FS: New 57cm Roadini Frameset (Orange) + headset, 559 brakes, Nitto seatpost

[Andrew Turner]

I bought the frameset new from Riv a month ago but after 50 miles of riding I simply do not enjoy the way it rides compared to my other road bike so I'm casting this one back out. It's got the FSA headset installed with some pewter headset spacers from BlueLug, new Tektro 559 brake callipers and a new Nitto S65 300mm seatpost. There's a few paint nicks I gave it because I'm a sloppy mechanic and installing fenders was a wrestling match, but nothing serious or all that visible.  

I'm pretty bummed it didn't work out for me but I hope it finds a new home! 

Asking $1375 which will include shipping, DM if you want pics 

Cheers, 

Andrew

[alan lavine]

Andrew,

PM sent.

Thanks,

Alan

[Andrew Turner]

Pictures can be found in my FS album here.  
The only places where there's paint damage are the dropouts and below the fork crown, so nothing all that visible. This is the 2022 model that fits up to a 45mm tire.

[Dan Leahul]

Care to indulge further as to why the Roadini didn't work out for you? I'm looking for one in this size, but I've never ridden one. I'm looking to replace my aggressive fat tire road bike with something a little more chill (and easier on the back), plus it's become mostly redundant with my aggressive fat tire gravel bike.

Thanks,

Dan

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6537df5b-c0db-4d7e-ab9b-95f272e3797fn%40googlegroups.com.

[Andrew Turner]

Roadini has sold! 

To answer your question, Dan, I had hopes of building it as a semi-aggressive fat tire road bike but boy oh boy do Riv's have something to say to that. I had a 61cm Roadini in the past during a time when I wanted to build a Riv to ride it like a Riv and I loved it. But then I got into off-road riding so I hung up road bikes for a while... 

Fast forward to 2022 and I got bit by the vintage crit frame bug and have been really enjoying road riding again. We also had our first kid so quick 20-30 mile rides close to home are ideal so I bought the Roadini 1 size down thinking it could still be quick but extra plush. Long story short me and the Roadini just don't see eye to eye at this particular junction. This time around, I didn't like how neutral it felt whether I was riding 8mph or 35mph, it felt underwhelming. Different strokes for different folks I suppose. 

[Patrick Moore]

Andrew: I'm another one interested in your experiences + or - with the Roadini. So, pray, bear with me while I ask probing questions.

On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 9:39 AM Andrew Turner <andyree...@gmail.com> wrote:

... I bought the Roadini 1 size down thinking it could still be quick but extra plush. Long story short me and the Roadini just don't see eye to eye at this particular junction.

Please describe in terms of cycling experience -- handling, comfort, "feel" -- as in whether one sits "on" or "in" the bicycle, sluggishness or twitchiness, and so on -- what you felt about the 57 cm Roadini.

This time around, I didn't like how neutral it felt whether I was riding 8mph or 35mph, it felt underwhelming. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

What exactly do you mean by "neutral" and "underwhelming"? Note: I fully understand the difference between metaphor and analytical description but there is a connection between the 2 modes of expression. Please expand on what you mean by "neutral" and "underwhelming."

I can guess. I had a second-gen Ram. Very nice bike, but I too found it, while pleasant, in some sense "underwhelming" and excessively "neutral." My own vocabulary is "staid." By comparison with my benchmark bikes, the Ram, while superlatively neutral at speed in a straight line (a Riv quality), was just a bit too slow in turn-in. To use an emotional metaphor: "a wee bit dull." (Note that my benchmark bike is my 1999 Riv Road custom gofast fixed gear designed by Grant around light, short 26" wheels.)

But please elaborate. Was I close?

Patrick Moore, who, God willing, will one day build up that much-bruited early 1970s tout 531 Libertas [5.9 lb 60 X 56 c-c with steel Campy hs!!] with 38 mm tires for a road-like pavement gofast combined with tires and gearing sufficient for firm-dirt explorations.

[Patrick Moore]

That's frame and fork and headset, folks.

On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 10:07 AM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

..  1970s tout 531 Libertas [5.9 lb 60 X 56 c-c with steel Campy hs!!] with 38 mm tires for a road-like pavement gofast combined with tires and gearing sufficient for firm-dirt explorations.

--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Andrew Turner]

Patrick, 

You pretty much hit the nail on the head! It sounds like my experience with the Roadini is similar to your Ram experience (which is ironic because I like the way the Ram rides). The memory that was conjured up while riding the Roadini was when I was a kid at a local playground and tried a handicap swingset that was freshly installed. And I thought, hey this is pretty cool, but I do feel 50x safer than would personally like to feel...I'm gonna go back to jumping out of trees on a rope swing. This feels insensitive typing it out and I don't mean to be, and I don't think my experience with the Roadini makes it a worse bike than my Waterford 1200, they're just two totally different beasts...but they're both called road bikes... 

Now there are roads 40 miles or so from my front door where I would MUCH prefer the Roadini to my Waterford, and the opportunity cost of selling the Roadini is that I'll likely forego riding those roads. But where I'm at right now, I'd rather enjoy those 40 miles on a bike that feels lively and a little dangerous and either skip, walk, or say a prayer to the pinch flat gods and overcome that short section of sketch. If I were a sleep-deprived rando rider enjoying long stretches of rough country road, the Roadini and I would get along like peas and carrots, but that ain't me right now. 

This is a can o worms I'm opening, but I'll say it anyway, maybe Rivendell shouldn't be calling the Roadini a "road" bike. It's definitely THEIR version of one but none of their models except for maybe the Roadeo fit into the industries' categories. I think Country bike and Hilibike are beautiful categorical solutions, so perhaps the Homer and Roadini deserve their own as well. Food for thought. 

Andrew

[Bill Lindsay]

As long as you never build "that Libertas" and don't ride it, its ride qualities will remain flawless forever, and the weight will only change very gradually with oxidation.  

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers - joined in the serious business of keeping our food, shelter, clothing and loved ones from combining with oxygen.”

-Vonnegut

BL in EC

[J G]

If you want to steal some marketing from another company where the ethos has had some Venn overlap, would it be fair to describe the Roadini as:

"A versatile (light) touring machine with roadie influences."

Why that description?  That is the marketing for the Salsa Casseroll that was first released in 2007.  I know the original designer for the Casseroll and as I was looking at mine, I could not help but think it screamed Roadini to me.  This is not surprising as the Bridgestone/Rivendell ethos is well baked into the Minneapolis cycling community with the "godfather" of the local cycling scene being a former BStone racer (and print model IIRC).

Sure enough, save for the differences with the 1" vs. 1 1/8" head tube and a more aggressive STA on the Casseroll, every bit about the Geo of the current Roadini is nearly identical to the similar size Casseroll.  HTA, fork offset, BB drop, CS length (if Casseroll at back of horizontals) They even marketed the sizing for these in a very Riv way as I am riding a 49cm and traditionally run a 54cm road bike.

Just my thoughts for describing as I am building a Casseroll now and could not help but notice how in every way it felt like a Roadini in sheep's clothes.

[Joe Bernard]

I think of the Roadini as a Rivendell road bike, as in "this is how Riv distills Rivness into a TIG-welded caliper-brake frame designed to be a little shorter than other Rivs, and will probably use dropbsrs and skinny-ish tires." It's not a "road bike" as the current market understands that term. 

Joe Bernard 

[Andrew Turner]

cjus...@gmail.com, sorry I don't know your name, but while staring at the finished build as one does, one of my first thoughts was, this looks a LOT like a Casseroll! I've never ridden one but am delighted that someone else made that connection. I would 100% agree with that description for the Roadini: "A versatile (light) touring machine with roadie influences." 

I also should've clarified that the 2022 Roadini model is the one I have a harder time calling a road bike. To me it's a new-age sport tourer. Lot's of bags don't even need brazeons or racks these days and I think the Roadini would carry them in stride. 

[J G]

That is pretty funny!  I assume I am in the rabbit hole alone when I make some of these connections.  Good on you for connecting as the Casseroll has been out of prod for 7 years or so IIRC.  I was comparing the 49cm 2010 Mustard Casseroll (my favorite version and just found NOS after 12 years) Geo with this version of the 50cm Roadini:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1403/7343/files/ROADINI-500-Geo.jpg?7649874663519573416

That is the link currently posted on Riv but I suspect based on some of the tire info that it is an earlier iteration, so the 2022 model may be diverging from that link and the 15 year old Casseroll design to something just a little further from a road bike in its latest version.

[Eric Daume]

Having owned a Roadini, I would go a step further and say it's basically an old school touring bike. Long, relaxed, kind of overbuilt. I've never ridden one, but I'd guess a Specialized Expedition or Miyata 1000 would feel pretty similar. By contrast, I've had a string of vintage Trek sport touring bikes, and they felt a bit snappier than the Roadini.

Eric

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/70c8a50a-714b-48e1-8b3a-dab7a8e73980n%40googlegroups.com.

[R Olson]

I have a 61cm roadeo and have ridden several other rivs and I love the way the roadeo rides.  It's the perfect bike in almost every way.  It's the most responsive bike I've ever owned.  It's quick without being twitchy.  Only problem is it's slightly too small, so I've been considering different options (besides the obvious one of just getting a size bigger from riv), including a roadini.  Along the way, I've been obsessed with comparing bikes on bike insight.  Of note, and relevant to this discussion is that I compared a 61cm Roadini with a 66cm Gunnar Grand Tour frame, and lo and behold, it's has almost the exact same geometry (see attached pic)!!  Not sure what the differences in the tubing are, but I'd bet the Gunnar touring frame has the same or even lighter tubing.  Thankful for this post and discussion, everyone.   Perhaps the roadini is not the right choice to upsize my roadeo. 

Ryan  

[Andrew Turner]

Man that geo is spot on. It's a shame Riv doesn't make a snappy bike at a cheaper pricepoint but it also seems like Grant's really shifted his gaze to the off-road, do-it-all sector. Lengthening chainstays on the Homer and calling a touring bike a road bike feels like unnecessary overlap but hey, not my call. Anyhow, Crust is here to fill the gaps. 

- Andrew 

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/dMHpoD_okGQ/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/37b2c436-7653-41b1-8f98-1c1f597dc8f3n%40googlegroups.com.

[DavidP]

Andrew - I assume you are referring to the Malocchio? Are you going that route to replace the Roadini frame? If so I'd be interested in any impressions once you have it built.

I considered one for a fendered 700x33 "roadie" build but wasn't opposed to threadless or slightly lower quality tubing so I ordered a Soma Pescadero frame. Another (inexpensive) frame with similar geometry is the Handsome Devil.

-Dave

[Andrew Turner]

No, not going with Malocchio, that one's a little too long and low for me. I went back to vintage. Joe Bunik has a frameset I couldn't resist. I'll show build pics when it's all done. 

[Patrick Moore]

Andrew: Thanks; good heads-up on the Roadini, then. As for my blue Ram, I don't want to overstate things, and it was a very nice handling bike. If I'd kept that Ram though I could probably have squeezed 38s into the frame and wouldn't have to bother with the Libertas whose fruition, as Bill says, recedes continually into the future. (Tho' the Libertas is sized better at 60/56 instead of 58/57 or whatever the Ram was.) But having reached the age where I am a lot slower than I use to be* but also modestly richer, I can afford to parse small differences and I prefer the slightly faster turn-in of my 26" wheel road customs.

* Riding home in the hooks against a stiff sidewind today on the 559 X 42 mm Naches-Pass el-shod Matthews Riv Road clone with 23 lb in the rear I was overtaken by a young 40-something on an old mountain bike with knobbies carrying his dog on a Jandd rack, tho' he was using an aero bar on his flat bar. The indignities of growing old ...

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2fe23273-e95b-42e8-8d71-b2d83eb56707n%40googlegroups.com.

[Patrick Moore]

Nay, the qualities increase in direct proportion to the procrastination. But don't be a doubter. (Well, give it more time, anyway.) You expressed skepticism about the 2020 Matthews and lo and behold, it eventually eventuated. And, I was sidetracked with plans for the Monocog replacement, about which I'm now wondering if it would be worth the cost and effort. Actually, Chauncey had agreed to repair some minor damage and have it powdercoated Molteni Orange back in 2020 when he built the Matthews #2, but he got fed up with brazing frames, got out of the business, and gave it back to me unrepaired.

Patrick Moore, with a long list of bike projects that eventually get done.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/57736c30-c1b9-4217-a278-05eddd8a93ben%40googlegroups.com.