I think every bike has a story and a Rivendell has a special quality that not many other bicycles have: they take on the character of their owners. Really, it is like the bicycles develop a life of their own after a while. Here is a brief story, followed by photos, of one of my Rivendells: a 1996 road standard. My hope is that this post will inspire others to detail their setups and bicycle back stories.
I bought the bike as a Frame/Fork plus extras a few years ago. It was disappointing at first to find out that this model, which uses 49mm brake reach, does not allow a true 28mm tire plus fender to fit. What seemed like a set back ended up being a large influence on the build of the bicycle. Initially I used a wheel set made up of Chris King hubs built with bladed spokes along with a Ritchey compact double crankset and other assorted parts. The gearing was too low on the 110bcd cranks and the hubs were too loud. I knew I needed to change things up. After looking around a bit and scouring my parts bin I came across the Dura Ace parts that are on the bicycle now. I had 9 speed Dura Ace brake/shifters on for a while but found that they fail too easily and are expensive to replace. I went back to friction shifting with the help of some Suntour Sprint DT shifters. Finally everything was cohesive on the bicycle and it felt more stable, fast, and fun than ever. Here is the current set up, because I know we all like the tiny details. I expect it will stay this way for a while: 1996 Road Standard, stock blue color 54cm Headset - Shimano 600 Stem - Nitto Pearl 10cm Bars - Nitto Noodle 44cm Brake levers - Shimano 105 Shifters - Suntour Sprint DT Brakes -Dura Ace 7700 -kool stop pads on front Cranks -Dura Ace 7700 -170mm Chainrings - Sugino 48t, Dura Ace 39t Pedals - dual sided SPD Wheels - 28h Dura ace 7700 to Mavic CXP-30 rims Front Derailer - Dura Ace 7800 Rear Derailer - Dura Ace 7700 triple Cassette - 9 speed 11-32 Seat post - I don't remember. Seat - Cheap flexy sport seat Seat bag - Timbuk2 Pump - Zefal frame pump Tires - Panaracer Pasela TG 700x28c Bottle Cage - Stainless King Kage http://tinyurl.com/5ss44eh - Photoset Jason -- 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-bunch@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.
