Oh, this has been so interesting! I am taking a break from errands and cleaning to catch up on here, and then back to my floors. This List is a good reward for getting the undesirable stuff done - I’ll treat myself to reading your posts when I’m through with the dreaded housework.
Mark Roland - hurry up and build your bike so you can contribute here! We might be the only two who have had Clementines and the 2019 Clem L. And I am not as helpful as you when it comes to dissecting their differences. Dorothy - you are the kindest. If ever I’m in your neighborhood, we shall ride little Clems! Adam Leibow - your Day in the Life of A Clem video is boss. You are so cool. Bob Lovejoy (whose name I covet) - thank you! I measured my 52 Clem to have 50.5 inches hub to hub, so hope that helps someone. I’m wondering how long the new iteration of Cheviot will be, and I’m glad I have a comparison, knowing what your 60 is. There’s s hope it won’t be longer than 48 in my size... Steve Cold and DougP - I’m so glad this thread took off and everyone had such interesting points of view and useful contributions. So pleased you also find it enjoyable and instructive. Me, too! To answer Masmojo, et all, about Who Shops At Rivendell and what kind of knowledge base do they have, I offer a couple of thoughts. Reflecting on it, I realized I am walking on both sides of the line here. I’d venture that most folks shopping at Rivendell know what they’re getting. They will expect a beautiful, useful, comfortable, enduring bicycle that they can only get in a handful of places country-wide, and they’re willing to shell out the bucks for one. Regular people who are not in the know would say I was a NUT for spending more than a few hundred bucks on a silly bicycle - those aren’t the folks shopping at Riv. Though I wasn’t a proficient in the language of bikes, I was driven to Rivendell because of *need.* I loved to ride my bike and couldn’t find a way to get comfortable on it and be able to carry things and pull my kids around. My neck was killing me and that “upgraded” saddle was unspeakable. I felt defeated because I’d had Walmart my whole life but had splurged on a Craigslist Trek (my very first “nice” bike, at age 30) and I was worse off than I was with the broken Walmart Schwinn. I was totally demoralized. I took my money and headed to local bike shops for help and they rarely listened, dismissed what mattered to me, and, if I ever did get their attention, they couldn’t offer anything to help me. I turned to cycling forums for help (another nightmare) and heard the name Rivendell. I didn’t speak a word of bike geek at the time, but here was a bike shop promising me the things I’d been searching for and best of all, they were nothing like the cycling forum people or the big name bike shops. I pored over the website. I knew nothing about bikes, but I knew everything about Rivendell. Even though I don’t speak the language of bike geometry, I know when a bike feels good, and I can identify the problems they give me. Had I never thrown a leg over a Rivendell, save my current blue beauty, I’d be very pleased with the comfort level. I wouldn’t know the bike was long until someone told me, or until I realized it wouldn’t fit onto my bike rack. I WOULD know that the bars were too far away, I just wouldn’t know there was anything I could do about that. I’d know the bike was unwieldy to lift and also heavy. I don’t think my concerns are a result of a bike geek poring over numbers and comparing them, I think my concerns are real and I’d have them even if I had no other Riv ride to compare to. So, I’m on both sides of the line. I feel like I’m taking you too far down the rabbit hole and losing the point, so I’ll stop there. Mom always says you have to say something nice after saying something harsh - and since I feel like I’ve expressed some disappointment in my Clem I will balance it with this: My bike is gorgeous. Heart-rendingly beautiful. I see it - I smile. It’s romantic and strong and capable and you can’t have it. He’s just kind of a big guy, that’s all. But I can live with that. 💙 Back to floor cleaning! -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/efe7024c-eac7-413f-bdb6-6658d2ba2752%40googlegroups.com.
