For me, it was 1996. I had become hip to the benefits of wool cycling clothing after finding Swobo at my LBS and, if I recall correctly, a search for wool cycling clothing brought me to the iBOB list which introduced me to RBW. I became a Riv member (back when that was a thing), and those Readers changed my life.
Bought a Heron Road from Riv in 1998 or 99, an Appoloooooosa 18 years later, and god knows how much other stuff in between. Hugh "old guy" Flynn On Sun, Jan 12, 2020 at 10:22 AM Jeremy Till <jeremy.t...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think I first became really aware of Rivendell through Sheldon Brown's > website, shortly after I moved to Berkeley for college in 2003 (although I > do think I remember seeing the Atlantis in a Bicycling magazine buyer's > guide prior to that). I was looking to build up a cheap beater to ride > around town and campus, had read about fixed gears in a book about bike > messengers, and seen a couple of fixed gears around Berkeley. Some quick > internet searching (I think I was still using AltaVista in those days??) > brought me to Sheldon's site and his beautiful collection of bicycles, > including his fixed gear (with early WI eccentric hub) Rambouillet. That > bike was one of my first objects of pure, aesthetic bicycle desire. Through > Sheldon I made the connection to Rivendell on the web and tracked their > progress over the next few years while I was in college, as they brought > out the Quickbeam and Saluki, starting the whole 650B and country bike > thing. Despite living just over the hill I didn't actually venture over to > Walnut Creek until my last year in college, I think because I new I > couldn't afford to go down that rabbit hole. > > However, sometime in the fall of my senior year at Berkeley I did venture > over to Walnut Creek, to buy a pair of Moustache bars for my Trek 520 > (converted to fixed gear with the WI eccentric hub, just like Sheldon's > Rambouillet). Ultimately I didn't get along with the Moustache bars (in > hindsight, I had them mounted much to long and low to really give them a > chance) but along with my order they gave me a couple of Readers and that > year's print catalog and the rest, as they say, is history...I was a > confirmed GP fanboy after that. Around then I also found our illustrious > group moderator's cyclofiend.com site with its beautiful collection of > Rivendell and similar "Current Classics." > > Despite all that, it wouldn't be until late 2011/early 2012 that I bought > my first actual Rivendell bike. I was depressed, realizing that I didn't > want to be in graduate school anymore, and my wonderful then-fiance (now > wife) asked, "what do you really want?" I replied that I wanted a good > singlespeed bike with upright bars that could take racks and fenders for > riding around town. She said, "It sounds like you want a Rivendell, and you > should get one." (This is why marrying her is one the best decisions I've > ever made). That weekend we ventured to Walnut Creek, hoping to take > advantage of the SimpleOne closeout that was happening at the time. Vince > helped me out, and was skeptical that the max 62 cm SO would be big enough > for me (long-legged 6'3"). He said, "I may have something in the > attic...let me go check." A few minutes later he came down with a NOS 64cm > orange Quickbeam frame and fork. I couldn't say yes fast enough. > > https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCb7qtE > > I've owned at least one Riv since then. #2 was a Clem H frame and fork > from the first batch, acquired in early 2016. I'd long been tracking the > development of their long-chainstay designs and was excited to try one out > at an "entry level" price point. Between that and the ability to run full > 29" size tires, in many ways the Clem fulfilled what I always wished that > the QB had been. > > https://flic.kr/s/aHskBihWen > > The QB and I always had a somewhat fraught relationship, and I was > constantly changing setups on it. I think my expectations, after years of > fantasizing about them, had just been too high. So, shortly after the Clem > was built up, the QB went on the auction block and now resides with list > member Wally in Maine. Judging by Wally's instagram feed it's had tons of > great adventures since then. > > Riv #3 came in 2018, about a month before the birth of my son. I was > casually surfing, not really looking to buy a bike, when a beautiful 64cm > Rambouillet popped up locally (not sure if I saw it here or on CL first). > It instantly took me back to my early love affair with Sheldon's > Rambouillet. I showed it to my wife and once again, she told me to go ahead > and buy it. Serendipitously, the seller ended up residing literally across > the street from my sister-in-law in Oakland, so it was a very convenient > transaction. The Rambouillet is by far the most beautiful bike I have ever > owned, and I get compliments every time I ride it. Function wise, it's also > the best road bike I've ever own. Most of the credit goes to the previous > owners, who took the stock build and added some wonderful accoutrements, > namely hammered Honjo fenders and a Berthoud bag. The only things I've done > have been to convert it to drop bars (it came to me with Albatrosses) and > tweak the front fender a bit, adding a forward stay so that it doesn't > rattle as much. > > https://flic.kr/s/aHsmqiuhka > > Here's some pictures a friend took of me on it yesterday, on a big ride > from Richmond, across the now-bikeable Richmond-San Rafael bridge, over Mt. > Tam, and finally across the Golden Gate to San Francisco. It was a big ride > for a flatlander like me but the bike performed wonderfully the whole day. > Apologies for the hand gesture, it's a bit of an inside joke between me and > the photographer. > > https://www.instagram.com/p/B7M4vXTlfVj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link > > -Jeremy Till > Sacramento, CA > > > 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3542938a-0253-42b3-9c01-3e91db3b57a3%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3542938a-0253-42b3-9c01-3e91db3b57a3%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Hugh Flynn Newburyport, MA -- 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/CANn_HTZS0k_%2BWo9E9dcL%3D%3DbQ_moG-vKvE04B5eXNmc7OjO6Vdg%40mail.gmail.com.
