Bill: You have an Atlantis and the Appaloosa is a candidate for a 2 week tour? That's either high praise or heresy, I'm not sure which. In any case, the Appaloosa sounds like one hell of a bike. Longer chainstays, whodda thunk?
dougP On Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 4:06:37 PM UTC-8, Bill Lindsay wrote: > > Comparing the Appaloosa to the Hillborne in my case is not quite a fair > comparison because my Hillborne is set up as kind of a go-fast. Anyway, I > still don't have fenders on the Appaloosa but weather cooperated today. I > rode from the El Cerrito Hills down into downtown Berkeley for a business > meeting. Luckily a shop with free bike parking was nearby, so I didn't > have to lock it up. It's a short steep climp followed by a long twisty > descent down Arlington Ave into Berkeley. The Appaloosa rode "like a > Rivendell". That is to say predictable, solid, neutral. Does what you > want, doesn't do what you don't want. > > One surprise to some may be that I couldn't tell the chainstays were long. > It had me asking myself the opposite to what habitual Grant-haters will > ask. A habitual knee-jerk Grant-hater will ask with a sneer "why is it > necessary to make the chainstays that long? What problem is Grant > solving?". I found myself asking the opposite. Why *not* make them that > long? What am I losing by having longer chainstays? I can't feel any > difference, so they might as well be long, I'm thinking. Longer absolutely > gives me more pannier room heel clearance. Longer has to be more stable in > some way. Longer looks weird, so if I'm an inflexible traditionalist I'll > be offended by the weirdness (I'm not). Longer makes it harder to fit in a > bike locker. Longer makes it heavier, I guess. > > I like the Choco-moose bars a lot, but I've got them slammed. The cheap > V-brakes feel like cheap V-brakes in my hand, but they stop well. The > stock ugly saddle is really comfy. The stock Kenda Kwick Bitumen tires are > fine, at least as nice as the Schwalbe Marathon Extremes I have on my > Atlantis. I might be tempted to try some Soma Supple Vitesse 700x42s on > there sometime, but I'm in no hurry to do that. The Silver rear hub is > kind of loudish. I might try to quiet that up some. > > Maybe next week I'll take it on my 40 mile commute from home to the > office. So far, so good. Next year (2017) I get a 6-week paid sabbatical, > and I'm trying to reserve two weeks of that for a tour. The Appaloosa is a > candidate to be the bike I take. > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > > On Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 3:10:38 PM UTC-8, Surlyprof wrote: >> >> Great set up. I only got to test ride the Joe at Riv a little bit in the >> rain but I loved the smooth feel and fat tires. How does the ride compare >> to your Hillborne? I had thought about trading my 56 Sam for the 55 Joe >> just to get the ability to up the tire size. Wasn't sure it would be a >> change in the right direction for me. I'd be interested in your comparison >> impressions. >> >> Enjoy your new ride. >> John >> >> On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 5:06:12 PM UTC-8, Bill Lindsay wrote: >>> >>> >>> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TGknDxbi0EI/VtzT6oovnsI/AAAAAAAADJU/5wJn6nZf9Cs/s1600/IMG_0851.JPG> >>> >>> >>> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nnvhcJ2QMqE/VtzT2SEq3fI/AAAAAAAADJQ/zPkMXKstU3Y/s1600/IMG_0852.JPG> >>> I picked up my Joe Appaloosa Thursday night. I had to pack that night >>> for a bike race, and the race consumed my Friday and Saturday for the most >>> part. I went ahead and did my first pass at making it mine. I installed >>> Dutch paddle grips, trimmed all the cables and housing, and wrapped the >>> forward part of the Choco Bullmoose bars with yellow Newbaums, shellacked >>> with amber. >>> >>> I've also installed an R-14 rack and a Saddlesack Medium. As pictured >>> the Choco Moose bars are slammed. My SH is 75.5cm. That's a 55cm >>> Appaloosa. >>> >>> Bill Lindsay >>> El Cerrito, CA >>> >> -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
