Thanks all! I may give the drops another shot...I agree that this bike looks pretty sweet with them and I've always suffered from a bit of drop bar envy. But with anything longer than a 50mm stem (even with the bars high), I start to feel it in my back and neck pretty quick. Maybe I'll bring it to the LBS and see if they have any suggestions. I'll also check out the Jitensha Bars...do users of those find them to have enough hand positions? If only the Choco bars came with an option a few mm narrower like the Boscos...
As it's my first Rivendell, I can't really speak to how it compares with other models. But I rode it a few more times this week and would describe it as a really wonderful mix of sporty and stable. I don't go super fast when I'm riding, but I love the feel of a light, sporty steel road bike (like my 531 mid-eighties Trek). This frame has that really nice quality, but also feels much more stable when descending and turning (even with bars that weren't specifically designed for it...which I feel speaks to Rivendell's fantastic geometry). My old Trek feels squirrelly on rougher roads and gravel. But with Jack Browns, it works flawlessly on crushed gravel paths...and still feels quick and responsive. Even though it's marketed as a 'club-ride' bike, like any Rivendell, it excels at lots of different tasks. I wouldn't take it on single track, but with some 35mm Cyclocross tires, I'd feel totally comfortable doing rougher dirt paths, fire roads, etc. It's feels like a solid-enough bike. Eric On Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 5:32:16 PM UTC-4, Evan E. wrote: > > Welcome to the list, Eric! Beautiful bike. > > [General note to the posters on this thread: Velo Orange makes Porteur > bars in 22.2 and also in 23.8. But since this is the Riv list, maybe think > about Choco Normal bars?] > > > > -- 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.