On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM Michael Morrissey < [email protected]> wrote:
> … Please I want to hear from normal people who own 3 or fewer Rivendells, > not people who have one of every model of Rivendell and who get personal > greeting cards from Grant Peterson. > LOL. >18 or so years ago I met a local ER physician with a nice big old territorial ranch house in Corrales who had one of each, or nearly so, and a huge walled-in patio in which to store his umpteen bikes and extravagant collection of nice parts. On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM Michael Morrissey < [email protected]> wrote: > I like bikes and I was thinking of implementing a new life rule: buy a new > bike every ten years whether I need to or not. Of course, I don't need to. > I bought my Appaloosa in 2016 and have been happily riding it since then. I’ve owned 5, so over the 3 limit, but I’ve passed all on except for one. Tho’ I just bought a Roadeo with derailleur drivetrain to augment my 2 fixed gear road bikes for longer and hillier rides, so 6. But the Roadeo and the 1999 custom are the only 2 remaining ones. I’ve been averaging a new Rivendell (or at least a professional builder’s revision of an existing bike or a clone of a Riv model) every 5 years or so since I got my first Riv in 1995. The last was the 2020 Matthews fixed/IGH fixed/IGH free Matthews custom that replaced the 2003 Riv custom. I rode that one just now on a very pleasant errand ride. [Aside: I was feeling tired and blue as often on a Monday morning, but went out and rode some errands and, *voila,* life is much better now.] I was wondering, people who have bought Rivendells and enjoyed them, and > then decided to get another bike, what bike did you get and why? > I built my first Riv road custom first as a gofast, then demoted it to commuting duties after I got my 1999 gofast Joe Starck fixed gear that I’ve annoyed all of you with over the years, converting it to a fixed drivetrain with an ENO hub and heavy-handedly Dremeling/filing off all unnecessary braze-ons. I had the 2003 Curt designed as a 1X 10 (*) deraileur gofast clone of the 1999 but, as 2/3 of my riding was cross-town commuting, it hung on the wall and gathered dust, so about 2006 I had local builder Dave Porter convert it to fixed for commuting, at which point I sold the 1995. I had Chauncey Matthews do further modifications to the 2003 fixed errand bike: custom rear rack, then another, better custom rear and new front racks, and dyno-wire guides. I put many commuting and errand miles on the much-modified 2003 Curt, but it was never as delightful as the 1999, so in 2020 I asked Chauncey to build me a geometrical clone for fixed and IGH rear wheels. The narrower gauge and thinner wall 531 tubing suited me much better, so I sold the much-modified-over-the-years 2003. I just did some errands on the 2020 replacement for the (2003 Curt/Porter/Matthews-modified Riv and it lives up to my hopes. Also, circa 2016, I asked Chauncey to build me a “road bike for dirt,” a drop bar bike mimicking the riding position and handling, as much as the great differences allow, of my custom Riv Roads but accepting 60 mm tires plus fenders (and, for that matter, 80 mm 584s plus fenders, tho’ I’ve not used these). So, Rivs owned: 1995 Waterford 26” wheel derailleur road custom, sold on after I got better (more mature design) dittos; 1999 Joe 26” wheel fixed road custom, modified by Chauncey Matthews circa 2018 with longer dropouts and dt bottle cage bosses; 2003 Curt ditto, modified 2006 by Dave Porter for fixed drivetrain commuting, again by Chauncey Matthews ~ 2012 for custom rear rack, and then again circa 2015 or better rear and front lowrider racks plus dyno-light routing; first-gen Sam Hill (also Dave Porter modified) circa 2010; second-gen blue Ram — unmodified — circa 2011; and 11-speed Ultegra-equipped Roadeo, October 2025 (delivery scheduled 10/9/2025). I sold on the 1995 because the 1999 and 2003 were better (tho’ the 1995 was nice); the Sam Hill because it couldn’t take 50 mm tires (first generation) and because it was too floppy on the front end; the Ram because it wasn’t as nice as alternatives as gofast road bike or errand road bike and because handling was a bit staid for my taste; and the 2003 because I get a fixed/IGH clone with all sorts of custom features made by Chauncey, which only incidentally turned out to “plane” better for me than the 2003. * I had it designed for a 1X10 drivetrain, with a removable leftside dt shifter boss, which I left off. With 559 X 23 mm Specialized Turbos at 24” in diameter, a single 46t TA Pro 5 Vis ring and an American Classic 11-21 block gave me gears from 100” to 53”. Mavic-branded Simplex retrofricton rightside shifter. I alternated with an Am Classic 12-23 for 92” to 48”. > > Please I want to hear from normal people who own 3 or fewer Rivendells, > not people who have one of every model of Rivendell and who get personal > greeting cards from Grant Peterson. > > Where did you go from the top? Custom? Surly? Crust? Jones? Urban Arrow > for you and your offspring? Full squish mountain bike? Moto Guzzi? > Brompton? Citibike all the time? Beater 26" mountain bike? Feel free to > message me off list if you can't admit you moved away from lugged steel. > I'm just a curious bike nerd. This is not market research > -- 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/CALuTfguUzqFUM8chPataaiGDyfzDDa-wNc06YpSN72yELD6Teg%40mail.gmail.com.
