Hey, Andy - for me it's both in equal parts. Of course, what comprises beauty and practicality is subjective. I started my career as a graphic designer so aesthetics are always a thing but tastes and styles change. Designers sometimes look back at older work and wonder, what was I thinking? I was very active in club rides in the neon 80s and I remember dudes with leopard-print Turbo saddle covers for heaven's sake (not me of course, I was a Brooks man from the get-go). On the other end of the spectrum some of my fellow club riders didn't care one bit about how their bikes looked, they just rode the snot out of 'em.
Five decades into cycling, I value having bikes with distinct personalities and qualities, suited to different rides, and I avoid duplication. Sometimes that means letting go, as you know ;-) Describing how I build makes it sound a bit mystical - I start with what the frame says to me, and consider what I've seen in the community that inspires me. Sometimes I crank up Photoshop and do mockups. Ultimately I let the medium of frame + components guide me to some sort of balance and live with it for a bit. As I ride, sometimes a build remains stable, sometimes it slowly morphs, and sometimes it takes an unexpected turn. I'm open to discovering that the bike wants to be. I resisted Rivs for a long time. The first ones I saw about 15 years ago seemed almost too perfect. I may have been in retrogrouch mode, but the best I can recall is that I didn't feel a sense of the builder's hand, especially compared to my beloved 80's Mercian. And at the risk of offending this community I didn't care about the ethos, it felt precious. Cycling is experiential for me, I don't really want to be a part of anything but the moment of riding, and I'm not drawn to tribes. But as I close in on becoming a septuagenarian I hope and pray that I'm losing some ego and I'm sincerely happy that others are getting joy from their Rivs and other bikes and I agree with some, if not a fair amount, of Grant's POV. Just ride. On the occasion I chatted with the folks in Walnut Creek when my Homer frame arrived, they were chill, friendly and helpful. What more could I want? Follow your muse, and cheers, man! Andy Scherer Manhattan & Woodstock NY USA On Wednesday, March 5, 2025 at 1:04:37 PM UTC-5 Andy Beichler wrote: > I have always been drawn to practical bikes. In fact, way back in the > beginning of Rivendell, it was the marketing based on these bikes being > practical that drew me in and kept me a fan despite not owning one. In the > last few years, I have been realizing how much I appreciate beauty. I don't > recall Grant emphasizing that Rivendell bikes are beautiful but that could > be because I was so focused on the practical part. In the last few years, > I have been realizing how much I appreciate beauty. I have decided that > while I can understand people being drawn to other things about bikes, I > won't buy another bike that isn't practical and beautiful. > > I have a 1971 Chartreuse Raleigh International that is beautiful and > pretty darn practical. I have a Breezer Radar Expert that is super > practical and nice looking in a practical way. I think Rivendell manages > to do both incredibly well. I think if I buy another bike at some point in > the future, it will be a Rivendell. > > What about you? Is one of those more important to you than the other? > -- 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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9ffffc5b-5cb5-4cef-b74b-784fdb68b7b1n%40googlegroups.com.
