I'm spending more and more time in Hilo as my folks are getting on in years...at least that's what I tell myself. In truth it's great to get away from Honolulu and spend some time doing nothing. But it was getting to me that I didn't have a bicycle and after a day or two I start getting antsy. The solution was to get a bike and leave it at their place. I sincerely couldn't justify buying a new Riv and riding it only a couple of days a month so I looked around for a used bike. I got really lucky (I hope) and found All Kine Bicycles here in Hilo (http://www.bicyclehawaii.com/). It's most a used bike shop and the owner has boxes and boxes of parts in the "dungeon." He's really a great guy and loves cycling...if you ever need something in Hilo I'd start with his place (which apparently had moved around over the years).
Anyway he had this old wreck of a Raleigh there at a price I couldn't pass up (no it wasn't garage sale priced but hey, I don't begrudge him a living either). The tires were shot and I didn't like the old Avocet seat. The stem wasn't right and the cabling was ancient. Still it's a real lugged steel frame with a working 10-speed SunTour drive so...I gave him my money and went back to Honolulu for a couple of weeks, but now I'm back... Added: New cables New bar tape (yellow but not cloth/shellac - that'll come in a month or two when I come back with moustache bars) Brooks B-17 (a spare I had in the closet) Grip Kings (bought for something else and never used - though I did repack them immediately after I got 'em) 10cm Nitto Dirt Drop (the bike is touch smaller than I'd have bought from Rivendell so I though this might work - seemed fine on the ride home) Pasela TG 28 (yes I know...but I was worried about room - do I hear 65OB in the future?) And a cheap saddle bag to hold stuff till I get things completely sorted out. I'll probably add a moustache bar next time I'm out - I fell in love with those when I visited Rivendell and have one on my Quickbeam. Next year I expect I'll strip it all down and have it powder coated...someone did an atrocious job of painting this thing, even covering the head badge. The paint is bubbling up now (years later I expect) and I suspect there might be spot of rust (this is Hilo after all) so I'm not going to put it off for long, but the frame seems solid otherwise. So it's not a Riv but it is being Rivified. I rode it the 3 miles home, mostly uphill though not particularly steep, and it was really sweet. I've got a couple adjustments to make to the fit but that's tomorrow. :-) Anyway, here's are some shots of the whole thing as it stands now. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/sets/72157624714161228/with/4886854747/ Tomorrow I'll give it a better workout and see about making those little adjustments. Aloha from lovely Hilo, Hawaii! Bob -- Robert Harrison rfharri...@gmail.com statrix.statrix.com -- 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.
