I would be willing to bet that there are several in this group who have ridden road and/or mountain race bikes who were quite good at the sport. I have had a great deal of satisfaction on steel, titanium and carbon/ti road racing bikes. I can tell you one of my favorite bikes was a Holdsworth 531 Special, my first road bike. I built it... crashed it... and toured cross country on it twice. Thirty plus years later I have gone through nearly thirty bicycles and five motorcycles. Happily I have found riding narvana on most all of them.
A year ago I found Jan Heine and the Bicycling Quarterly magazine. Reading his magazine encouraged me to research bicycling in in a much broader sense than I had fallen into. That brought me to the RBW Owners Bunch. In the last two weeks I have spent many hours reading most of what has been posted on the site. I once again have found some of the lost enthusiasm I had towards riding a bike strictly for the thrill of turning the pedals and looking for what was over the next hill. I currently own six road and one cross bike. I secretly have two or three road bikes I would like to get, but I can tell you there is a Riv in my future. We live in a time where people can't wait for the next electronic stimulant to be brought forward. Thankfully I find enjoyment over the same "toy" I first pedaled forty-five years ago ... and I intend to never let it go. On Jan 11, 10:04 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > There's a really fine line here. Which aspects are worth dwelling > upon and obsessing over and which aspects are to be discarded, freeing > your mind and your soul to just be happy and enjoy yourself? I'm > pretty certain Grant can't tell you. There are details of his frame > designs that he never talks about, never posts about, and that you and > I would never notice, but he obsesses over. There are other design > details that customers dwell and obsess over, to which Grant correctly > says 'not a big deal, just enjoy yourself' to the handwringers. Some > of us use to be weight weenies in a past life and now we're bag- > matchers. Some of us brag about how we stop and smell the roses, but > are infuriated that we can't find the right shade of celery green > cloth tape, or can't post on the forum without pointing out that we > are rocking 584mm rims. > > My two cents on the original question is that the rider makes the > Rivendell. The designs and the business ethos of RBW I think at least > enables a certain kind of relationship between bike and rider that is > not unique or new, but is also not universal or even common. > Certainly not 100% of Rivendell owners feel a deep emotional > attachment to their Riv(s), but it's my opinion that a higher fraction > of Rivs than most other makes are loved the way a favorite pet is > loved. Maybe not like a child, spouse, or other close relation, but > not far short. Some people buy a Riv and say after the fact "I > thought it was going to be some magic carpet of cycling and it just > didn't do anything for me". Some people who have a number of Rivs > even have that underwhelmed feeling. I mark that up to the > relationship, not the bike. It's like when two people meet, and you > thought they'd hit it off and something just doesn't click. Anyway, I > just don't think that Specialized or Cannondale owners have that kind > of vibe with their bikes, even if they 'love' their bikes. I think > Riv owners 'get' their bikes. Also, I think that few Rivs are > flaunted like trophies. There's plenty of snobbery among us, to be > sure. Some of us scoff at plastic fenders and zip ties with the same > sneer that dismisses brifters, crabon, and disc brakes, but I think > we'd all be in an uproar over the thought of a Riv as a collectors > item. It has to be ridden. There's a fine line there, too. Get all > worked up over massive mileage or brevets and you'll run the risk of > being called out for not smelling the roses enough or draw the "I > don't have to fill out a card and have a Frenchman authenticate it to > tell ME I had a good ride!" crack from the crowd. > > This response is all over the place, but I think it's a complicated > set of emotions and feelings, and I think it has as much to do with > people as it does with bikes. > > On Jan 11, 3:34 pm, williwoods <willh...@yahoo.com> wrote:> On Jan 10, > 12:38 pm, Esteban <proto...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > I've found that if you follow Riv's sizing > > > guidelines and part suggestions, then the bike will tempt you to stop > > > and smell the roses - to ramble and amble and enjoy the scenery. This > > > is the case with my 650B Nobilette-built Protovelo. > > > ^ This ^ > > > for me this is largely what I couldn't put into words earlier. > > > I have been one of those 'ride as fast as you can' and 'impress > > buddies with fancy gear' types in the past. I took several years off > > of serious riding, then picked up my Bombadil. > > > I have been converted. > > > im no longer in a big hurry and am now focused on looking around, > > smelling the roses, enjoying the ride and trying my best not be a > > nuisance to those around me. I guess I really drank the Rivendell > > koolaid, and am happier and having more fun than I have ever had that > > I can remember since being a kid. Slowing down and accepting that im > > not a racer dude was key. > > > Thanks GP. -- 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. 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