I guess I should note that when I first straddle the bike I was terribly worried that it was too big. I'm a 95 pbh and this is a 66cm QB. The thing is, I could feel the top tube pretty high up there and had a moment.
Then I realized I wasn't wearing shoes. I put on my normal riding shoes (just plain old New Balance walking shoes really) and tried again. It still felt a bit big but then I lifted the bike and really jammed it up there as that's as high as it's going to get. The bike was quite a ways off the ground so really there's plenty of clearance. I guess that's what happens to new Riv owners the first time they experience a properly sized frame. :-) As for the actually fit when riding...perfect. Really perfect. It's dark now and as I don't have my lighting worked out so I'm done for the day. I had a nice 10 mile ride though which was enough to absolutely fall in love. I'll be riding as a commuter the rest of the week and hopefully this weekend I'll get to try it on a longer ride, maybe Kailua and back (60 miles or so). Aloha! On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 7:00 PM, Robert F. Harrison <rfharri...@gmail.com>wrote: > I'm not much of a photographer, but I did my best. I'll be honest, it was > tough; I wanted to rip the box open and build it up immediately. I tried to > slow down a bit and take some images along the way. > > I've put the whole thing on my flickr page at: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/sets/72157622964863214/ > > The sets starts with the bike being taken off of the UPS truck...yes, I > kept checking the street. :-) > > I hope the images document the packing enough for folks to at least get > some idea of how they do it! > > Here's what happened... > > I didn't have time to do anything when the bike arrived besides open the > box to be sure there was actually a bike in there. I snapped a couple of > shots, then dragged the box inside so I could get off to a luncheon and go > back to work for a bit. > > After what seemed like a really long time I made it home. It was really > only about 3pm at this point. > > I then began pulling things out of the box, photographing as best I could > as I went. > > Once it was all in pieces everywhere I made some executive decisions. I > could either build it up completely, putting on the fenders (the SKS silver > plastic model) and the Nitto front rack, or I could get it mostly together > and go for a ride. > > I chose the ride of course. > > It took about an hour of unpacking and building before I was ready for a > test ride around the block. > > For those of you who wonder, the bike was packed superbly. Even the plastic > bubble wrap was cut precisely to fit around stays and the like. I was very > impressed. Still am. > > After a ride around the block I took it back upstairs and packed a little > kit just in case I had trouble, readjusted the seat and handlebars, and took > off down the road. Within a block I realized I was going to have to get swap > sides on the gearing. I had Rich build my wheels to be a bit better than > stock because I'm a bit of clydesdale. They have the standard QB Suzue hubs > rear and aft but Synergy rims instead of the Mavic. I have a White dual > 16-19 on one side and no name 22 on the flip. Up front is the standard > 32-40, for now at least. When bike shipped it was running 32-22. I could > climb the walls on the side of my building but was outrunning myself on the > flat Honolulu streets. > > No trouble switching - took a minute the first time. > > Because I had no 700c tubes around I went to one of the several LBSs in the > area. I'm not going to mention it because the guys were a bit confused by my > Quickbeam. "Dude, that's way, way too big for you." "How much does it > weigh?" "Did you take the derailleurs off?" In short they didn't know what > to make of it. > > After getting a couple of tubes I was off. I rode down the Ala Moana Park > and then to Kakaako Waterfront Park, then home. > > The ride was...superb. That's the only way to describe it. I did have to > adjust the seat height a couple of times...probably will again tomorrow. > > This bike is nimble, easy to ride, and very, very comfortable. It is, > without a doubt, the best bike I've ever owned and the best single speed > I've ever ridden. I rode a couple of geared bikes at Rivendell last March so > those take the cake as best geared bikes. :-) > > I've got to work out some details yet. There's the front rack, the fenders, > and I'll have to do something about lighting. I'm thinking of getting a SON > at some point because this really is my commuter and I ride a lot at night. > But I'll worry about lighting later. For now I'll get by with what I've got. > > Aloha! > > On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 12:22 PM, doug peterson <dougpn...@cox.net> wrote: > >> Robert: >> >> As you unpack the bike, please take the time to take photos of the >> packing and post those as well. I regularly ship my bike for tours >> and thought I'd gotten good, but when my Atlantis showed up it was >> fantastic how they'd packed it. I took photos, stored them on my >> computer, only to lose the hard drive (argghh!) without back up. I'm >> sure others would appreciate seeing how Riv does it. They've said >> they're going to put up photos on their site but it's been a while. >> You would be doing a public service, if you can restrain yourself! >> >> dougP >> >> On Dec 8, 12:45 pm, "Robert F. Harrison" <rfharri...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > My QB arrived about 5 minutes ago. I went in to work very early so I >> could >> > run the jobs I absolutely must get done on Tuesdays (without making my >> > co-workers do them). Then I headed home as soon as I saw the "out for >> > delivery" notice on the UPS site. >> > >> > About 10am HST I got a call from the UPS driver asking if I would be >> home >> > later. I said yes, except that between 11-2pm I needed to be away and >> the >> > manager of my condo would be in. He asked me to please make sure because >> the >> > box, while not heavy, was bulky. I asked when he thought he'd make it >> and he >> > said not till afternoon. Sigh. >> > >> > Then he drove up. I could hear him joking with someone outside saying, >> "I >> > told him this afternoon." I immediately broke out the camera and snapped >> my >> > box being offloaded. It'll be part of a flickr album later. >> > >> > He brought the box up to my apartment and I gave him a cold soda and >> told >> > him he was my hero for the day. Apparently I'm going to have more than >> one >> > hero though because, as you guys said, the bike is packed immaculately. >> And >> > unfortunately I'm going to have to leave it that way for a bit as I have >> to >> > dash out for my companies annual anniversary banquet. Folks with years >> of >> > service in multiples of five are being feted. I made ten years and they >> are >> > pretty insistent about showing up. >> > >> > Luckily it'll be over around 1:30pm so I can ride home on my other >> single >> > speed (now my "rain bike") and start putting things together. There >> doesn't >> > appear to be a whole lot to do (thankfully), so I'll probably be able to >> > take it out for spin before dark. >> > >> > I'd love to stay and play with it, but the sooner I get this luncheon >> over >> > with, the sooner I can play with my "anniversary present." >> > >> > Aloha for now! >> > >> > Bob >> > >> > -- >> > Robert Harrison >> > rfharri...@gmail.com >> > statrixblog.statrix.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-bu...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. >> >> >> > > > -- > Robert Harrison > rfharri...@gmail.com > statrixblog.statrix.com > -- Robert Harrison rfharri...@gmail.com statrixblog.statrix.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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