem (which I thought was great) but the Bombadil is just > so darn beautiful! > > As for sloping top tubes, I never thought of the tt as a temporary stool. > I agree about the aesthetics but I was introduced to a sloping tt on a 59 > Bianchi Veloce and fell in love with the long stable head tube, higher bars > and standover clearance. It would have been a fun bike to hang onto if it > wasn't for the tire width limitations (25 was even getting tight). The > sloping tt on the Hillborne works great and puts everything where I want it > and nothing where I don't. Even then, the aesthetics of the A.H.H. with > only a 2 degree slope does look better to me and any test rides I've taken > on one have been amazing. > > John > > On Friday, November 13, 2015 at 8:49:09 AM UTC-8, ted wrote: >> >> John, >> >> I think that Appaloosa would be a great Bombadil stand in to complement >> your Hillborne as AHH stand in. >> The Appaloosa may even fit fatter tires than the first generation >> Bombadil. >> So Sam and Joe v.s. Homer and Bombadil could be all the function at a >> much lower cost. Why just dream of the one when you could be riding the >> other? >> >> If you can spare the dollars perhaps you should stop that Appaloosa from >> plaguing your thoughts by pre-ordering. >> >> >> On Friday, November 13, 2015 at 7:06:29 AM UTC-8, Surlyprof wrote: >>> >>> >>> http://rivbike.tumblr.com/post/88710677759/the-sam-in-many-ways-a-few-ways-is-the-best >>> >>> I thought Grant's take on the Hillborne compared to the A.H.H was >>> interesting. One of the things I read over and over before buying my >>> Hillborne. That said, my dream would be to own an A.H.H. with Barlow Pass >>> ELs or Bon Jovi ELs (has anyone ridden those?) and a Bombadil on something >>> fat and knobby. For now (and maybe always)... I'm very happy with Sam and >>> a couple of wheelsets (although that Appaloosa is plaguing my thoughts as >>> of late). >>> >>> John >>> >>> On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 2:51:40 AM UTC-8, Daniel Jackson wrote: >>>> >>>> Many other Rivs get a lot of press here, but I really haven't heard >>>> much on the Homer. Curious about the ride of this bike - it's liveliness >>>> as >>>> compared to an Atlantis or Hillborne. Is its tubing relatively lighter? Is >>>> it a softer feel? Is it more beautiful? >>>> >>>> Considering one as my all round dirt road bike and looking for >>>> something springy with centerpulls and clearance for 38s with fenders. >>>> >>> -- 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.
