Hi Tim, Have you considered any of the "Ready to Ride" Rivs? In your size, there's currently: Sam Blue 55cm Demo (drop bars, bar-end shifters) Sam Blue 51cm Demo (drop bars, bar-end shifters) Roadeo Hot Blue 55cm Demo (drop bars, brifters) Protoveloosa 54.7cm (Bosco bullmoose, thumbies) (maybe others).
Maybe I missed it-- what sorts of rides are you doing now? Would like to do in the near future? Are you set on drop bars or have you considered more upright setups? Setups-- my Hunqapillar has bar ends or thumbies (depending on hbar), and my AHH has down-tube shifters. Most of the time, bar ends or thumbies are much easier to use than down tubes. Hard to beat the look of down tubes, IMHO, tho. You can also consider thumbies or stem-mounted shifters (in addition to bar ends or brifters). Wear issues: as long as the bike is out of the rain when stored, I wouldn't worry too much. Are you concerned about theft? Good luck! shoji On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 10:38:33 PM UTC-4, Tim Butterfield wrote: > > I've been thinking of getting a Rivendell bicycle for a long time. I > first joined this group to lurk back in 2010 and have been a member and > sometimes lurker since then. But, I had not made the commitment and > purchased a Riv. The closest I came was getting a Velo-Orange Rando. That > was sort of rivish. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/timbutterfield/sets/72157624827193423 > > Being in the suburbs of Chicago near O'Hare airport limited my comfort > using it the way it should have been. That bike was sold before I left > Chicago to live full-time in an RV. Once we decided to settle in > Anacortes, WA (still in the RV), I purchased a Specialized AWOL Comp, > definitely not rivish. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/timbutterfield/sets/72157644371355428 > > It's a nice bike, but I now want something more rivish, this time, the > real thing. I'm thinking of getting either the Roadeo or the A Homer > Hilsen. I like the idea of the liveliness and sportiness of the Roadeo, > but like the bit of extra versatility of the AHH also. With my weight at > 200+ (PBH 33" or 83.8cm, age 51), I'm leaning towards the AHH instead of > the Roadeo. I can start more roadish with the AHH and, as I build my > abilities further, expand the bike to fit new and/or different tasks > without having to change frames. > > So, I'm fairly settled on getting my first Riv, one of the two mentioned. > My pondering now is mostly on how to appoint it. My Rando was more modern > with the 105 setup. The AWOL was definitely modern with discs and SRAM > setup. But, I'm not tied to that. Though I haven't used it much, I like > the looks of a quill stem, drop bars, and downtube shifters. It looks > clean and simple. I'm just not sure what it's like to live with. I expect > that, like many things, it is a matter of adapting to it. But, using DT > shifters or bar ends does set a direction as neither would work with an > 11-speed I could have instead. I'm trying to consider the pros and cons of > each. > > With my AWOL, I leave it locked to the cabana just outside my RV. Some > RVs have sufficient inside storage for a bike. Mine doesn't. > > My questions to the group are these: As I am not yet doing longer > distances, are there still benefits to the more traditional setups? If I > pick either one, what might I later miss the other may have provided? Are > there likely to be any weather related or other wear issues leaving a Riv > locked to the RV park cabana like I do my AWOL? I'm doubtful of that, but > don't want to mistreat it either. Any thing else I should consider? > > Thanks for any advice you have. > > Tim > -- 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.
