Yesterday was a big day on a personal level. Not only have I now doubled my Rivendell bike ownership, but also did my first bike build since getting back into riding four years ago.
Stopped at Hiawatha to pick up the frame and have master mechanic Mongo Mark install a front cantilever cable hanger and spray some framesaver. Was even able to open up the box and unpack the bike. (Ahh, new bike smell. Or was that just the framesaver?) Some comments on the Hillborne. First off, wow! From the previous photos was expecting a slightly dark green. What I see instead is a lovely medium green. Beautiful. With a lot of depth to the paint. And the details - my goodness. Lugwork is excellent. (Of course.) Especially like the little "shark fin" at the back of the fork crown lug. Great touch. The overall lines and proportions of the bike look right. After building, happen to lean the Hillborne near my Atlantis. Sam has nothing to be ashamed of. He can easily hold his own with the likes of a truly classic frame. Spent the evening building up the bike. Nothing too fancy, in fact, except for the brakes, just about everything else was lying around the garage waiting for a bike frame. Some of my parts choices will not be approved by everyone. Specifically going with Noodle bars and a dirt drop stem. However, as of now, the bars are 4 to 6 cm higher than the saddle. A good starting point for getting back into drop bars. Although now need to wrap the top tube to prevent the bar end shifters from smacking it. Yes, it happened quite a few times during the build<grin>. Only one issue during the build. If one is going to use cantilever brakes, be careful picking the rear cable hanger. Am using basically the same one Rivendell sells. However, needed to grind off some of the back of the hanger to get it to fit around a 5mm bolt and still have the seatpost slide in easily. Not a big issue, but does bear mentioning. So only rode it around our circle drive and up a small hill. And it is impossible to compare it to any other of my bikes as each is set up so differently. The quick impression is it tracks true and is really, really comfortable. Hopefully a longer ride today will confirm that impression. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
