René, It looks really nice with some amazing details. Thanks for posting.
Tim On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 8:46 PM, René Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you so much for all your kind words and sharing your enthusiasm with > me. > > Today was the day indeed! And kudos to those of you who made the correct > guesses and special mention to Jeffrey who was even following Steve Rex's > Instagram photos that I wasn't even aware of. > > Yes, Steve Rex is the creator of my custom bike and yes Jeffrey, it is > that silver frame with the chrome lugs he posted! > > Here is my initial set of photos, as I know most of you want to see it > before reading anything more: > https://www.flickr.com/photos/orthie251/albums/72157672057814225 > > Steve confirmed that I should let the bike sit for a month so the paint > can "harden", to avoid easily damaging it. So there will be a lot of > contemplation and some minor work before fully beginning to build the bike. > I did the same for the other two bikes that Rick from D&D painted and am > very happy I waited. > > To understand how I "evolved" into this bike, here is a long summary... > > After discovering the benefits of the RBW bike design and philosophy via > the acquisition of my A. Homer Hilsen, the opportunities seemed to expand > and I went for a Bombadil that I liked very much but felt was too large for > me as I was set in using drop bars; it would have been fine with upright > rearward bars. Sold it and got the Atlantis and later the Hunqapillar to > replace the Bombadil. Silly of me, I could have gotten a smaller Bombadil > with 650b wheels, but was set on having all bikes with 700c wheels so I > could swap wheels as needed. (There is so much you are set on and later > discover how wrong you were...). > > Somewhere in there, since I was hovering around 280 lbs and considered > myself too heavy for the Homer, I was riding the Atlantis and the > Hunqapillar and going through all sort of tweaks with fit, handlebars, > saddles and racks, trying to find a comfortable position as I was having > lots of pain in my neck, hands, feet and butt and couldn't really do any > long rides without having a lot of pain. It was much worse before when I > rode the "racing" geometry, but though it improved, it didn't go away. The > Homer and the Atlantis are 61cm and the Hunqapillar was 58. > > I then decided to get a Betty in size 58 whereas RBW recommended the 60/61 > for me, but my excuse was to get it for my daughters and still fit me even > if a tiny small. Here's what happened: My daughters never rode it and I > found it fit me perfectly! Additionally, I loved how it handled with its > 650b wheels, even more than how the other 700c bikes handled. > > In parallel, I had been experiencing shimmy on the Atlantis primarily with > the classic RBW rear loading and didn't like it at all. I also didn't like > the toe overlap, which was more pronounced on the Homer at slow speeds. > Reading about shimmy, I discovered a post where someone wrote that he > addressed the shimmy in his Atlantis with a low trail fork. Investigating > what this meant, I discovered BQ and Jan Heine, and decided to have custom > low trail (40mm) forks made for the Atlantis and the Hunqapillar. > > I immediately loved how those bikes improved their handling, especially > with front loads with the low trail forks, and was tempted to convert the > Homer and the Betty as well, but since I really liked how they rode > unloaded and didn't really need front loading on all my bikes, decided to > wait. > > Go back a bit to getting my Atlantis. I've always loved to work on my > bikes, and with the exception of some actions, such as installing/removing > the headset (which are so occasional I haven't purchased the tools), I > build (put together) my bikes. I even learned how to build wheels and built > a set when I was in Venezuela, but don't have any practice so I have them > built as well. But I do everything else, pretty much. So here I am building > up my new Atlantis when one of the bolts brakes inside the down-tube > braze-on for the shifter (RBW didn't clean them) and when trying to remove > the broken bolt, I pretty much destroyed the braze-on. Luckily, through > some creativity and much cursing, I was able to make the shifter stay on > the braze-on and rode like that for a couple of years. After the low trail > forks were made, since that meant new paint jobs for both the Atlantis and > the Hunqapillar, I asked Keven at RBW to recommend someone to add a new > braze-on and he recommended Steve Rex in Sacramento. > > Move forward in time, I'm on and off the bikes and cannot get really > comfortable on the Hunqapillar, no matter how I configure it. Finally get > on a LCHF diet and start losing weight, and am really thinking hard that I > have too many bikes and too much overlap and I should sell some. > > The downsizing debate consumes me emotionally and I decide I need to > choose between the Atlantis and the Hunqapillar since those have the > highest overlap. Test riding both quickly makes it clear that I prefer how > the Atlantis rides and handles much more, so even though the Hunqapillar > has the custom low trail fork, I sell it. > > Tweaking my fit on the Atlantis (the Betty is perfect), I realize that I > really want my saddle further back and test the Nitto S-84 (I think) lugged > seat post that has quite a large setback, and discover that the change > really improves the fit. BTW, losing the weight, having converted to wide > flat pedals a couple of years before and switching to upright rear-facing > bars also helped a lot. > > So here I am, saying that each of my bikes has something I like, but there > isn't one that has it all; I've now managed to improve my position and fit > to the point that I know what I want and need, and as a reward for my > weight loss (I still have 40 - 60 lbs to lose, having lost 40 already) I'm > going to get a custom bike. It's definitely going to be a 650b low trail > bike that can take front racks and 42mm tires with fenders, but I'm still > too heavy for a true lightweight rando bike like a René Herse, and even > during a visit to Boulder a couple of years ago, where I went to visit Mike > Kone at Boulder Bikes, he stated that a lightweight frame would tend to > shimmy a lot with a low trail fork for a heavy guy like me (I hadn't lost > any weight when I went). > > So, having attended a couple of NAHBS in Sacramento, I had seen some > really beautiful bikes from Steve Rex and had the benefit that he was > somewhat local (2 hours from me), whereas the other builders I knew of were > too far away to do anything in person. I paid him a visit, brought my > Atlantis for him to measure, had him fit me in his fitting gizmo bike and > ordered a lugged steel 650b low trail frame. He showed me the options for > lugs and showed me the custom racks he makes, and of course, I ordered the > racks as well. Seeing how I fit on the bike and how much setback I > wanted/needed for the saddle, he customized the geometry so I could get > that position with a normal setback seat post and decided to also add > longer chain stays so I wouldn't be sitting on top of the rear wheel. He > promised to use a steel that would be adequate for my target weight without > being too flexy or too stiff, and I added a list of details I wanted as > well (some he suggested as soon as he realized what I wanted). > > I'm sure you can imagine and relate to the anguish about choosing the > paint color. I won't bore you with the details, but after seeking > inspiration online and discarding several options that initially I thought > I wanted, I settled for silver paint to highlight the chromed lugs without > overwhelming (me) with the color. Subdued, elegant and classic, just like > the Cinelli bikes that were my inspiration online. I hope you like it. The > silver color Steve and the painter chose is incredible. It's not the bright > metallic silver nor the dull matte grey I've seen on many bikes. It's > somewhere and magically in between, sparkling amazingly beautifully under > the sun and glowing in a subdued manner in the shade. The saddle, bar tape > and bags will be honey/brown. So special! > > Steve delivered the frame with a Chris King headset installed, as well as > the fenders and the racks installed. His custom rear rack is integrated > with the fender. He built the wheels as well. There is a small issue with > the rear fender line that I will fix myself, it's no big deal. Steve cut > the wide Honjo rear fender so it would fit between the chain stays; this > allows the wide coverage fenders to work without forcing the chain stays to > be too wide, and will also allow me to install a narrower BB and take > advantage of the low Q factor of the René Herse crankset I'll install. I > love that the rear rack is integrated with the rear fender and the frame. > I'm not really planning to load anything significant on the rear rack, but > it's nice to know I can if I want to. Did I say I love the aesthetics? > > I also asked for quite a number of details I've always wanted: > - Internal cable routing > - Integrated front and rear dynamo lighting - I'm going with the Edelux II > in the front and the Compass Integrated Tail Light in the back, powered by > the SONDelux SL front hub. > - Chain hanger on the inside of the right seat stay > - Integrated pump on the seat stay instead of under the top tube > - 132.5mm rear drop-out width to allow me to use either 130 or 135mm rear > hubs > - Kickstand (I cannot longer live without it!) > > Steve's quality of craftsmanship is superb. Since this is the first bike > he builds with the Compass Centerpull brakes, he had to adapt his tools to > be able to build the front rack to his level of quality, since it is > attached to the brake braze-ons and the fork; the low riders are removable. > > I will build the rest of it with Compass center pull brakes (that I had to > provide so he could weld the braze-ons correctly, SKF BB with a René Herse > 26/42 crankset, 10 speed XT cassette and Shimano XT rear derailleur, > downtube shifters, Compass Randonneur 42mm handlebar, large brown Acorn > Rando Bat (newer version of the green one I have on the Atlantis now), will > try the Brooks B17 Select but if I can't brake it in, I'll fall back to the > C17 which I really like, and a Nitto Pearl stem to get the proper handlebar > fit. > > I'm now riding the Atlantis (and Homer) in a more forward extended > position with drop bars, so the only (for now) upright position bike is the > Betty which I love to ride around town in that position. The Rex will also > get drop bars with the stem level with the saddle, which will ensure the > hand positions are a bit above it due to the rise and shape of the > handlebars. > > In all fairness, my custom really replaces the Homer, but I like it so > much (with no or extremely light front loads and a medium saddlebag) that I > "gave" it to my 17 year old son. He definitely stated he didn't enjoy > mountain biking (I had built him an awesome Santa Cruz Tallboy) but he > enjoys the occasional short ride with me. We agreed that I'll sell his > Tallboy and he'll get the Homer that he can ride now and (hopefully) in the > future as well. We went out on one ride where he rode it and he liked it > but it was his first time with drop bars and downtube shifters, so it was > still a bit of a challenge and he enjoyed it. > > It's been a year in the making, and Steve is also very proud of the work > he did. This is the bike that has everything I wanted in a single bike, a > journey that, as I've stated, began in the summer of 2007 with my first > visit to RBW HQ and the purchase of my beloved A. Homer Hilsen. > > I hope you have enjoyed the story; in a month or so, as the bike is built, > I'll post new photos and when I ride it, I'll post a ride report as well. > > Thank you! > > René > > > > On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 7:00 PM, Tim Butterfield <timbutterfi...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> René, >> That's awesome! Congrats! I'm glad the paint issue got sorted. I'd >> love to see it. >> >> Tim >> >> On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 8:58 AM, René Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> The day has arrived. I'm driving to Sacramento later this morning to >>> pick up my custom low trail 650b lugged steel fendered and racked custom. >>> >>> Will post photos and a short update later. I'll be building the whole >>> bike but will take my sweet time to enjoy it. I will also likely let the >>> paint fully cure, as expressed in a separate thread. >>> >>> Hopefully the group will still enjoy this, but if it's too far out from >>> the RBW spirit of this forum, I'll be very happy not to do these postings. >>> It's just that for me, this bike epitomizes everything I've learned and >>> experienced since that very first day when I visited RBW HQ and drove home >>> with my Homer. >>> >>> René >>> >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
