I agree with it all, what a great bike to make into what you want. The one thing I find quite amazing-this is an observation, not a critique-is, especially on Cyclofiend, the amazing amounts of stuff that people hang on their bikes. It's like farkle city!
On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 3:54 PM, JimD <rasterd...@comcast.net> wrote: > Well said Jim. > I wish I could find the thing I read from Douglas Brooks where he talks > about 'resolved' and 'resourcefull' bikes. > A Hampsten Tournesol Rando bike is an example of a resolved bike. > Everything is optimized for the function of long distance/unsupported > riding. > A Rivendell (pick any one) is a premier example of a 'resourceful' bike. > Grant designs great riding bikes that are flexibly configurable. They may be > aimed at different > primary riding domains (Roadeo vs Bombadil) but can be setup across a wide > range within the > design target domain. > Underlying this approach to the hardware is a sensibility for bicycling and > bicyclers that is wide > ranging - everything but racing. > For me this sensibility has enriched the experience of bicycling beyond the > bounds of my perspective during > my first 20 years of riding. I was riding '10 speed racing bikes' and > should go fast, train, be like Eddy. > As I 'matured' I found the challenge of going fast and faster was getting > hard and harder. > I had to succumb to the dreaded triple to climb the hills around here. > Once I realized I wasn't racing. I started thinking about other approaches. > Having discovered Rivendell I'm riding more and having more fun than ever > before. > -JimD > > > On Jan 8, 2011, at 11:09 AM Jan 8, 2011, CycloFiend wrote: > > on 1/7/11 12:06 PM, Kelly Sleeper at tkslee...@gmail.com wrote: > (great questions which ended with...) > > What makes the Rivendell Different.. how does one explain that difference to > > those that just see a steel antique looking bke? > > I think there have been a couple of handling or "discussion of trail" > threads where this has popped up before. These are a couple points I've > probably made before... > > Rivendells (and I include all of the designs, not simply custom models) have > a similar quality of ride. While a Roadeo is different from a Bombadil, > there's an underlying set of design tenets which seems pretty consistent. > For me, in my riding conditions, they are superlative. They are stable, > predictable, solid handling bikes that generally keep me out of trouble, and > then react appropriately when I'm silly enough to get my self into it. If > they didn't handle well, nothing else would matter. > > The handling and ride is a sum of a all parts. It isn't _JUST_ trail, head > angle, bb height, chainstay length, angles, and length. It's all of those > things. You cannot just change one aspect and have the same bike. The > bicycles are a product of those variables, plus the things which Grant has > learned in the XX number of years of plotting out frames, testing them and > thinking pretty deeply about the results. > > The bicycle designs have grown to be incredibly versatile. Ten years ago, > the longer reach brakes weren't availalble. The clearances which we now > enjoy were only possible with canti brakes. Finding a 28mm 700C tire was > difficult, let alone a higher quality 30mm+ tire. The limiting factors have > been the components, and Grant has always been pushing the envelope in this > particular corner of the bicycle world. Add to that his commitment to high > quality bags and racks and you end up with a useful and continually variable > design. As I've repeated too many times, both my Quickbeam and Hilsen have > been errand bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes, race bikes and brevet bikes > in the time I've had them. Over the past couple years, I've grown to feel > that if a bicycle can't be fendered or adapted, it really is not a "bicycle" > in the true sense. In other words, when people ask what my "road bike" is, > I kind of stare at them blankly. > > All of this could be done roughly, or quickly, or with a more industrial > design tenet, but the fact that Rivendell connects the tubes with lugs, has > small, undernoticed details and pays attention to decal fonts, paint colors, > and bicycle packaging (just to pick out a quick few) to the extent that they > do just locks them in for me. It distinguishes them as practitioners of a > craft. It's important to me to support that. The "finish" work is part of > the craft...part of the art of what they practice. > > I suppose it's easy to equate the outside, finishing layer with the whole. > The first thing someone notices is the paint layer, the contrasting colors, > the lugs. While that's part of the equation, the strength lies underneath. > > - Jim > > -- > Jim Edgar > cyclofi...@earthlink.net > > Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com > Current Classics - Cross Bikes > Singlespeed - Working Bikes > > -- > 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. > > > -- > 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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