Beautiful build René. I especially like the custom racks and their integration with the fenders and head light. The rear rack is very interesting. It's there, but not there sort of rack so I wonder how much it will be able carry, but then again, that maybe the point. Also the lug work is stunning!
Thanks for sharing, JohnS On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 9:12:55 PM UTC-4, René wrote: > > Hi all, > > After patiently waiting for a month for the paint to cure/harden, I > finally completed the build on Friday night, so I could take the bike on > its maiden ride on Saturday morning with my friends. The only thing that > was still pending, which I did today, was to tape, twine and shellac the > kickstand. > > I have to say the on its first ride, the bike beat my expectations. Yes, I > had gone over how I wanted it to fit and Steve Rex had taken all his > measurements and come up with a custom geometry that I then tweaked to get > the low trail amount I wanted, and I had requested all the custom touches, > both functional and aesthetic. > > I had gotten all the parts after careful consideration, as well as decided > to try a B17 Select again based on the reviews from members of this group > that stated it was quite superior to the regular ones due to its special > leather. > > I had even decided to try to go with traditional non-aero brake levers for > the personality and looks, and got some original NOS Dia-Compe brakes to > try. If I didn't like them, I'd go back to the aero levers but this was my > chance to try them. Even got the Dia-Compe cages from RBW that I thought > were more elegant than the King cages I have on the other bikes. > > I'm sure you want to see photos first, so here is the link to the first > photo: https://flic.kr/p/LFW4RL - scroll to the right for more. > > The quality of the ride was fantastic. I believe I ended up in a slightly > more aggressive position, but even more comfortable than on the Atlantis. I > love the brake levers and their braking with the Compass Centerpull brakes. > Even though I can tell they are less powerful from the hoods than the aero > levers, the braking feel is totally fine and I like the power and > modulation of those brakes. > > I got the special washers that Jan just released to give the brake pads > automatic permanent toe-in, but even so, with new brake pads and new > polished rims, the brakes squealed quite a bit at first. While I didn't > expect the intensity of the sound, what was even more astounding was the > quality of the sound. They sounded like the fog horn on a ship, not at all > the high pitch squeal I've gotten from other brakes in the past. The sound > progressively diminished during the ride, and towards the end I remembered > to throw some water on the pads which everyone says quiets them and that > worked. The sound is not completely gone yet, but almost. I'm going on 30 > mile ride tomorrow in the Coyote Creek Trail and I'm sure that with a few > more water splashes they'll be totally quiet and I'll miss sounding like a > ship through the fog. > > I went with the 40mm wide Compass Rando bars which combined with the 35mm > trail was perfect. I have the 42mm wide on the Atlantis (40mm trail) but I > think I'll try the 40mm bars on it as well. My hands were much more > comfortable, and I don't know yet what the exact difference is, but I'll > try to assess it. > > I was planning on going with the brown tall Acorn Rando bag, and had > gotten the matching Rando and medium saddle bag, but last week I "felt" I > had to consider the Berthoud Rando bag as well, as it seemed it would match > the bike much better. Theo at Compass has always been so nice to me, that I > ordered the bag from them (Jan has also customized them) and it was love at > fit sight! (Pun intended). I was really impressed by the Berthoud bag, and > needless to say, it seems it was meant for my custom. So I had to decide > what to do with the Acorn bags and after a family demo and show, the > overall consensus was that I needed to put the brown one on the Atlantis as > it was better than the green one. My son and I had a harder time deciding, > but for my wife it was a no-brainier and anything that gets her "involved" > in my bikes is good! > > I've offered the bags to a friend who just got a Soma Randonneur, but if > he doesn't want them, I'll post them from sale here. Needless to say, they > in like-new condition with imperceptible wear. I've had them for a while, > but just put them on the Atlantis a couple of months ago. > > So needless to say, I'm incredibly excited and satisfied with the outcome. > As I ride it more and continue to lose weight and get fitter, I'm sure > there will be minor tweaks here and there, but for the first time, I truly > have everything I've wanted in a single bike. What will that mean moving > forward for the rest of my stable? We'll see... No matter what, I'm sure > I'll always have at least one Rivendell bike next to it. > > René > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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