One doesn't putt with a driver . . . I've ridden all three of my "all-rounder" Riv's in less than 24 hours. Last night, I wore a suit and tie and rode my bike to a wedding. I've only got one tie, one suit, and one nice pair of shoes, but I had to think for a moment before I chose which bike to ride! The Atlantis looked the nicest according to my five-year-old neighbor, so he suggested I might look the most "dressed up" on that bike.
This morning, we were presented with a lovely day. My wife and I took a long, dirt road ride into the mountains carting along a bunch of water and lunch. Thinking I might like to do a little single track, I naturally chose the Bombadil. We returned from the ride, sat for a bit and then decided to head on down to town for a beer at our local watering hole and then pick up some groceries for dinner on the way back. Nothing like a single speed for that kind of mission - the Quickbeam got the job done nicely. Tomorrow, I head back to work with a need to carry a bunch of awkward items to my office. I'm also picking up a wheel at the LBS at lunch. Let's see, I'll need to take my truck . . . the Surly Big Dummy. I could accomplish everything on any one of my versatile Riv's, my Soma Smoothie ES or the Surly. Perhaps even the old Fuji fixie would work. And ya know, I HAVE played an entire 18 holes with just a driver and it WAS fun. Still, there is a joy and a sense of style in doing a job well with just the *right* tool. The all-rounder isn't a myth, it's simply just one way to enjoy the beauty of bikes. Dave On Sep 7, 6:11 pm, PATRICK MOORE <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM, cm <chrispmur...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > In my experience, the one-bike-for-everything bike is more in the head > > of the bike owner than the bike itself. The reality is that almost > > every bike is capable of doing (almost) everything. The issue is > > whether or not the cyclist is happy with that level of performance. > > You can ride on the road, commute, mt. bike, tour, and more on a > > mountain bike. I could ride my all-rounder for everything, though I > > may not be able to ride with a group of carbon race bikes, mountain > > bike with the FS crowd, or tour with tourists. But I am pretty happy > > with the performance of the AR in each category. No matter what bike I > > ride, I will never be the fastest, so the improvements in speed from > > switching bikes is purely for my own ego. > > > A central component to a one bike is "making do"-- and that is > > something that people seem to have forgotten. > > I disagree, to a point (or, perhaps that's after a point), with myself as a > counter example. My custom Rivs will take, at most, a 35, 28 with fenders, > and the wheels are small ones, 559 or 571. There is no way I could ride > either of these, even with new tires, in the sandy soil of our bosque. > There's even no way I could ride these on less soft off road surfaces, since > they were built, per my instructions, for pavement riding only. > > In my own case (to continue talking about myself, which fascinates everyone, > no?) the most versatile bike in the sense of, dammit!, choose one bike for > everything and shut up!, would be the most extreme, the Redline Monocog > 29er, since that *can* accept very fat tires with fenders, and also tires as > narrow as you wish to mount (doubtless with disastrous results to the > handling if below about 35 mm wide). > > Sure, one bike can do everything; you can climb Everest in a tuxedo. But it > won't be fun. My idea of an all rounder is (1) that it be biased to do > better either on road or off, and (2) that you accept compromises even with > this bias. > > Personally (me again!) I have: gofast (fixed); commuter (fixed); grocery and > beater (fixed); and off road bike (ss). > > -- > Patrick Moore > Albuquerque, NM > Professional Resumes. Contact resumespecialt...@gmail.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
