Thought hearing from you all would make an interesting thread. I have been enjoying my Sam for a long time now. I call these RBW ideas because that is where I first heard about them (thought I know they have been around for years, just not embraced so much these days). I was an alu/composite race bike kinda rider until I started to fear carbon failures and wanted to look into an all metal bike. I'll start: *RBW ideas that worked for me:* *1. Wider tires.* This has made a huge diff for my quality of riding. I used to own a typical race bike with 700 x 25, 120psi tires. It was great to ride, but hard to handle as it banged and bounced and tires got yanked around on gravelly, busted up shoulders. Not to mention the fear of getting the narrow tires caught in longitudinal road cracks. Got my Rivendell bikes and have used 32mm-40mm ~55psi tires on them and what a difference. No more bike bouncing. Slight rumbling and I am through the rough road parts. Tires stay on their straight course through the bad patches and I feel so much safer. Cush to boot. Very stable handling. I cannot see myself ever going back to anything narrower than 32mm wide tires. They seem dangerous to me now. *2. Fenders.* I never woulda dreamed of putting these on a bike in the past. But now I don't see riding without them making any sense to me. It is just good to be prepared and not have to worry about grunging up the bike with the street scum. They look great to boot, and are standard equipment on my bikes. I love the ultra coverage of the longboards. *3. Leather saddles.* No more butt pain. yay! What a smooth surface to sit on. I did have a little break in for a coupla weeks, but another dab o' proofhide broke her in and now its great. *4. Steel bike/lugs/cream headtubes/metal head badges.* Such a stable ride, beautiful to look at, and no worries about "did I tension that bolt 1nM too far?". Feels good to not have to wonder about failures. The lugs and paint jobs are intoxicating. *5. Smaller chainrings/bigger cassettes/Triples.* Healthiest pedaling I have ever felt in my legs. The Sugino toothcounts work great for my neck of the woods. I would never want to go back to 39-52 or 30-40-54 cranks again. And, I have discovered that compact cranksets aren't for me. I love triples. *6. Big Saddle bags.* I love that I can carry lunch, repair kits/tools and a jacket in my Carradice, etc. So convenient. No more wondering how will I fit everything into my small nylon wedge. *7. Cotton tape/twine and shellac.* I balked at the idea as just taking things too far. But when my Sam arrived with it, it just looked so beautiful and natural and much better than electrical tape. Its fun to do, too! *8. Bar end shifters.* At first I thought that it was ridiculous not to have the convenience of brifters on a bike. But when I got my first Rivbike with bar ends, it was love at first shift. Just makes it so much more fun to play with those things than brifting. I think it also encourages your hands to move around more on the bars and I think that helps keep the numbness at bay. A quiet friction shift is a very satisfying sensation. And trimming is fun, too. *9. Platform pedals/ditching the click-ins.* I started using MKS Touring pedals and cannot see myself ever going back to click ins. It is so nice to be able to move the foot around and to just hop off the bike and walk normally and not feel weird in public duck walking. Starting up at green lights, all I have to do is just stand on the pedal and go. I don't have to fumble across the intersection anymore to click in. And think of all that cash I save by not having to buy expensive click in shoes and cleats/pedals. *10. Kickstands.* Having previously viewed these as bike anchors, I started realizing it just makes things sooooooo much easier when parking the bike in the garage, hopping off the bike for breaks/taking pictures, and they are just fun to install and look at. I love the rat-at-at-at-at sound the Pletscher makes when it is flipped. *11. 650b.* At first I thought: "........why?......". And then: "Aw, man! Now I am forced into getting these smaller wheels if I want a Rivendell. Why is this guy messing around with these bikes like this?". But the clearance allows me to enjoy the convenience of fenders and safety and cush of wide tires. *12. Ponchos.* Air circulates. Less sweating under cover. *13. Wool.* In summer, any material will be drenched and sticking to my skin. But come seasons of 75 degrees and less, the wool dries out so quickly that things don't stick anymore. A Nice feeling to ride off after a break - dry and warm, rather than clammy and chilled by the breeze. *14. Flat ramps drop bar setups.* Very comfy. Stem extension in line with bar ramps and brake levers is just pretty to look at, too. *What doesn't work for me:* *1. High bars.* While riding drops up high on a Technomic is tops, my body likes drop bars below saddle, or else sitting *bolt* upright with Albas. That in-between, high drops, where you are still leaning forward just kills my lower back. I've either gotta be straight-up, or bars below saddle. Not in between. Took a year to figure out it wasn't me or the bike, just the position that was killing me. Be glad if it works for you. Riding drops up high on a Technomic is a great experience if your back can take it!
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