Grant, Can I offer an idea here. For many companies, part of the mystique and elements that build the long-termcult appeal are these very rare white elephant or skunk-works products.
An example would be Fat City Tandems, or the Ibis Scorcher. Soemtimes these items are strokes of genius, but sometimes they are random accidents. I imagine this bike, if left as-is would develop a lore of it's own. The one odd-ball, that passes through collections, hoepfully gets ridden hard, and maybe ends up in one of the bike museums. I remember form one of your first Readers a piece talking about how you imagined 100 years in the future that someone would dig out a rough frame from the scrap heap, and would be able to tell by the lugs and design that it was a Rivendell (my memory isn't so strong, but I think that's how it went). Somehow this bike, while not being pure to your vision, would be one of these frames that bike scholar's argue about, and bike geeks stay up all night chatting about when and where they first heard about it. Just looking at the enthusiasm this one-off has cused on this board would be an indication of how this bike is already a cult object, and your fans are afraid that this one white elephant would be stripped of its tusks... Plkeas, take a bit of time to reflect. Maybe this is an opportunity to think about where in the life of Rivendell you need or want to inject these rare and truly unique gems (or aberations) into your legacy. Thanks! Braden On Apr 23, 1:22 am, Grant Petersen <gr...@rivbike.com> wrote: > The bike is beautiful, yes, but for a complication of reasons, not all of > which are rational, it will be transformed, plained-down, de-'caled, and > repainted. Canti-bosses will be added to the seat stays, and it'll be made > rackable, and 'enderable---so it will be way more go, tho' some less show. > It may *seem* a shame, but it's not. It will be a *happy* transformation. If > we put a dollar value on the time spent on this bike, it would be the most > expensive bike we've ever done. More than 40 hours of consultation over two > years. It's OK, part of the deal, but after all that, catharsis is the only > option. This showgirl's going to get a good scrub-down and work on the farm, > and in my estimation, will be more beautiful for it. > My only regret, and it's not a small one, is that Joe Bell's labor will be > undone. All...$900 or so of it. We've been good customers to JB over the > years and ask his understanding this one rare time, and your's, too. > > Grant > > -- > 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. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- 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. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
