When this question arises, regardless of the circumstances we all tend to recommend the Riv that we have - which makes sense, since they are all fantastic and highly versatile bikes, plus we probably bought the one that best suited our own preconceptions.
In that light I will wholeheartedly support the Hillborne. It's long versus old road bikes, but it's not long. I've said it many times already but I'll say it again; it is the most perfect evolution of the all-rounder in the lineup in my opinion. The tire clearance isn't huge, but you can fit as much tire with fenders as makes sense with fenders; and you can fit the same size tires we used to MTB on without fenders. I can't imagine being unhappy with the Hillborne. It works great with drops, flats, or swept bars (but not the super swept ones - Albatross is perfect on it). The rear end is long enough you can fit panniers without heel strike, but short enough that it still feels road-ish in its manners. It can be loaded to the gills for a big tour, but it doesn't feel wrong when completely unloaded. I will always own a Hillborne, I'm sure of this, and that's the only bike I can say that about. On Friday 5 April 2024 at 17:43:49 UTC-7 Bud Suttree wrote: > Hi all, > > > Been enjoying these forums for a while now, with my first post I’d like to > lean on the immense collective wisdom here and get some help with picking > out the right Rivendell model. I’ve done quite a lot of personal research > and spoken to Riv at least once but would like to open things up to the > group for general discussion. > > > Short sketch of my problem: I love bicycles, but haven’t enjoyed riding > them in a long time. I have quite a few, and they all are unpleasant to > ride for one reason or another. My priorities are, in descending order: > comfort, performance (perceived), utility, price/aesthetics (tie), > performance (actual), and at the end would be the ability to do any > outer-boundary/end-of-spectrum type activity, riding across the country or > racing crits, etc. My ideal bike would be something that could ride 15-20 > miles to the trail and then 10-15 more on the trail. And also manage > chipotle, beer, and post office runs. > > > Every time I browse the Riv offerings I become convinced I need a > different model. I’m thinking maybe the Atlantis would suit me, but I don’t > necessarily love the double top tube, and I’d probably be between the 57 > and 59. The Appaloosa seems pretty similar, but I’m not crazy about either > of the current colors. Can’t say I can tell the difference between that one > and the Sam, but I like the Sam aesthetic better. I’m also tempted by the > gold Susie/Wolbis, but since I’ll be riding mostly around town, worry that > it might not feel as agile as the bikes I’m use to riding do. > > > That’s the short version — would welcome any takes or opinions. > > > Longer story: > > > Like the rest of you, I love bicycles. A substantial amount of my > attention is given to them, day after day, in one way or another. > Unfortunately, lately this has not translated into actually riding them > very often. It’s a paradoxical state, induced by having too many (project) > bikes, none of which I can tolerate to ride for more than half an hour. > It’s mostly a comfort issue. FWIW, I am a not unhealthy late 20something > male with probably poorish posture from desk-jockeying. I rode an aluminum > Cannondale road bike daily for five years, crashed, broke some bones and > swore it off for two, then entered this present cycle. > > > Economic realities necessitate the need to flip bikes and parts to fund > the passion. Maybe you think that’s a dirty trade; most are. I’ve had the > good fortune to pick up an outrageously rare old school BMX bike for > essentially nothing that should cover a very nice Rivendell build, and > hopefully obviate the need to engage in as much cycling commerce. > > > Along the way, I’ve acquired an interesting stable: > > - 93 Bridgestone RB-1 and MB-2 > - Custom 90s Ciocc w/ Columbus EL and Chorus > - 93ish lugged Trek 990 > - 1985 Trek 620 > > and a cache of interesting parts, so it’s not been for nothing, but I > don’t like riding any of those bikes. Had (still have?) big dreams for the > RB-1, but cannot tolerate the reach. Have tried a bunch of stem/saddle > options, no luck. Currently building it up w/ a Soma Highway bar and zero > setback post, preliminary fit check not promising. Found a crack in the > MB’s fork when I was tearing it down and don’t think I want to invest in it > without the biplane fork. The Ciocc’s max tire clearance for Corsas is 23 > rear/25 front. The 990 might be all right, and the 620 too, but both need a > ton of work. > > > I’m tired of projects. Wrenching is fun but riding is better, and it was > never my goal to be a collector of anything. So, instead of trying to make > all these old bikes “like” the bike that I want, I’m just going to actually > go and get what I want and then be done with it for awhile. > > > Some considerations: > > > I miss running errands on my bike. I don’t have as much free time as I’d > like, but everyone has to go to the grocery store. I also miss long weekend > adventure rides and casual group rides. I WFH, so don’t need an actual > commuter. I like the idea of an overnight trip, and have most of the gear > I’d need to do it. > > > I have two really great handlebar options: the Soma Highway Ones and Ron’s > Orthos. I’ve never spent much of any time on bars that weren’t drops, but > think I’m leaning towards the orthos for this project. That said, it would > be cool if I could use both. > > > I want lots of gears. Live in a somewhat hilly town (Nashville) with steep > climbs on most of my routes. Getting nearly anywhere usually requires at > least some riding on busy streets w/o cycling lanes. > > > No local Riv dealer anymore (AFAIK). > > > With all that said, of the current offerings, what would y’all recommend? > > > Thank you > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/5a3e8294-57b2-48de-bcc4-146242e9a67dn%40googlegroups.com.
