Paul, Great story and a wonderful project. I am in the midst of the same thing with my 14 year old daughter. We went the route of the "vintage mixte" refurb. My daughter has been riding quite a bit since the onset of the pandemic and no in-person school. She too has "shot up " and is now a bit over 5'8", so it was time for a new bike.
We ended up with an old Centurion Mixte that she went with me to inspect when we purchased it. She has picked all of the parts and I help by ordering what we need and we pick through the parts I have, to see what works. Then she with my help, she took it completely apart, de-greased and waxed the frame while we are awaiting parts. She has a very developed opinion on the form and function (black frame/silver hammered fenders/ brown saddle and grips/ 6 speed friction thumb shifters/ 38-30 chainrings with a chainguard/bottle dynamo and LED lights) and I am there to provide the technical bits. She is really excited and looks for the mail everyday, as we accumulate what we need to finish the project. Its a lot of fun spending time with her and really interesting to see how adept she is a problem-solving. Glad you had such a great experience. Just wanted to share mine as well. Humble daughter brag now over.... ;-) On Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 8:47:04 AM UTC-5 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > I can’t express enough how delighted I was reading this story over my > coffee this morning. > > What a perfect 2020 homeschooling project, and one for the family memory > book, at that. She built a Rivendell in the bike boom during the pandemic > of 2020, sounds like a good writing project for ELA, to boot! > > This 12 year old child knows more than I do about bike mechanics, so I am > blown away. What a bright child. And I’m sure she got to spend loads of > time alongside her dad as she learned, another bonus. Your friend is wrong > in his estimation of this bike... > > It is not expensive; it is priceless. > > There is another List member who gave a blue 52 Clem L to his daughter for > her 11th birthday just recently. The great thing about the Clems is that > you can grow into them. At 12, if your daughter can fit a 52 you’re golden; > unless she is taller than 5’ 10” in a few years, this is her size. > Permanently. Another reason to sing the praises of the Clementine, as if we > needed one more. But anyway, my kids are both on Clems, so you’ll get no > criticism from ME. The boys each have a Clem H, and I hope riding good, > comfortable, capable bikes fosters a love for cycling that will stay with > them as adults. There is one List member who gave her teen girl an > ATLANTIS, and Analog decked it out with the teenager’s favorite Lord of the > Rings quotes - typed it on bar tape with a typewriter! > > What is your wife’s Clem like? Does she have the same color? Different? > And as Clems are rare as hen’s teeth these days, where did you find one for > your daughter? > > Thanks so much for sharing this story. It’s wonderful! > Leah > > > > On Monday, November 30, 2020 at 11:11:53 PM UTC-8 Paul in Vermont wrote: > >> Hello RBW Friends. >> >> My 12 year old daughter shot up this year, and it was time for a new >> bicycle! >> >> We've homeschooled her since Kindergarten. One of the great advantages is >> that the kids drive the curriculum (with our guidance) so when we do stuff, >> it's stuff they tend to be REALLY interested in. So when she asked to build >> her own bike with me as the tutor I was all in. >> >> We toyed with the idea of finding and rebuilding a vintage mixte, but >> turns out used awesome step-through frames are hard to come by. We >> eventually settled on a 53 Clem L like her mother rides. >> >> Images attached, including notes, drawings of tools, and instant photos >> of progress. She's fitted every screw with her own hands, and even sweated >> putting on the Big Bens by herself. >> >> It may not look like it, but lots of the parts are from the parts bin — >> they don't look it because she scrubbed everything before we started, even >> made an old 10-speed cassette and shifter shine with degreaser. All that's >> left is chain, derailleur, rack, and fenders. >> >> Plus, she'll maintain it herself (and I won't have to! Woo!). >> >> One of my friends made a side comment about setting up a kid with such a >> nice (read: not cheap) bike. I totally disagree. It's my experience that a >> good bike with solid components is a killer investment, especially for a >> teenager. She'll ride it twice as much as a cheap clunker, and this one >> will last all the way to adulthood and beyond. Plus if she ever wants a >> different ride, a used Riv sells on this forum for a good percentage of >> what it cost us to put together! >> >> Besides learning actual skills and getting to spend time together working >> with our hands, almost the most important lesson is respect for good >> things, rather than just buying more cheap junk you replace when it breaks. >> That's a life lesson about love that extends far beyond the bicycle! Much >> needed in today's world. >> >> PS: For those of you have kids and who are considering it, homeschooling >> rules. >> >> Costs way less than private school (if you can afford that) and many, >> many less hours than public school and zero peer pressure to do dumb stuff. >> At 12, she's still a fairy about half the time — when she isn't building >> bikes, monkeying around with electronics, taking care of the pigs at a >> local farm, or doing math homework, which she actually loves because >> there's nobody to tell her not to love it. >> >> So much for the horrors of puberty! >> >> Much love. >> >> Paul >> >> [image: IMG_1297.jpeg] >> [image: IMG_1300.jpeg] >> >> [image: IMG_1298.jpeg] >> >> [image: IMG_1299.jpeg] >> > -- 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. 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