I had an RB-1 that I sold to buy my Rambouillet (2001). I found them to be very different bikes, but stand-outs each.
The RB-1 fit more tire than most road bikes of the era and it rode more like the stage race bikes you had to buy as a frame and fork. It stood out increasingly as a bike with some rewarding flex (dare I say planing) when the marketplace was gravitating and overrun toward stiffness and light weight (not to mention neon paint and aero bars) as principal attributes. Ride more than two hours and/or in some actual terrain and the Bridgestone stood out very well. It provided 97% of the ride of a fine stage race bike for half of what one of those frames and fork would cost. As with the european stage race frames/bikes, I just found the RB-1 to be a little bit of a harsh of a perch on longer duration rides, the kind long enough to have long shaken out the market-popularized stiff, light, aero-forward bikes that seem to exist just to meet some market segment existing primarily in their research and forecasts for growth opportunity. None of them would follow me on a dirt road, path or trail to connect a ride for convenience or adventure. My target for replacing that RB-1 was a bike that was more comfortable when ridden more than four or five hours. I had a light cross country ride with some folks the next summer and I knew this shortcoming of the RB-1. I needed a bit shorter TT in my ideal frame since I'm short of torso/long of leg for my height to fit most "stock" geometry. I found that I would have to reduce stem extension to near negligible dimensions on most production bikes if I dared sized from my leg length and pedaling position. All the "compact" frame business was just coming out of the flood gates and seemed just a way to reduce frame runs to three or four sizes. I talked to Grant about my sizing bugaboo for any stock frame and he hinted about the Rambouillet. Its shorter, 2° sloped top tube, and extended top head tube lug to elevate the upper headset cup and set a higher, nearer to saddle base for bar positioning would address my needs. Design inspiration coming from the French randonneur traditions without being a copy. Ideal to put a Nelson Longflap on the saddle and ride 8-12 hours a day. I bit, bought and waited. It came just in time, 4pm the afternoon before I headed to Norfolk, VA to start the TransAm ride. My shakedown and fit tuning was brief. Immediately I saw the huge difference in the quality of construction and finish the Toyo made Rambouillet had. Even just riding around my hilly neighborhood the Ram felt of a quality that mass-produced bikes, even the RB-1 couldn't provide. I'm sure it reflected refinement and latitude of design not possible in the Bridgestone production models but also of a degree of care and quality of every brazed lug and fixture compared to assembly line work. My Rambouillet is still so good that it is my prime miles bike. I don't commute with it to prevent exposure to the winter slop and hours in the bike rack. I have commuter that is less precious, takes the potholes, winter precipitation and me when I'm tired, headed home at night. I have ridden it up (and down) really steep stuff around the city here as well as to DC along the GAP/C&O. All the newfound paradigms like monster cross, gravel grinders, etc. may make good arguments for another bike to me, but I still really like the way my Rambouillet rides in my use. I wouldn't go back to an RB-1 after enjoying the benefits that it brought my needs, for nostalgia or fun. Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 9:44:21 PM UTC-5, clifto...@gmail.com wrote: > > I have so say thanks for all the great feedback I'm getting! I have a VO > Randonneur, which is very comfortable over longer distances, say 100k to > 100 miles. I'm always looking at bikes and couldn't resist the ad for the > RB-1. It is a lot snappier. Maybe I need to see how it feels on a longer > ride. The Bridgestone is beautifully simple and clean but doesn't approach > the work of art beauty of some Rivendells. That's why I asked about the > ride quality. I tend to love any bike that I ride a lot no matter how it > looks (once it's set up right) so a Riv would make sense if it rides much > better as well as looks much better. Maybe ride quality is too subjective > but I really like hearing what people think. I'll put up a picture of the > bike soon. Tough choice, although the Bridgestone catalog from that year > (1994) does say: "You cannot buy a better riding bike than this"!! -- 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.
