Well said Brian. I remember years ago when you were thinking about a new bike and you came by the house to ride mine. We met through a mutual work acquaintance, and I felt a bit odd in revealing that I had a number of Rivendell bikes in the garage given that I didn't know you that well (nor you I) - seemed like it might smack of excess. I recall that you rode the Quickbeam, Saluki, and maybe the Romulus, and we discussed 650B, single speed, and the rationale for the price of a Rivendell and what you got for the money. I told you what I knew, why I'd bought each bike, and I tried not to do too much selling, rather letting the bikes speak for themselves. You ended up with a fantastic AHH, and it's been fun to vicariously watch you explore equipment, configurations, and techniques that exceed my breadth of experience (e.g. that harlequin wrap thing).
When people ask me for bike advice, I always explain what I ride and why, and then follow-up with some of the axioms from "tips for happy riding"; there's no such thing as a bad bike. Rivendell's aren't inexpensive, and they're most certainly not cheap, but they're what I've chosen. It is about more than a bike. A Rivendell is an investment in utility, function, form, in a way of doing business (and the 12-14 people behind the business), and an entree to a community. Since I bought my first Rivendell (Romulus #17, first batch) a decade ago, I've been impressed with the company and the products, and I've told that story when asked. Today I ride with friends who weren't cyclists before, and when we meet I see Bleriots, Hilsens, etc., and we often talk about "what's next". I don't "need" this many bikes, but I ride them all, and I will until I'm too old to swing over the top tube, or until my kids take them off to wherever. Every once in a while I think about a custom. Each successive trip to Portland, my original hometown, leads me to look afresh at Ira Ryan, Tony Pereira, and Joseph Ahearn in particular. And while those guys are doing some innovative, beautiful work, I come home and look at my Saluki, AHH, and other bikes, and I'm satisfied. On Jul 21, 10:12 pm, Brian Hanson <stone...@gmail.com> wrote: > I had a steel road bike and mountain bike back in the day - early 80's > Raleigh and early 90's Specialized. Then I went aluminum for a while. Bad > move. When I wanted a comfortable "road" commuter, I looked for steel, and > looked at the Surly/Salsa/Jamis bikes, as well as other "new steel" genre, > but got hooked on the design/quality/philosoph of the Rivendells. Ended up > with an AHH. > > I think the thing my Riv has taught me is that it's really about more than > the bike. I like the business that Grant runs, and really trust the folks > at Rivendell. I'm sure there is a custom builder out there that cares as > much, but does s/he also employ 15 other people and sell other great > products? Will they be around and help answer silly questions? Do they > have the great RBW community we have to bounce ideas/pics/stories off of? > Every time I look at other bikes I still come back to the Rivs. They are > special! > > Brian (get a riv) > Seattle, WA > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 9:58 PM, Leslie <leslie.bri...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Maybe an analogy.... > > > When I first started fly fishing, I bought the 'intro' level Orvis rod. > > Good rod, but, wasn't long until I was eyeing other rods, like Winston, > > Sage... Orvis had a lot more expensive rods, I didn't want to go that far > > up the scale, so I thought I could find better than the low-end Orvis stuff > > elsewhere for less. Thing about Orvis, they have nice rods and reels, and > > anything you get from them is usually top-notch in function and aesthetics; > > however, I will say, some of their other items, like clothing, or associated > > gadgets, they find decent, good gear, and either relabel it, or just sell it > > too, but, usually at a noticable mark-up over what you could find it for > > elsewhere. Anyway, I ended up getting a G.Loomis Streamdance, which is > > still my favorite, my go-to rod for tailwater trout here. For smallmouth, > > ended up w/ another Loomis (an aside: Loomis is now owned by Shimano), and a > > Winston for my son. Thing is, I somehow got in my head that, Orvis was a > > good go-to company to get people into fly-fishing, but there were other > > companies that were focusing on just specifics [kind of like comparing LL > > Bean's encompassing catalog of about anything you could need, against Sage, > > with just rods, reels, and maybe just a few other things like a vest or a > > hat, etc.]. But as time went on, I started becoming more critical of other > > companies, and started appreciating small things about the higher-end Orvis > > rods, and ended up back buying my next couple of rods from Orvis... paid > > more for some of the rods than I ever would have believed I would have when > > I started out, but, I had learned to appreciate some of the nuances that > > come w/ the extra costs. > > > I hope Grant doesn't find this insulting or a bad thing, but I think of > > Rivendell as the Orvis of steel bicycles. [Is it ironic that I first learned > > of Rivendell while in my local Orvis shop?] There are some models that have > > been over the years that have brought people to Rivendell (thinking of the > > Bleriot, and maybe the Soma San Marcos will; and maybe the Sam Hillborne); > > and, every single thing that Riv sells is a good item (even if, there are > > some of them that I can find elsewhere for less); they sell so much more > > than just a bicycle, aside from frames and components, you have MUSA, > > stoves, sleeping bags, knives, tools, books, wax, soap, toys... I'm amazed > > at some of the cool things they have. And, likewise with my > > post-Orvis-intro, having gotten into Rivendell, I've ended up learning about > > other bikes that I'd never heard of before (Hampsten, Handsome, Vassago, > > Ragley, Singular, Bruce Gordon) [before Rivendell, I knew Trek, Fuji, > > Specialized, Cannondale, Giant (and my Nishiki), Schwinn, etc., but that's > > *that* level, not the same level as the aforementioned). I considered > > certain ones of those others, Kona, Surly, etc., but, in the end, I worked > > myself up into justifying the cost of the Rivendell instead... so I've got > > a Rambouillet now, and, am also waiting on my next Riv frame to get in.... > > > So, I suppose, I'd say, to work it off of your premise, I would state it > > as: "I was gonna buy a bike, and then talked myself into a Riv... then, was > > gonna get something else, and came back to Riv instead... " > > > (and, I hope y'all don't think I'm a complete loon now!)..... :) > > > -L > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > >https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/9rbR-gnlYk0J. > > > 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. -- 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.
