I think the re-jiggering of road models over the last 10 years or so has a lot to do with component (esp. brake) availability as a whole. In the "dark ages" of 94-2000 or so, there were simply no long-reach brakes available for road bikes, so Grant had to integrate his ideas into the "Road" which made the best use of the shorter-reach calipers available and the "All-Rounder" which used cantilever brakes. When Shimano started making 57mm reach sidepulls again in the early 2000's, he came out with the Rambouillet (and then the Romulus/Redwood) to take full advantage of the clearance those brakes offered. Finally, once he convinced Tektro to make the Silver sidepull in 2006-2008, the Ram/Rom was superseded by the Hilsen and Hillborne, which, with the clearances provided by the 55-75mm reach caliper, I think finally matches *his* ideal of what a "road" bike can/should be. So, unless somebody comes out with a caliper with even * greater* reach, which is unlikely given that such a beast would have a hard time being strong enough to produce any real braking force, I don't see the "road" models changing much in the coming years.
I think the 650b bikes (Saluki, Bleriot) were similarly created to take advantage/encourage the resurgence of 650b wheels/tires. Once 650b gained a measure of wider acceptance, those models were rolled into the production road models (Hilsen/Hilborne) since grant believes 650b isn't really needed for larger sizes and 650b as a standard didn't need the publicity of a dedicated model anymore. In terms of the Roadeo and San Marcos, part of me wonders if these really fit Grant's system of road bike ideals or if they were an acknowledgement of greater market forces, namely the demand of folks like me, who want more clearances than a normal road bike but find the clearances of something like the Hilsen or Hillborne a bit excessive (at least for their purposes) and like the aesthetics and better braking performance (debatable, i'll admit) of slightly tighter frames and smaller, stiffer brake calipers. It definitely seems that they were both created with a great deal of encouragement from other folks, Mark Abele for the Roadeo (maybe?) and Jim Porter of Merry Sales for the San Marcos. On Wednesday, December 12, 2012 11:00:58 PM UTC-8, Michael wrote: > > Or do you think the Hilsen has a lock on it for now for the > general-use-mobile? > > The reason I ask is because if I had to buy a new bike soon, it would have > to be the Hilsen for my taste/needs (commutin'/rec-rides). > Was wondering if sum-n' new might come out since they seem to stop > production on frames every few years and come out with a new model > replacement. > > Just ponderin'. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/bwGlEzoboBAJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@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.
