Abe, what a fun and fantastic topic! Thanks for starting it. Look at that delicious darling baby! š I shall try not to covet her over here, but itās asking a lot.
1. How did you find out about Rivendell? After a life of garage sale Huffys and Walmart specials, I had no taste of finery in bicycles. But when my Walmart Schwinn started making screeching sounds I decided Iād really get something good this time - off of Craigslist, naturally. I never spent much money on myself in those early days. I was 31 and had 2 little boys. I got a used Trek Fx 7.6 and spent a whopping $400; the bike was worth more, but the seller and I bonded (both nurses) and she gave me a screaming deal. Finally, finally, FINALLY in possession of a āniceā bike, I could not understand why I was secretly disappointed. Super light frame, skinny tires, flat bars. My neck hurt. Other stuff hurt. The bike felt squirrely when I pulled a Trek tagalong with my son on it (duh). I couldnāt sit up and look around. I was sick to my stomach that I had spent so much money on myself and disappointment was what I had to show for it. I started searching online forums when the bike shops I tried (and I tried āem all) were of no help. Someone mentioned āRivendell.ā The name was more than enough to get me looking and I hit their website and read every last word typed there. I loved everything about it. Then I found out how much they cost and nearly tipped over. If I thought $400 was over the top, $2400 sounded like an impossible dream. We simply were not in the habit of being so extravagant. 2. What caused you to get your first Rivendell frame? What was the first buy? I would never spend that kind of money without talking to my spouse. I broke it to my husband. He thought I was nuts. Completely nuts. He couldnāt see anything that would make a Rivendell bike $2k better than this perfectly good Trek. (Heās very financially responsible, and it will never matter how much money we have - heās always going to be practical and humble about it. I love this about him. Also, I hate this about him. š¤£) But, seeing what it meant to me, he agreed to it if Iād sell the Trek (I did! For a profit!) and if we could finally cut cable, which heād been dying to do and I had road blocked. (It was 2012. Itās 2020, and we still donāt have cable.) Keven talked me into a Betty Foy. He had a Betty Foy. Vince had a Betty Foy. Since I was pulling kids, I should have a Betty Foy. But there were none to be had. He said heād dig through warehouse. I waited. He called me back and he had unearthed 2 Betty Foys in my size from somewhere in the maw of the warehouse and he was ready for my credit card digits, please. My best friend from college lived in Los Gatos, so when the bike was built up, I drove from SoCal (where we were living then) and we girls went to get it. Will was a new hire at the time. It was a Saturday and Harry H was working. Grant and Mary swung by for a minute (via car) and Grant slapped a rare earth Rivendell magnet on my bars. I was star struck. 3. Photo of New Bike Day. I had to dig, but I found them. You know what else I found? The new bike day photos for the next several Rivendells my family went on to purchase after listening to me blather on about mine. Should I send those, too? š On Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 9:52:28 AM UTC-8, Pancake wrote: > > Leah's discussion about long wheel base led to a lot of interesting > discussions about how people found Rivendell. I'd like to know: > > - How you first found out about Rivendell? > - What caused you to actually get your first Rivendell frame or > component (or something Riv inspired) ... and what was that first buy? > - And could you add a photo of that first? > > Personally, I was overweight and looking to make my biking more > comfortable back in 2004 in Berkeley. Searching online led me to look at > Brooks saddles and sweptback handlebars and ultimately to Rivendell to buy > some steel Albatross bars ... which I still use today! On a student budget, > I attached them to a Jamis Coda Sport (steel frame) with beefed up wheels > from The Missing Link bike co-op. Then about 2 years ago my friend Ronnie > gave me a Cheviot frame to build up as a distraction while waiting to > adopt. The moment I finished building the bike, as I was attaching the > pedals my wife pulled into the garage, jumped out of the car and with tears > and a huge smile and told me to get plane tickets to Kansas because our > daughter was about to be born! Now our daughter is almost 2 years old and I > have the Cheviot, a Sam Hillborne, and the same friend is lending me a > Rosco Baby frame until that we built a couple weeks ago for front kid seat > rides. > > When Grant met my daughter, he noticed the "Baby Muggle On Board" sticker > on our car window ... he was rightfully concerned that we didn't know if > she was a muggle or not! > > Ride on, > Abe > > Some pics of my other Rivendell bikes (and the Rosco Baby with those > original Albatross bars) here - https://imgur.com/a/wWgiDmh > > [image: IMG_4021.jpg] > > > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ff0e05c6-417b-4e90-a78a-d50a7df24333%40googlegroups.com.
