On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 1:48 PM, Frank <pguil...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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. >
I have a lot of the same feelings as you articulate here. There are 2 things which hang me up recently: 1. I really wanna try out a low-trail bike for "the next bike". I'm intrigued enough to want to try it for a while and I completely understand that it is not riv's deal to do a low trail-designed bike. So I have been looking around for a production low trail bike. Right now it seems likely either a pelican from boxdog or one of the boulder cycles. But If there was a way to relatively easily convert my romulus to a low-trail geometry without butchering it, I would definitely investigate it. 2. tandems. Gotta have them.. -sv -- 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.
