Alan, this is what I suspected - the Clem being unmanageable. Do I remember correctly that Clems were originally made to be city lock-up bikes? And then morphed into Hillibikes? Maybe this is why - people found them too much bike for big cities… Hi All, I live on the UWS of Manhattan and had a Clem several years ago. I found the size unmanageable....it would barely fit in the elevator (for awhile I kept it in the apt). It was just too much bike to ride in the city, at least for me. Most bike rooms will allow you to park the bikes in a corner somewhere with a lock if it doesn't fit in the rack. Like tandems or recumbents. If you're riding in the city for transportation, I strongly recommend an older frame converted to single speed. Not a theft magnet and its just really cool! Currently, I use a 1996 Trek 830 mountain track hardtail and a late 70's fully chromed Schwinne Voyager, both SS conversions. My other geared bikes are for "OTB" rides...over the bridge into Jersey for longer rides. Best, Alan
On Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 8:49:52 PM UTC-4 franco rinaldi wrote:
I have a Clem and live in the city! I’ve had it on Amtrak and the subway a few times. I don’t live in a high rise so I’m fortunate in that regard. But it’s mostly a townie bike. Or or goes on a car to somewhere I’m riding from. Franco Rinaldi
-Pardon any typos, Siri typed this message-
She just moved the bikes in today, and when she went to park them, they are, you guessed it, way too long. They do not fit in the beautiful, provided Saris rack; the rear wheels stick out into the aisle.
The only thing we can think to do is get some Voile straps (she ordered some today) and try to rig them up so they don’t tip over. They owned these Clems while living in a different city, and space was not at a premium there. She said had she known they would live in NYC she would have given her Clems to our brother and his wife and started over with a shorter Rivendell model for NYC.
I hate to see her have to do that, though I agree it is maybe the best option. But I was thinking, I KNOW there are a lot of Riv owners in NYC and other populous cities in the US. Who owns Clems and how are you managing them in the city? They don’t fit on buses or Amtrak. They probably don’t play well in your building’s bike racks. How do you live with your big long Clems? What are your secrets?
I have thought of offering her my mermaid Platypus. The wheelbase of a 52 Clem is, I think, 52 inches. And the 55 Platy is, I think, 47.5 inches. That is just so much more manageable. If her husband got a Platy (he loves a mixte so he doesn’t rip his suit pants swinging a leg over), it’d have to be the 60, and I don’t know how long that one is. We might run into the same issue if the 60 Platy is much longer than the 55…
Thanks in advance, Leah
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/ZEJIPqBgGK8/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d060a42a-09ff-446b-9bfb-6123914767e1n%40googlegroups.com.
--
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 [email protected].
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/51E03DA4-D230-446B-A649-A1AF1985D65B%40gmail.com.
|
