Taylor, regarding the feeling of "sitting on the bike not in it", I've been having the same sort of feeling with my new Charlie Gallop. What may have made the difference is getting a Velo Orange Grand Cru long setback seatpost. I haven't had it out for a ride yet but test sitting in the garage feels like I'm more down "in" the bike. This is with Billie Bars.
Somewhere else someone mentioned the Ahearne +Map bars. Maybe take a look at those. At any rate I think it sometimes takes a while to get a bike dialed in. It did with my Clem. And sometimes it's just a serendipitous change that does the trick, as with my Clem when I put some really wide bars on it. On Tue, Jan 27, 2026, 7:22 AM Drew Fitchette <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey Taylor, > > I have had a hard time with Billies except for on my Clem, which had by > far the longest reach of all the bikes I've owned. I switched my Atlantis > to Moth bars to widen my grip which has me leaning a little further > forward. I like them quite a bit more than the Billies for feeling more > "in" the bike, rather than on it. Of all the swept back bars I've tried I > like the Bosco/Tosco/Losco most... but I've only ridden the widest of each > variation. > > I'm interested in the new bars too, and might put those on the Atlantis > and move the Moth bars over to a bigger/longer frame. > > On Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 8:12:44 AM UTC-5 [email protected] > wrote: > >> Thanks for the ideas so far. I realize this is not a bad problem to have. >> I have a set of fenders to throw on the Homer as it's my all-rounder and I >> don't want to shy away from it in the rain. The Susie is definitely my >> mountain bike, and I dig it so much for what it is. Agree with Brian that >> it shouldn't be laden down with racks and such. What I'm probably reacting >> to the most is the cockpit of the Atlantis. The Billies just feel super >> chill and cruiser, but I don't really connect with this kind of riding. I >> like to feel connected to the bike and in control. I bet if I swapped the >> Billies out for those new slightly swept-back Riv/Nitto bars coming out, or >> some Wavie bars, or even something more in the Jones Bar type of vibe, the >> bike would feel better to me. Probably the simplest thing to do is just >> throw a less chill bar on there to see how she feels, though there'd then >> be some overlap with the Susie. I really liked the idea of symmetry of the >> full gamut of bar types: drop, Albastache, flat/riser, swept back to cover >> the full spectrum. I see all the Riv guys going full off-road with Loscos, >> Chocos, Toscos, Billies... Those bars don't seem to be lacking in >> capability for many of you. I wonder what I'm missing? Can anyone comment >> on it feeling like I'm on top of the Atlantis more than in the bike with >> some of my other steeds? >> >> On Monday, January 26, 2026 at 5:40:46 PM UTC+1 [email protected] wrote: >> >>> If this were my stable, here's what I would do: >>> >>> Keep the fast bike as-is. Keep the Susie light and nimble as a fun, >>> laid-back trail bike (after all, the Susie is the one Riv that Grant and >>> Co. seemed to put the most weight restrictions on). Give the Homer fenders >>> and a basket. Keep the fatter tires on the Atlantis and have it be more of >>> an all-rounder / all-terrain / gravel / tourer. >>> This way, each bike has it's own niche, but you can still easily pull >>> double-duty with any of the Rivs with just some slight easy modifications >>> on the fly. >>> >>> Brian >>> Lexington KY >>> >> -- > 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/3d24c50a-d898-41eb-bd6e-d20041e68b77n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3d24c50a-d898-41eb-bd6e-d20041e68b77n%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/CAA7%3DnpNcGxwXj0TaNKLdF7zwNWR3APfM3SkoTrm1qormQFwO4A%40mail.gmail.com.
