List, I can't help but put the exclamation point after it, I really can't. (Alternative—but no less ebullient—subject: "Quickbeam alights! to storm the gates of Isengard".)
After three years on an '83 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe which I just love to death but which is objectively quite small for me and not terribly versatile (why no 27" tires fatter than 1 1/4"? I'll never know), I took the plunge recently and picked up a 68cm 2004 Quickbeam frame and accoutrements. I'm giving my car to a cousin in Los Angeles, who needs four motorized wheels to schlep film school equipment around those mean streets, and aim to make Quickbeam! my main commuting, grocery-getting, trip-to-the- coasting ride around Portland. Here's a few pictures of the assembly, and yet-unfinished (but still eminently rideable) Quickbeam!: http://doormouse.org/pics/quickbeam/index.html It's really just wonderful having a bike that really fits (though I expect I could get away with a few more cm still), and the boggled eyes of those that see this bicycle-horse hybrid are really just priceless. (See, e.g., http://img33.yfrog.com/i/5ft.jpg/ for a typical example.) On the back is a Sturmey-Archer 8-speed internal hub, whose gear range I was a skosh worried about but seems just fine, just fine indeed. (Still need to figure out which clicks are normal and which might be my fault.) It's attached (via a slightly lax chain in those shots) to the Sugino 32[-40] crank w/chainguard that Rivendell sells and all the LBS in Portland seem to think doesn't really exist. Grip kings, a wide flipped Albatross, and bar-end brakes complete the ensemble. If Sir will direct his attention to the front wheel, Sir will note a Sturmey-Archer dynamo/drum brake hub. The drum brake was an error on the part of the wheelbuilders, but they didn't charge me extra for it, and it seems to work great so far. (I'm a little worried about fork torsion—big dude on this big bike. Will call Riv soon and enquire. Still have an extra set of calipers just in case, but it'd be a shame to let all that engineering go to waste.) Both wheels are laced to Velocity Dyad 36h rims, with Marathon Supreme tires, which I am entirely convinced is all the suspension I'll ever need. Portland plugs: - Veloce built the wheels, and they seem quite strong, and the folks were friendly (at least, compared to wheelbuilders I've met before). - The guys at A Better Cycle on 23rd and Division are my new favorite people in town. They let me take up pretty much their whole open-air workshop for the weekend with nary a complaint, and plenty of help. (Going to have to bring them a case of something soon.) - City Bikes has really good and affordable used parts, are also uncommonly friendly for a bikeshop, and were the only place with Albatross bars I could find all over town. STILL to DO: 0. Dynamo lights. City Bikes looked to have a great selection of Lumotec dynamo lamps. Their retro shiny silver lamp is appealing, but might be a little much; I'm also drawn to the plain-jane functionality of their ordinary halogen + standlight, whose styling does not offend me in the slightest. We'll see. 1. Fenders. I'm going to try my old fenders tonight. They might fit. They are chromed and a bit rust-pitted but have done their jobs admirably so far. These are something of a priority. Portland has been dry the last couple of days, but there was some utterly Biblical fury on Saturday that made me absolutely tremble under A Better Cycle's rain tent as I greased my bottom bracket. Yes, these had better come soon. 2. Racks. Fitting a back rack to this thing is going to be a nightmare, I expect. Only one eyelet, but even more so, the 68cm seat tube makes for a really intensely steep rear fork, and all the racks I've looked at simply expect the stays to be about 3-6 inches frontwards from where they actually are. It might take some doing, or else a bit of a breather for the checkbook followed by a trip to one of the many builders in town to see what might be done. As far as the front, if I end up keeping the drum brake and leave the canti bosses free, it's just aching for a Nitto M-12 in my estimation. Investigating the possibility of sewing some thick leather onto the back of my Filson shoulder bag and using the long rear support as a kind of decaleur. For longer trips the long (really, really long) headtube leaves a lot of room for handlebar bags, though I suspect that no one has thought of turning a tall camping backpack into one, as would clearly fit my Redwood of a frame. With so much headtube exposed, I'm also interested in experimenting with mounting a rack there, as opposed to on the fork/handlebars. I understand this was the style in England for quite a while, and can improve handling with heavy loads. 3. Tape and such. I'm waiting to figure out exactly how I want the handlebars. The Albatrosses get me very upright, and the flip makes the center a little more comfortable for my wrists I think. The godawful Sturmey twist-shifter is going to make aesthetics a difficult proposition, but I expect to overcome this with twine/leather/shellac/ good old-fashioned American elbow grease. 4. A sprung honey Brooks is in transit from the Old Country even as we speak. 5. Ride! Friend Will and I (a RBWer as well) are mounting a weekend expedition through Napa/Sonoma environs the beginning of next month, with his lovely significant other and a lawschool friend of mine. Pictures to follow. Any comments, questions, suggestions, anything for a new Rivendeller are entirely welcome. Thanks, devin --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
