Hi Mark, I'm by no means an expert so others are welcome to disagree with me if I'm giving poor advice, but to answer your questions:
1. The rust on those chainstays doesn't look good to me. I've bought a number of used bikes where this has occurred, and it's almost always been caused by a kickstand. From that photo, I'm almost positive that's what's happened because if you look at the left chainstay, it looks like there is a dent as well probably caused by overtightening a kickstand plate. It might just be surface rust, in which case you could use a wire brush to remove it and cover it with some nail polish clear coat and should be okay. But I would give it a good strong poke with a screwdriver or similar to make sure it isn't structural. 2. I don't have any experience with Handsome cycles or this RB-2 specifically so I can't speak to a comparison. Looking at their geometries the RB-2 does seem to be more of a traditional road bike, but you could get a more aggressive position from the Handsome by swapping the stem and handlebars (and subsequently brakes/shifters) and I don't think that would be out of character for that bike. That said, I have bikes with flat bars that ride more upright and bikes with drops for longer road rides and I do enjoy having the options for either. There are vertical storage solutions for keeping bikes in smaller spaces that he might look into if he goes that route. 3. I do not think so. But this is a tough question to answer objectively. There are things that weigh into that price like the NYC market and the Bridgestone cult status and the COVID bike boom. But I have seen early 90s RB-2s in similar or better condition sit on Craigslist for 250 and less in other areas. I think if he was patient he could find a better deal. 4. Yes, definitely. Would need to know more about what he is hoping to get from a second bike and what he would use it for before I could make recommendations, but if he's in the used, older-bike market, there are tons of bikes that would be comparable to this one and in many ways nicer for similar money if he's not married to the idea of Bstone (no shame in that btw). On Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 9:29:08 AM UTC-5 markt...@gmail.com wrote: > My son, who has been debating changing the flat bars on his Handsome > Devil, is now thinking about possibly getting this '94 RB-2: > https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/d/brooklyn-1994-bridgestone-rb-2-575cm/7194208384.html > > Questions for the list: > 1.Thoughts about the RB-2 in general and this sample in particular. Looks > like it's in good shape, but I'm curious about the lack of pain on the > bottom of the chainstays. Has it had a kickstand mounted in the past > perhaps? > > 2. Thoughts on his new Handsome compared with this RB-2. Obviously, > different bars will be a major difference. He's thinking that he'd enjoy > having two different styles of bike to ride. He has a small 1 BR apartment > in Brooklyn, so room for storage of bikes is an issue. > > 3. Is this a reasonable price for a bike like this? > > 4. Are there other bikes he should consider that wouldn't be too far off > the price of this one. Or other bikes that would be much better for a bit > more money? > > Thanks, > > Mark Taintor > Chanhassen, MN > -- 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/26a9b138-a7a0-44ef-bdca-540175b555f2n%40googlegroups.com.
