Roadeo disconcertingly nice!

[Patrick Moore]

Second ride today, short errand + detour ride to PO, LBS, and Sprout’s; stopped to lower the new-to-bike Ritchey 9 cm (20*? 30*?) stem by 5 mm; bar is now about 2” below saddle, as for customs — but it feels more relaxed for some reason. It’s quite possible my measurements are inept.

At any rate, reducing bar height by 5 mm immediately made me feel more balanced; saddles in all cases are the same models, same setback, same height, and same distance from tips of brake hoods. 

But I somehow feel more relaxed on the Roadeo. Perhaps the long STI hoods, supremely comfortable, compared to the already very comfortable old Dura Ace pre-STI levers on the other road bikes, make the difference?

Also, at least compared to the struggle with the gofast ride the other day —  tire, pushed a slightly too high gear too hard against moderate sidewind — the Roadeo seems easier to pedal in the same gear (76”/75”).

I hope I don’t start questioning decades-old convictions! But I daresay, had I the opportunity to buy Roadeos before I bought my customs, I’d have bought Roadeos — have the dropouts on a couple changed to long horizontals.

Or perhaps it’s all still new bike smell.

The 32 mm Stampede Pass ELs are superbe, and 50/55 f/r is probably about 5 lb too high. But wheels 2.5” bigger than the 26ers certainly do smooth out small, sharp bumps.

Carried 13.5” X 11” X 6” box to PO, and 50 fl oz of Fosters plus other groceries and small bike stuff home in big Timbuk2; fine outbound, hassle on return — bag keeps migrating to right. Must find small saddlebag for Roadeo. All: ISO Carradice Barley in Black or Burgundy, new or VG. Have green one VG to trade, as well as other things and cash. (Green doesn’t go with white + red accent Roadeo.)

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Patrick Moore

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

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I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Patrick Moore]

BTW: do other riders of both the Ram and the Roadeo notice a distinctly greater “nimbleness” with the Roadeo? As I’ve said before, one — merely ancillary — reason I sold my blue Ram was that, compared to my 26” wheel road customs, it felt a bit too slow in the transition from straight line to corner. The Roadeo very definitely feels much more like my customs.

[Patrick Moore]

More millimeter changes making kilometer differences in fit and feel.

So comfortable was the Roadeo today, esp after lowering the bar 5 mm to (discovered only post facto) match the drop on the gofast, that I went back and re-measured saddle setback and bar height on the Matthews fixed IGH Riv road clone. I thought I’d precisely mimicked the distances on the 1999 gofast when I readjusted things some months ago — and the fit did improve; but was still subtilely “off,” and I found a bit too much setback and a bit too much bar height. So I gently tapped the saddle about 1/2” forward on the rails to the canonical 3” behind bb, and lowered the bar also by about 1/2”, giving me the conventional 2” between saddle and bar and ~27” between saddle nose and hood tips; it all feels much better, meaning that the torso is more naturally “suspended between saddle and bar and the arms feel more relaxed, with a more natural bend when on the hooks; and also, the hooks feel more natural; all due to the core muscles holding up the torso better, I’d guess.

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Patrick Moore]

and the arms feel more relaxed, with a more natural bend when on the hoods ...

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

… s; it all feels much better, meaning that the torso is more naturally “suspended between saddle and bar and the arms feel more relaxed, with a more natural bend when on the hooks ...

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Do like me, get a couple more of the same heavenly bike, make different iterations, ride off into sunset. Bonus if you clap rainbow-y colored flashy parts on there.

[Patrick Moore]

Yes, a stable of at least 4, no make that 5, heck, let’s say 6 sparkling Roadeos each with different builds and colors (19 lb gofast, 17 lb fixed gear gofast, errand/commuting multispeed IGH fixed with racks, fenders, lights, ditto IGH freewheel (AM hub) errand, dirt road model modified with new fork to take 48s, oh, the possibilities are endless!

I’m very grateful to have the one. I do wish the components weren’t anodized black that scuffs and scratches so easily, but I can change that in the future. Meanwhile I have been very pleasantly surprised at  how much I like it as-is. I just fear that it might become my fave, and then what will I say to the 1999? Even worse, riding with multiple derailleur gears may become my new normal instead of riding fixed gear. 

Immediate changes: try a nice pair of original Dura Ace single pivots, the model with the very nice barrel-shaped qr, with salmon pads of course, in place of the lackluster Tektros with OEM pads; switch braking to right lever/front brake; replace the 11-32 with a 14-32 to get rid of annoying mid-range 2-tooth gaps.

Will keep reporting … and reporting, and reporting, and reporting, and repor...

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[Joe Bernard]

I've only ridden a Roadeo once around RBW HQ, it had the requisite black 105 clicky stuff. Magical. So different from the Romulus and Rambouillet I owned as to not even be in the same category of bicycle. Be like Leah, get 4! 🙌

[Pat McCullar]

I've never ridden a Roadeo or a Rambouillet, but I do have a custom that Rivendell refers to as a "semi-relaxed road bike". After a visit to Rivendell earlier this year, and a discussion with Grant, I came away with the following understanding of the difference of these bikes: the Roadeo is more nimble than my custom; my custom is more nimble than a Rambouillet. Grant referred to head-tube shallowness (I think), not nimbleness, but I think the one affects the other. I think that would be consistent with your experience with your new  Roadeo and memories of your Rambouillet. 

I did ride a Roadini while I as there, but not enough to appreciate any difference from my custom. 

Pat

 

On Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 9:15:21 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote:

[Patrick Moore]

That’s very interesting; thanks. At least, it reassures me that my “no science used here” seat-of-pants estimation of ride differences isn’t pure fantasy. At any rate, the Roadeo seems to have hit the perfect mix of stability and agility to suite my very particular taste.

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[John Dewey]

I hopped on the RAM @ 2004, still aboard. 

Joe Bell applied his magic a few years ago to clean up a small spot of corrosion in a.weird place under one of the seat-stays. I'm crazy about that kind of stuff, just can't have it. RAM replaced a Waterford RSE22 (road sport extended) which, for some reason, didn't work for me—and then WF retired RSE shortly thereafter.

I suspect ROADEO is a bit lighter but RAM works well for me...certainly as entertaining as my custom, skinny-tube EBISU which is quite spritely for want of a better word. The issue I have with ROADEO is no DT lever bosses. The complexity of brifters annoys me so I'm married to DA downtube levers...and I enjoy the shifting. Right hand for both derailers—the way Eddy used to do it 🙃

YMMV, of course, but some of our eccentricities remind me of arguing about those angels on the head of a pin.

Jock (who's writing rather than pedaling on account of too wet out there just now)

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[Bill Lindsay]

"The issue I have with ROADEO is no DT lever bosses."

This is an incorrect statement.  The Roadeo is/was built to order, and when one ordered a Roadeo, they specified a small number of things, including whether or not they wanted down tube shifter bosses.  My Roadeo has down tube shifter bosses, because I ordered it that way.  Some Roadeo frames out there in second-hand-land don't have down tube shifter bosses because the human being who originally ordered it didn't choose down tube shifter bosses.  When there has been a floor model Roadeo at Riv HQ, it has usually been spec'd by Mark Abele, who tends to like brifters and the minimalist setup of an inline barrel adjuster and slotted stops on the down tube.  

One time when I walked in, several years back, Will told me that the staff was split 50/50 on whether to do down tube shifter bosses on the new forthcoming Leo Roadini model, and Will asked me to cast the tie-breaking vote.  I voted for down tube shifter bosses, and the Roadini still has them.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Pat McCullar]

I have a vague (and possibly incorrect) recollection that the Rodeo was originally only available without the downtube bosses, at least partially because it allowed thinner walls for the downtube. 

Pat

[Pat McCullar]

Just found this, with regard to DT bosses:

https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/jGVJ1Xk__e0/m/dEk9Mg2jXb4J