Mick, My own experience has been that most people think you are riding an old vintage bicycle. You are only approached by other "Connoisseurs", steel bike/Rivendell owners. The subdued color of the Hillborne makes it even less conspicuous in my opinion.
Now, when I commute on my Bombadil with its double top tube, I do get some glances reflecting they are thinking I'm riding a weird crazy contraption... :-D In fact, yesterday on my ride home from work (12.5 miles), I saw another rider on what I identified as a steel bike (twilight kind of dark, stopped at a red light) just because I saw the hanging shifter cables from the bar-end shifters. As I squinted to read the down tube decal, I realized I was looking at an Atlantis. The bike couldn't have looked any more low key and I could only realize what it was because I knew what an Altantis is. I made a comment "Nice Rivendell!" and the guy turned to check out my bike and asked confused what was I riding. I explained it was a Rivendell Bombadil and all he could respond was something about the double top tubes. He had no idea what a Bombadil was. I don't think you have to worry a lot in general, and I think you're going to love it so much you won't regret it. For me, as I've been riding more and more my new Rivendell bikes, my dressing has changed accordingly. No clipless pedals and regular shoes (Merrell) also tells general riders you are not up to par, I've gotten comments from co-workers as soon as they also realize I'm riding platform pedals. The wool stuff and non-commercial cycling apparel also help give you that low key look. I'm now using the wool gloves Rivendell sells instead of my Sugoi hard core cycling gloves, and they also scream "non-hard-core-cyclist" to those being influenced by the marketing hype (as I was until late last year). Don't worry, ín my experience it's certainly nothing like driving a Porsche (which I've never done). In fact, I used to get a lot more of that showing off feeling when I rode my all-carbon Specialized Roubaix SL2... which I'm now selling. I could post some comments I've gotten from friends who've seen my Flickr pages, but I don't want Jim to expell me for posting bad language here... :-D I then have to start the lengthy process of educating them, and it's not always worth it. The worse blind man is the one who refuses to see... (transltated from Spanish so bear with me!) René On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 1:29 PM, Mick <makoep...@mac.com> wrote: > I'm very interested in buying a Sam Hillborne. I think it's a > fantastically constructed bike and aesthetically a work of art. I like > the idea of having a quality piece of machinery, that fits well, and > that could ridden for many years to come. While I can afford to drop > $2,000 (or so) on a bike, I've never owned one that costly before. I > was wondering if this owner's group could let me know if they've ever > felt uncomfortable riding an "expensive" bike or one as beautiful as > the Sam Hillborne. Is it the same as sporting around in a Porsche or > let's say a vintage Alfa Romeo? (I'm not sure I could ever do either > of these things). > > Generally speaking I like to keep a low profile. I was wondering if > that will be possible riding a Sam Hillborne. Do those riding > Rivendell's get approached often by people looking to appreciate their > bike? And is this a positive experience? Do you ever feel self- > conscious about riding such a flash bike? > > What about locking the bike and leaving it? Do you feel comfortable > doing so? Or is it so obviously expensive and sought after that you > wouldn't think of leaving it out of eye sight? > > Thanks for providing any insight you may have. I'd hate to buy a bike > that I loved, but didn't feel comfortable being seen in public with. > I'm hoping that you Rivendell riders might be able to put my mind to > rest. > > -- > 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. > > > >--
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