I really appreciated Jay's point regarding nostalgia and scarcity. I know it's a trap I fall into. Sometimes I want to fall into, and that's all right, but its still a trap.
As for the overall question though: What about Tanglefoot/Analog's Bull Thistle <https://analogcycles.com/products/tanglefoot-bullthistle-usa-custom> instead of the Moonshiner?? Pretty similar idea/concept, but a much more Riv-ish lugged frame. I definitely ogled it a bit when I first saw it, but I already have a Crust Scapegoat that fills my Plus-sized tyre/drop-bar rigid MTB niche. On Friday, March 14, 2025 at 12:53:20 PM UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: > As it is designed around a nominal 4" tire, even with the use of Deda > vertical chainstays and WI road cranks, best I could get was a scant 180mm > actual, as measured. Probably 182mm math-wise. The use of a yoke and/or > limiting to 3" tires would certainly provide more opportunities to bring it > in. > > If I still raced and ever really cared, I would only ride my 29ers (and > would actually consider FS, which I have avoided to date), but riding a lot > of tight, twisty, rocky and rooty trails in the mid-west and New England, I > really still enjoy both 26ers and 650b as well. 26ers are playful and the > 650 bikes do strike a good middle ground, even if I feel they lean more > towards the 26 end of things. > > Big fan of wide rims for mountain biking. > > Overall, horses for courses. > > > On Friday, March 14, 2025 at 1:44:34 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > > Justus: what is the Q factor on your custom? > > One reason I eventually gave up getting a 700C X 80 mm / 3” tire custom to > replace the Monocog 29er (road drop bar!!) was the hassle of keeping Q to > no more than 160 mm with the 700C wheels — I like 700C off road (road bikes > are 26”). That and because I finally decided after droning on and on about > it for years that I really prefer mixed pavement and dirt rides and I found > 700cX50 knobbies that excel at pavement handling, roll surprisingly well on > pavement, and suffice to navigate most of my sandy dirt routes (with > multiple gears; if the sand gets to be more than about 3” and 100 yards and > can’t be negotiated by a quick shift to the granny ring I just get off and > walk. > > But man, 3” tires at 13 psi (at least, mine maxed out a 2.8” on the 24 mm > OW rims) were very nice indeed for our sandy trails and, the very few times > I tried it, on fields of baseball sized rocks. > > On Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 2:39 PM J G <[email protected]> wrote: > > Just a couple of thoughts to share as someone who had a custom built > similar to this back in 2016: > > [image: IMG_0021 (4) 2.JPG] > > This bike will take 4" 26er tires or 3" 27.5 and is currently pictured > with 4" x 26. > > Built to be a low Q, pure drop bar off road bike as an experiment and > alternative to all of the proper dirt drop setups I run. If you have seen > my comments on this subject here before, I draw a significant distinction > between drop bar and dirt drop setups. This was designed around > Cowchippers and it is fine for rolling doubletrack, but it is not fun for > real aggressive singletrack. Riding hoods for technical trails is painful > on my wrists and the curved drops provide poor ramps as a comfortable > platform. I tried to channel my inner Tomac and it was not fun. I love > dirt drops for off road, but hate traditional drops and associated setups > for such when off-road is rocky, rooty and technical. Chunky ATV trails > might be just fine however. For my use cases, bike refit with LD and > Woodchippers. > > Woodchippers are the finest off road drop bar I have used (Have run WTB, > Midge etc.) and the long flat ramps and a setup where the drops are the > only position with levers optimized allows for a loose grip in the hooks, a > ton of control and the ability to move your weight fore and aft on the long > ramps. > > Jones bars getting some love here as well and I will pile on to that. If > I am not running Woodchippers, I am generally running Jones and have even > had custom Jones sweep bars built by Black Sheep for one of my Rivs. Jones > bikes are great as well although mine is a Spaceframe from the early days > with Merlin so strictly SWB experience here. > > Good luck with your decision and let your riding style and terrain you > frequent determine what will work best for you. Have fun and keep the > shiny side up! > > -Justus > Mpls, MN > On Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 2:34:33 PM UTC-5 [email protected] wrote: > > Bill L mentioned LaCabra. By all accounts a swell bike that might fit the > bill? And on sale right now (?) for a bargain price. Also & for what it’s > worth; Jones are fantastic - loved mine. But I sold mine along with other > bikes to get my Gus. Jones was my favorite ever MTB - until I got the Gus. > Sent from my iPhone > > On Mar 11, 2025, at 3:10 PM, Garth <[email protected]> wrote: > > I must say the Moonshine sure does look rather good in that color combo ! > 3" tires would certainly open up more possibilities for terrain. I wouldn't > worry abut the "new" parts on it, you'd figure it out. Gotta start > somewhere. As a now drop bar well below the saddle Bomba rider, all I can > say is drop bars for rough terrain is awesome. It's not anything new as > drop bar mtb's date back to the 80's. > > > On Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 2:43:19 PM UTC-4 George Schick wrote: > > Interesting bike, this Moonshiner. Also interesting replies from some Riv > owners. I find it fascinating that, viewing the pics of the Moonshiner on > their website, that it's set up with 3" tires and, amazingly more so, drop > bars on an off-road bike like that. Geez... you'd think that would be a > travesty among Riv-ish types with their absolute penchant for large > upright, swoopy bars mounted to mile high stems for bikes like this. > Wonders never cease ... > > On Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 11:50:18 AM UTC-5 maxcr wrote: > > Hi Bunch, > > Can you please talk me out of my latest crazy idea. As the title says, I'm > considering parting ways with my 2TT blue Bombadil to free up funds and > space for a Tanglefoot Moonshiner. > > As always, I feel like I have too many bikes and too many projects for my > lifestyle and available time. Yet, I find myself looking at bikes and > wondering if they would be a better fit for my stable and whether I should > give them a try (as an aside I just acquired a NOS Quickbeam prototype > built by Curt Goodrich and painted by Joe Bell in a deep cobalt blue which > I need to build - why do I keep doing this?). > > Back to MTB: The logic is as follows: as beautiful and elusive as the > Bombadil is, it is very similar to my Hunqapilar in terms of capabilities. > They are both beautiful in their own right, but they are comparable frames. > For whatever reason, I'm in love with the Hunqa, it's my most comfortable > bike and don't have any plans to sell it so it's the Bomba that might go to > the chopping block. Now, the Moonshiner is described as a bike for 'super > chunky ATV trails'. To be honest, I don't go out to the mountains in > Vermont (or anywhere else) that often, but I am sometimes tempted by the > rides organized by Analog Cycles and I feel like might end up underbiking > with my 2.1" Thunderburts on the Hunqa. > > This might be heresy for this group, since the moonshiner would have more > modern components, disc brakes and 3" tires. I don't have much experience > with any of these new fancy looking parts, but for context I'm looking at > this: > https://analogcycles.com/products/tanglefoot-moonshiner-large-demo-sram-gx-rival-12-speed > > (another cool alternative would be a Jones spaceframe) > > The biggest con to this whole endeavor is that if I sell the Bomba, it's > unlikely that I could replace it later since they just don't come up for > sale ever and I don't want to regret letting it go. > > What do you all think? > > Thanks > Max > > -- > > 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 [email protected]. > > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/42309bb6-64cd-4f90-aa86-05f5726b8bb8n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/42309bb6-64cd-4f90-aa86-05f5726b8bb8n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/492c0967-41c0-4262-8c76-9bb450f2a543n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/492c0967-41c0-4262-8c76-9bb450f2a543n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing > services > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* > > *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* > > *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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