I'm a long time reader of the RBW forum (many years), but this is my first post.
So first let me introduce myself. My name is Max and I've lived in Cambridge, MA for the last 9 years - commuting to work on and off for 7 of those. After years of admiring Rivendell's designs and lurking on the website and this forum, I finally took the plunge in 2014 and I upgraded my Surly Cross-Check for a demo Soma San Marcos on Riv's website. That sent me down the rabbit hole - I was hooked on stainless steel bikes that you just enjoy riding. The Soma was my daily commuter for a couple of years until my obsession with getting a Sam Hillborne paired with a FS ad on my local craigslist landed me a beautiful black and cream double top tube 62cm SH fully loaded and built by Harris Cyclery. Today I still have the SH as well as an AHH bought from another member... but that's a story for another time. Btw, I spoted a beautiful AHH around Somerville, MA yesterday and was certain that must have been be Shoji - small world. Back to getting enlightened, I've always struggled with fit - my pbh comes in at 91.5cm even though I'm 5'11'' - so long legs and arms but shorter torso... which means many times I felt my shoulders and neck really stretched after a longish (by my standards) ride. Reading the blug, I heard about this little shop that was going to move to Vermont: Analog Cycles. Grant and the Riv team had only good things to say about them and when I looked at their website I found this <https://www.analogcycles.com/bike-fitting/> page on their philosophy and experience with fitting. I decided to contact them and drive out to get a proper fit! First, James sent me a thorough questionnaire and asked for photos of my bikes. We arranged for a visit and when I got there around 1 or 2pm, James was super patient as we went through the "enlightened fitting" process, he measured all the dimensions of my current setups and also my pbh. Then little by little modified the saddle height, stem - we tried at least 3 different stems - and handlebar heights to find the perfect fit for me. I was blown away by their expertise and the number of parts he's got stowed away in that small shop in the middle of the woods. All sorts of Nitto goodies including stems, handlebars, rack hardware, etc. as well as a bunch of awesome Rivendell frames and bikes. He went out with me multiple times to see my posture as a I was riding next to him and after many iterations we got the perfect match using the shortest technomic stem with handlebars above sit height and a higher than I would've thought saddle (81cm). The result is just outstanding, I now feel completely connected with my bikes. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Candice did an amazing job with my handlebars <https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBOH8cBA0I/>, bags, tape and shellac - she's truly an artist. I saw her wiring up another beautiful bike and her attention to detail is incredible - you can see her work on their Instagram feed. They are really passionate about what they do and it shows - both went out of their way to make sure I was happy with the results. So, if you happen to be in Vermont, you should stop by. Cheers and I look forward to hearing your comments and hopefully becoming a more active member of the forum. Max PS. Saw this site <http://www.gianlucagimini.it/prototypes/velocipedia.html> the other day with sketches of bikes and thought you'd get a kick out of it. -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
