On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 3:04 PM, bfd <bfd...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Is the attraction that you can ride a bike that is custom fitted for > things like racks, lights, fat tires and fenders? Couldn't a cross > style bike with fenders, lights and racks work just as well? After > all, you can race/train/rando on just about anything, right? Thanks!
I don't know that i'd call it 'worship', but if you're doing very long, often mixed-terrain rides, the rando bike is the ultimate tool. Basically the randonneuse is to the all-rounder/light tourer as the racing bike is to the average road bike. Like with many things, as you do more of it, the tools you use get more sophisticated and purpose-built. In the rando world, that generally means designing and building the bike to reduce the number of fasteners that can loosen, parts that break or wear to quickly and permanent solutions such as dyno wheels rather than battery lights. Since these bikes are generally built on custom frames, they can go with the details as the owner wants to, often building the frame to fit a specific set of parts. The framebuilders i've talked to often say that a really complete randonneuse frame will end up costing more than one of their top racing frames simply because of the time it takes to fabricate and add those details. I've done many on- and off-road century rides on a standard road bike or my cross bike with the necessary equipment added, and didn't feel the bike lacking, but i could certainly see getting a custom if i were riding more and the budget allowed. -- Bill Connell St. Paul, MN -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
