First, I have to say that bikes like Pam's Betty are, to my mind and eye, the *most *beautiful. Those that show years of love, utility, wear and tens of thousands of miles on the road. More beautiful to me by far than a perfect fresh paint job.
I don't go out of my way to abuse my Rivs but I'm a bit careful and when the occasional dumb ding or mishap occurs (always my fault! Sometime in collaboration with the cruel and indifferent Old Man Gravity) it stings but I do my best to let that go. I'm not so much concerned about scrapes, dings, chips but I am bothered by real damage that requires replacement or repair. My Hillborne was repainted by a local frame builder and the paint job is a *little brittle.* Like, paint popping off from chain slap, paint popping off from removing the frame pump. I'm trying to not be too precious about it. My Appaloosa is about a year old. This summer I leaned it up against a building and I didn't do a good job. It pitched over and I thought "Oh *brother*." There's a scratch in my brake lever, can't detect any other damage. When I had my Surly that sucker pitched over off the kickstand more times than I could count. I almost got used to it. Never had any damage to my paint, racks. Some scratches to my bar end shifters. I have a harder time with true damage to a frame or component where something ends up broken. At a bike rack I just don't want someone else to do something stupid and bend my rack struts or damage my Schmidt lamp. I did get pushed over by a van at low speed in January of 2022 (no injury to me, kinda scary, I'm okay). It ruined a wheel (made it into a taco) and bent the fork. That was painful and harder to deal with. Appaloosa is road worthy as of late spring with a new Rich-built Cliffhanger with a Son hub. Enduring damage to a bike that puts it out of commission can "do terrible things to, let us say, the gyroscope of the soul," as Tom Wolfe wrote in the Right Stuff. On Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 7:26:51 PM UTC-4 rmro...@gmail.com wrote: > I like to think I am both. Ride it hard, lavish it with love & hope for > the best. I’ve owned bikes more “precious” that most Rivs, custom hand made > by one craftsman bikes, and those makers share Grants sentiment. These > (bikes) are tools first. That said, nothing wrong with protecting your > investment. It’s very hard to not want to protect the beauty of an object > someone worked so hard to make beautiful. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Nov 5, 2022, at 6:15 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Did you read Grant’s Blahg? He covers a lot of ground, but most notable > to me was the Please Don’t Be Precious About Your Rivendell section. In > sum, Grant is saying it saddens him to think of people riding beater bikes > instead of their Rivendells to do daily, monotonous tasks - because those > tasks make up a lot of real life. If one “saves” their Rivendell, it will > not realize its potential, sit mostly unused and then pass to one’s heirs > who will sell it in “near mint” condition on EBay, and how sad. What was > the bike for? > > > I have found myself both guilty and innocent on the matter. My #1 favorite > bike is my raspberry Platypus. I ride it all the time, because I bought it > to ride it, but I also dread any harm coming to it, and I do guard it from > that. I got a second Platypus that I dedicated to shopping and traveling > with and promised not to be precious about it. But now and then I still am > tempted to backslide. When traveling to the Philly Bike Expo I dithered > about which bike to bring. I didn’t want my raspberry Platy damaged while > locked up at racks and I feared it being stolen. Roberta said, “I don’t > think you have a choice, Leah. That’s the bike people will expect you to > bring.” And she was right, and I did. > > Then, there is Pam. Pam is at the other far end of the spectrum. Her bike > is a model of beausage. Innumerable paint chips and little spots of rust > cover her tiny Betty frame. Her Backabike bags are full of holes and the > elastic closures are worn out. She locks it up and never worries about it. > She did not obsessively stare out the restaurant window to see if it was > still locked to the rack while we were at dinner (like yours truly). But > she loves her bike, has real affection for it. She looked at me, eyes > shining, and said exactly that. Ana, PurpleRiv, is another good example to > us. She adores her bike, but has not spared it from hard work. Her bike has > hauled obscene loads and taken her everywhere. I remember there was that > one fateful camping trip for she 1. Posed it for a photo, only to have it > topple and slide down the face of a boulder next to it. I believe she said > she sat there and wept for 2 hours over her Joe Bell paint. And who among > us would not do the same? 2. Same trip, another photo op, and the bike fell > off a cliff. > > So, who truly loves their Rivendell? The one who lavishes it with care and > protection? Or the one who pulls it out of the garage and into all of life > - the mundane and the adventurous? > > On one end of the spectrum we have those who will only take a Rivendell > out for special occasions so as not to spoil it, and on the other…well, we > have Pam and Ana, who will give it a good thrashing. (Oh, don’t take it > personally, friends, I’m being funny about both types of owners.) > > I find myself wanting to be precious but fighting it and succeeding *most* > of the time. I’m lucky that the raspberry paint hides beausage and dirt, so > it looks pretty new. But a dent in the top tube or a large chip in the > paint would really hurt my feelings. Heaven help me. > > Where are you on the spectrum? What words of wisdom might you have? What > strategies do you employ? Do you want to change? Or are you > unapologetically staying put on the matter? It might be fun to hear > perspectives. > Leah > > > > -- > 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-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2f5fe184-d6ba-46f7-bd7f-256f8563c16cn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2f5fe184-d6ba-46f7-bd7f-256f8563c16cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > [image: 7884167F-BD7F-4CDF-99B4-E2255C202A63.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. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d1568a26-fabb-43c9-9a05-ab406edeff0dn%40googlegroups.com.
