New Bike: Rivendell Roadini

Just after I impulse bought my 2nd Cross Check frame, I impulse bought a complete Rivendell Roadini road bike.  I've been doing a little more road riding this summer, getting out of my usual Dublin loops. My thought was a real road bike would be more appropriate for this.

At least in these crazy times, I could sell me CC at a slight profit... if I close my eyes and ignore the parts that I used to build the frame. I'm cleaning out my parts bin, at least.

Here's the Roadini on my initial ride up north:

I swapped in my saddle, fixed the Brit style brakes, added bags, etc, and I was ready to roll:

The drivetrain is a friction 1x8 drivetrain, with a homemade chain guard. The kind of build you find on the iBOB list:

The Roadini has this new lug that Riv is proud of. The ball socket on the seatstays allow them to be aligned before brazing, but it makes for a blobby joint to my eyes:

The brakes are mid reach, good clearance for the 38mm tires, but no room for fenders with fat tires like this. I've mostly used Tektro brakes on my caliper bikes, and I was surprised by how strong these Shimano brakes are. But they're also a bit grabby. The V brakes on my CC are better in every respect, except for the clean, compact looks of the caliper:

I mostly bought the Roadini for the massive head tube (and the orange paint). I'm hoping that big stack will make the drop bars more comfortable for me.

So far, I have mixed feelings about this orange cat. Looking at the drawing for the frame, I was worried the tubing would be much too stout for me. The top tube and down are 31.8~28.6 tapered tubes. That's one or two sizes over traditional road bikes, and even bigger than my CC, etc. Despite this, it doesn't ride too stiffly, but it's not a planer by any means. It feels in a class with my CC. 

The fat tires and long wheelbase give it a very smooth and stable ride. I'm still not comfortable on the bars. The VO parallel bars don't have any flare in the drops, which I miss when I'm down there. I spend most of my time on the ramps behind the brake levers, which is OK, but not as good as the main position on a swept, Jones type bar. 

Some day, I'll have to admit that drops just aren't for me. I love the power feeling down in the drops, but I can't ride there consistently.

The Roadini is positioned as a sporty road bike, but with the stable handling, heavy tubing, and plush tires, it feels more like an old school touring bike. I need to give it some more miles this summer and fall to see how much I like that.