Anyone using an Appaloosa as a mostly-road bike?

[reynoldslugs]

Hi all, can’t remember the last time I posted.   Long-time Rivendell rider, since 1998 or so; my current stable includes Atlantis, Legolas, Custom, Rambouillet, Heron Road, maybe one or two others (I gave my Quickbeam to a friend when my knees got to creaky for fixed gear riding).

My current curiosity/notion/interest is whether I should add an Appaloosa to the flock.  If any of you ride one as a mostly-road, perhaps drop-bar bike, I would be grateful for your impressions, feedback.  

I do a fair amount of road + steep gravel rides - - if you are familiar with Sonoma County, that means Coleman Valley + Willow Creek, and Sonoma Mountain Road + Bald Mountain.  I’m interested in a bike that does well on pavement and rides well on steep, rutted, dirt and gravel roads.

Grateful for any opinions and feedback, thanks.

Max Beach

Santa Rosa CA

[larson....@gmail.com]

I’ll give you my two cents. I ride a previous generation 62cm 2TT Appaloosa set up with Billie bars and a 64cm Black Mountain Cycles monstercross bike with drop bars. I ride pavement, gravel and dirt roads which can be steep and rutted, but mostly in good shape. I really like the Appaloosa as an all arounder and could see it being set up with drop bars-it is smooth and comfortable and very stable. I do not think it would feel like a road bike in any set up because of the long chain stays, and it is a heavy bike (although it rides lighter than it feels). Both bikes are set up with 700x47 tires and by comparison my Black Mountain Cycles feels much quicker in handling, yet still stable enough to handle any rough gravel road. I think you might find the Appaloosa too much bike, and to me seems more like a mixed terrain touring bike. As far as Rivendells, I would think a Sam Hillborne would be a better drop bar choice for your needs with shorter chai stays, slightly quicker handling and the ability to run a good sized tire. I would like a Hillborne to complement my Appaloosa, but my BMC works so well that I can’t really justify it. Maybe someone will give you some thoughts on a Roadini for your purposes.

Randy in Wisconsin

[hugh flynn]

I'm doing exactly that. 

While I originally purchased my 2018 Appaloosa as a rough-stuff touring bike, it's really become my primary road bike (without racks) as well as my touring bike (with racks). I have it set up as a standard road bike with Noodle drops (and a relatively short stem given the length of the top tube). It's definitely heavier than my dedicated road bike (1999 Heron Road), but I can't honestly say that it rides like a heavier bike. My time over the same routes isn't at all different whether I take the Appaloosa or the road bike. If I had to give up my road bike, I think I could do so pretty easily now. 

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Hugh Flynn
Newburyport, MA

[Valerie Yates]

I bought an Appaloosa when I was looking for a loaded touring bike for pavement and it has been stellar for that. Mine is a 51 with 650B wheels. I’ve climbed a bunch of passes on it with front and rear panniers, enjoying the awesome views. As it happens, my very first long ride on it was a steep rutted dirt/gravel mountain climb and it was glorious. So memorably fun and capable. More recently, I’ve been doing more supported tours so I’ve  been thinking I should take off the big front rack and give it another life as a dirt/gravel climbing bike. I am not sure what size tire it can fit. 

[Davey Two Shoes]

I think you're better off with a Sam. I love that it can ride any terrain a "gravel bike" can but it does so while feeling like a road bike and not some sort of cross breed.

[Collin A]

I had my 51 650b Joe setup as a mostly road/dirt touring bike for a couple years, and it has gone through many iterations since then (currently living life as a 1x9 flatland commuter). Is it a road race bike? No. Is it a fun bike to ride on the road and connect the many dirt trails/roads/etc. that a road bike would struggle on? Yes. 

It was already mentioned, but short stems are your friend, and personally I like the more modern-style drops with shorter reach and drop. A couple photos for inspiration from Auburn area dirt trails:

I'd think your legolas would fit that niche better than a Joe, but at the same time I wouldn't dare suggest to someone on this list to not buy another Rivendell.

Cheers,

Collin in Sunny Berkeley

[Ted W]

Fun to hear these descriptions and advice. As a soon to be Appa owner planning to use it for 80/20, on/off-road I’ll be setting it up mostly as a road bike but, really looking for an all-terrain bike with big tire clearance and a road-ish feel.

Also, Collin, thank you for sharing your experience with the Appa and drops. I’ve got a purple Appa coming in and I was worried about ETT being so long with drops. If I may ask (and I don’t want to derail the main convo so feel free to reply to me direct), what length stem do you normally use for drops and compared with what you’re using on the Appa? I’ve been trying to sort out what I’ll need and I think I’ve narrowed it down but would love some direct experience to influence my decision.

PS. I don’t think your images uploaded correctly, they’re not showing up for me either on the Google groups page or via email.

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