Roadini 1000 mile review

[Piaw Na]

I've now ridden my Roadini for 1000 miles, and I wrote my review: https://blog.piaw.net/2023/05/rivendell-roadini-1000-mile-review.html

I think I'm agreeing with the folks who say that gravel bikes are simply 1990s style mountain bikes with 700c wheels and 1x drivetrains.

[Ian A]

Piaw,

Thank you for your review. You mention fitting nominally 40mm wide tires and I would be curious to know what the maximum tire widths with and without fenders are? 

Your review in the final paragraph draws reference to toe-clip overlap (TCO) and I was wondering if you could expand on that. Do you experience TCO on the Roadini?  I wasn't quite sure if you were referencing the Roadini or an idea for a custom in this snippet of the review "  It gets rid of the toe clip overlap (which doesn't bother me but now that I know how to solve it without making a bike handle badly".

IanA Alberta Canada

[Piaw Na(藍俊彪)]

Max tire width according to Rivendell is 42mm. I don't like to push it that close, so I think in practice I won't run anything more than 38mm actual width. I have no TCO on the Roadini. The TCO exists on my custom touring bike, which has a geometry copied from the 1993 Bridgestone RB-1 with a longer chainstay and lower BB.

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[John Bokman]

Thanks for the review! As a daily drop-bar Sam rider, I'm well accustomed to the Rivendell ride. It's been a great bike for my uses: commuting, heavy loading. But, as a light (155# @ 6 foot tall), spinner,  I wish for a bike that is lighter, less stiff, and more flexible to ride when I want to charge hills and generally explore at speed on day rides. I am interested in this frame for these reasons. But I hesitate because I'm not sure of the tubing specs. I don't want it to be too much bike for me! Sam is less than ideal on the rides I imagine doing on the Roadini.

I'd love to see some photos of your machine if you have any available.

John

Portland, OR

[Piaw Na(藍俊彪)]

Here are some pictures of my Roadini: https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/XO7eDWt_RaCyVFynaZsftA.vhwY43mas9VqIf5gM0Swqo

The bike as pictured weighs 24 pounds. It was 21 pounds with no toolbag and lighter wheels and 30mm tires. It's possible to get lighter steel (or titanium) bikes, but then the costs go up dramatically as you're likely to have to go custom with correspondingly high wait times.

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[Steve]

I love the orange Roadinis and I really like your build.  Some may not agree, but there is something about a bike whose rider pushes it beyond its design intent.    Is that an Shimano Ultegra crank that's you've set up as a 1x?     Looks good,

[John Bokman]

Piaw, thanks for the comments and pictures! Looks like you're having loads of fun.

I would likely be running  downtube shifters and a 2x with a long cage derailieur to get my low gears. You must be running, what,  an 11x50? I'm sorry for the redundant question if it's listed on the website,  but are these oversized tubes? They look to be 28.6cm at least? Yet you still feel it is a compliant frame? (No judgement, just trying to decipher.)

[Piaw Na(藍俊彪)]

I love the orange Roadinis and I really like your build.  Some may not agree, but there is something about a bike whose rider pushes it beyond its design intent.    Is that an Shimano Ultegra crank that's you've set up as a 1x?     Looks good,

That is indeed an Ultegra SL triple crank retrofitted with  a Wolftooth 38t chainring. 

[Eric Daume]

Hi John,

I’m 6’3”, 180 pounds, and briefly had a 61cm Roadini. It has some weird tapering to the tubes, but I think it was basically double OS on that size. Maybe 28.6 tapering to 31.8 or something. It felt stiff and not particularly responsive to me. It’s not like an old vintage road bike with a 25.4mm top tube. 

My ‘84 Trek rides better, but doesn’t have the tire clearance or long wheelbase of the Roadini. 

Eric

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[Piaw Na]

I got out my calipers --- the top tube, head tube, and seat tubes are 29mm (most likely 28.6), and the downtube is 31.5mm (most likely 31.8). It doesn't feel stiff to me, but since I broke 2 ti frames, my guess is each time I broke one my custom builder proceeded to build me bikes with thicker/heavier tubing, so it's quite possible that my ti touring bike is so stiff that OS tubing feels right. The seatpost is 26.8mm, so that means the tube is 1.2mm thick at the ends and thinner in the middle. Since the tubes used by Rivendell aren't disclosed, you'd have to ride it to see how stiff you think it is. I don't have a 1993 Bridgestone RB-1 to compare, but when I rode that one I wasn't nearly as strong or as abusive to bicycles as I am now. I was considerably lighter (113 pounds), and wasn't taking my road bikes off pavement, jumping ditches, etc. (That RB-1 died when a Volvo hit me)

Looking at this page: https://www.veloduo.co.uk/blogs/news/steel-frame-tubing-fact-and-mythology, the typical steel frame seat tube has an outside diameter of 28.6 (which is pretty much what I measured). I know Grant is conservative about tubing (which is why I'm so confident about riding the Roadini off pavement), so a wall thickness of 1.2mm (being 0.4mm thicker than the 531 standard) wouldn't surprise me.

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[John Bokman]

Eric, thanks for your thoughts. I was guessing the frame tubes were about as thick as my Sam. I know there is a lot more to how a bike feels than purely frame tube size, but I'd be reluctant to go to the same tubing for this type of bike and my desired riding.

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 4:01:04 AM UTC-7 Eric Daume wrote:

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[John Bokman]

Piaw, thanks for taking the time to measure!

Although I have been a customer of Rivendell since their inception and  was a Bridgestone rider previously, I would like to support them as much as possible. However, I find it frustrating that they don't list frame tubing specs. I understand there are many reasons why they would not do so. But, as someone who would be buying a frame from out of state, sight unseen, it's a tough sell. As you rightly suggest, the only way to know how it feels is to ride one.