I'm a bit like you Craig, I ride what I ride and no amount of philosophizing and theorizing about it is going to alter that. I like what I like. It's like any other taste, if I have no taste for something all the word songs in the world won't change it. The warmth portrayed in the image is nice, love it !
I read the blahhhhg and the emails on and off. Some of it I relate to, much of it I do not. Bridgestone to me, growing up in Minnesota, was no more than another brand I may see advertised in a magazine. No local shop sold them. I like reading his biz experiences though, as entertainment, like an adventure novel. A who-dunnit ? !!! *Well let me tell you a litte story ........ * I finally found a good alternative to the under the BB cable chewing thing on my custom Franklin recently. the shifty(though I usually left off the f) rear QR lever, and I lowered the Alba bars greatly. I'll either try flipping them later or may simply flip the +/-10d threadless stem mounted to the quill adapter first. That high bar madness is not for me. Been there, tired it on, it didn't fit as "suggested". Just because you're xx years old, doesn't mean your bars should, would, or could be some arbitrary number. Just because you ride over blank, or ride like blank, or do blank, or don't do blank .....doesn't mean another arbitarary blank ought to be done to compensate for that arbitrary blank. Insanity is a equation that never adds up anything but more of the same ! Anyways, I LOVE riding my Franklin "sport/touring" bike ! It's so non-riv-like. It responds to steering/body movements like a fine tuned instrument, easy to veer off line and return in an instant. Cornering is a blast, a total gasser ! While I like my Bombadil for what it is, I wouldn't want another one. I also have a unbuilt Susie frame, yet no desire to even build it. If I lived in trail-ville, maybe I would, but I don't. Have you ever bought something because you bought into the sizzle that was sold, but when your steak arrived you wonder why it doesn't smell or taste like you "bought" ? I bought a "would".... an "if only"... "an image" of reality. That's the way branding goes, it sells an image, "virtual reality", it's not re-al-i-ty. The Riv thing appealed to me when they sold "normal" road-like stuff, mostly the manual 7-speed parts though, certainly not the clothing, the saddles or the thigh-slapping saddle bags. So the story goes.... through the looking glass ! Teeheehhee ! On Monday, May 23, 2022 at 10:19:09 PM UTC-4 Patrick Moore wrote: > Nice photo, nice road, nice SW background. > > I read the Blaghs regularly, though I don't read it for wisdom. Grant > manages to make interesting things that otherwise I'd find boring. > > I just discovered that there's a new Blagh out today -- dinner time > reading. > > On Mon, May 23, 2022 at 5:46 PM Craig Montgomery <cmontg...@cox.net> > wrote: > >> If you're not into mush stop reading now. I get the Riv emails as a >> reminder to keep up with parts I may need or to see if there are any neat >> new goodies especially tools that might interest me (usually not). But I >> don't read the Blahg. Never have. Don't care anymore. New bikes and old or >> new philosophies are met with ambivalence on my part. I've got my bikes, >> have tons of equipment, so for the most part I'm happy where I am. Riding >> and using the stuff I have and not caring what the future has in store. My >> two-wheeled mantras. Must be an old man thing. Or maybe I'm a velocipedic >> Zen master and don't know it...Nah! >> >> But I read a Grant blahg, for the first time, in one of the emails from a >> couple of weeks ago. Not intentionally. Just happened. He let loose on his >> early history and the Bridgestone thing and his state of mind as life >> changes were hitting him like a sledgehammer in the forehead and then the >> start of the company. I remember a chunk of those days as I transitioned >> from the Bridgestone catalogues to the Readers. I was going thru changes >> then also and Grant struck a chord. >> >> So in a wave of sentimentality and nostalgia (something tells me Grant >> was not in these moods when he wrote this) and relief and some >> appreciation, I rustled up some old photos from that period, found one I >> liked, made it into a little poster and sent it to the shop. My first tour >> (Spring '97) on the All Rounder (built 11/96) that was delivered about a >> month before. The blahg reminded me how the bike and the tour pulled me out >> of a rut and onto a new track. >> Hey Grant, thanks. You're alright. >> >> I still have the bike, the hat, the field glasses, and the t shirt. But >> the t shirt doesn't fit anymore. Not even close. >> Craig in Tucson >> >> [image: And miles to go....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-bun...@googlegroups.com. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/34400a5a-6924-4785-905d-f9d3684a4580n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/34400a5a-6924-4785-905d-f9d3684a4580n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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