Paul, I love this story. Your daughter is a very good bike builder, and as a bit of a 'clean bike' person myself I really appreciate how sparkly all the parts are!
That stem on your wife's Clem is amazing, I've never seen one that tall! I'll bet it's super useful, as a person with arthritis in his hands I can certainly appreciate the problem this solves. Nice find, mate! On Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 3:22:30 PM UTC-8 Paul in Vermont wrote: > Hello Leah. > > Thanks for your note totally grateful for what you wrote. > > My wife is semi-handicapped — she has a hereditary joint inflammation > disease that makes her arms and hands go numb if she puts weight on them > for extended periods of time. Picture of her Clem (blue) is attached below > with crazy high handlebars I found on eBay to get the weight off her wrists > and arms. We did her first 25 mile ride in years this past weekend here in > VT. > > Kind of funny that her 52 Clem frame is the identical size to my 12-year > old daughter's with the opposite extreme of saddle and bar height! > > Back to my daughter's Clem: I feel strongly that one of the best arguments > for small quality bike brands like Rivendell is the resale market. I know > that I can build a bike up myself and sell it for 80%-110% of the cost > five years later. So if for some reason she gets into competitive > mountain biking, or shoots up to 5'11" :) we can just trade in and trade up. > > One random thing I've been thinking about Rivendell lately is that they > could help support their brand by having a trade-in section on their > website. Essentially customers like us could post our old frames, bikes, > and parts up other their site, and sell them through Riv who would get a > cut. That way they get a piece of the secondary market, and given that many > of their frames and parts are constantly sold out, this could go a ways to > supporting the company long term. > > 😍 > > Paul > > PS: By the way, does anyone know how I can set it so that I don't have to > wait for my posts to be approved? I've written to Cyclofiend and got no > response. It often takes a week to get responses like this up!!! > > [image: IMG_1237 (1).jpeg] > > On Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 8:47:04 AM UTC-5 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! > wrote: > >> I can’t express enough how delighted I was reading this story over my >> coffee this morning. >> >> What a perfect 2020 homeschooling project, and one for the family memory >> book, at that. She built a Rivendell in the bike boom during the pandemic >> of 2020, sounds like a good writing project for ELA, to boot! >> >> This 12 year old child knows more than I do about bike mechanics, so I am >> blown away. What a bright child. And I’m sure she got to spend loads of >> time alongside her dad as she learned, another bonus. Your friend is wrong >> in his estimation of this bike... >> >> It is not expensive; it is priceless. >> >> There is another List member who gave a blue 52 Clem L to his daughter >> for her 11th birthday just recently. The great thing about the Clems is >> that you can grow into them. At 12, if your daughter can fit a 52 you’re >> golden; unless she is taller than 5’ 10” in a few years, this is her size. >> Permanently. Another reason to sing the praises of the Clementine, as if we >> needed one more. But anyway, my kids are both on Clems, so you’ll get no >> criticism from ME. The boys each have a Clem H, and I hope riding good, >> comfortable, capable bikes fosters a love for cycling that will stay with >> them as adults. There is one List member who gave her teen girl an >> ATLANTIS, and Analog decked it out with the teenager’s favorite Lord of the >> Rings quotes - typed it on bar tape with a typewriter! >> >> What is your wife’s Clem like? Does she have the same color? Different? >> And as Clems are rare as hen’s teeth these days, where did you find one for >> your daughter? >> >> Thanks so much for sharing this story. It’s wonderful! >> Leah >> >> >> >> On Monday, November 30, 2020 at 11:11:53 PM UTC-8 Paul in Vermont wrote: >> >>> Hello RBW Friends. >>> >>> My 12 year old daughter shot up this year, and it was time for a new >>> bicycle! >>> >>> We've homeschooled her since Kindergarten. One of the great advantages >>> is that the kids drive the curriculum (with our guidance) so when we do >>> stuff, it's stuff they tend to be REALLY interested in. So when she asked >>> to build her own bike with me as the tutor I was all in. >>> >>> We toyed with the idea of finding and rebuilding a vintage mixte, but >>> turns out used awesome step-through frames are hard to come by. We >>> eventually settled on a 53 Clem L like her mother rides. >>> >>> Images attached, including notes, drawings of tools, and instant photos >>> of progress. She's fitted every screw with her own hands, and even sweated >>> putting on the Big Bens by herself. >>> >>> It may not look like it, but lots of the parts are from the parts bin — >>> they don't look it because she scrubbed everything before we started, even >>> made an old 10-speed cassette and shifter shine with degreaser. All that's >>> left is chain, derailleur, rack, and fenders. >>> >>> Plus, she'll maintain it herself (and I won't have to! Woo!). >>> >>> One of my friends made a side comment about setting up a kid with such a >>> nice (read: not cheap) bike. I totally disagree. It's my experience that a >>> good bike with solid components is a killer investment, especially for a >>> teenager. She'll ride it twice as much as a cheap clunker, and this one >>> will last all the way to adulthood and beyond. Plus if she ever wants a >>> different ride, a used Riv sells on this forum for a good percentage of >>> what it cost us to put together! >>> >>> Besides learning actual skills and getting to spend time together >>> working with our hands, almost the most important lesson is respect for >>> good things, rather than just buying more cheap junk you replace when it >>> breaks. That's a life lesson about love that extends far beyond the >>> bicycle! Much needed in today's world. >>> >>> PS: For those of you have kids and who are considering it, homeschooling >>> rules. >>> >>> Costs way less than private school (if you can afford that) and many, >>> many less hours than public school and zero peer pressure to do dumb stuff. >>> At 12, she's still a fairy about half the time — when she isn't building >>> bikes, monkeying around with electronics, taking care of the pigs at a >>> local farm, or doing math homework, which she actually loves because >>> there's nobody to tell her not to love it. >>> >>> So much for the horrors of puberty! >>> >>> Much love. >>> >>> Paul >>> >>> [image: IMG_1297.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_1300.jpeg] >>> >>> [image: IMG_1298.jpeg] >>> >>> [image: IMG_1299.jpeg] >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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