My take, in point form: - Any bike is at risk of theft or vandalism in this situation, no matter how 'perfectly suited' to the job it is. - That said, the Clem L is definitely less attractive to thieves than a Surly, despite being better in our eyes. Surlys are much better known. - If you are comfortable with a real risk of losing it to theft, and want to see it live its life, I'd go for it - If it's painful to think of it being stolen, I'd hold it back and buy a $300 single speed for its disposable nature
On Saturday, 12 August 2023 at 10:00:07 UTC-7 dajo...@gmail.com wrote: > Let's make it 3 for 3. Keep the new Clem at home. There will be plenty > of time for him to enjoy it during college breaks, and post-college. In > 20+ years as a campus pastor at a Big 12 university, I don't ever recall > seeing that nice of a bike on campus. > > David Jones > > > On Sat, Aug 5, 2023, 9:56 PM Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> It nearly kills me to say it, but my older son will be heading to college >> in a year. Freshman aren’t to bring cars to campus, so that leaves buses, >> bikes, and your own two feet for transportation. My boys have grown up >> riding Clem Hs; this son rides a 52 cm cast-off from my husband (who >> doesn’t ride, sigh). >> >> My 6’3” Dad had a blue 59 cm Clem on order when he died suddenly in 2020, >> and his blue Clem has sat, boxed, waiting for my boy to grow into it. I >> lugged the gargantuan box up from the basement last week to see how if the >> bike would fit. “Now that I’ve obtained optimal height,” my son is fond of >> saying… >> >> Anyway, he’s 6’1” now (likely still growing) and I need him to decide if >> he wants to stick with his old Clem H (that he was fond of) or settle into >> this Clem L. Because whichever bike he chooses is getting new wheels, dyno >> and fenders and going to college with him. At first he was opposed to the >> idea of a new Clem; he liked his old Clem, thought it looked cool. But >> after the - as he calls it - Big Bike was assembled, he really began to >> like it. “It looks elegant,” he said. It really does, all long and lithe, >> in blue and silver. He put his saddle and bags on the bike and we test rode >> it tonight. He said, “I am really liking the Big Bike. I like that my knees >> don’t have anything to hit (geez, were his knees hitting his bars?!) and it >> looks elegant. It feels more at home now that I have my old saddle on it.” >> >> I have mixed feelings about sending him to college with this bike, >> because it’s so nice. I also doubt he’ll be able to get it on a bus bike >> rack - and I have no idea how often he will want to do that. His bike life >> is totally unknown at this point. All I know is that I’m getting him dyno >> because the kid has never remembered to charge a light in his LIFE and I >> will not sleep at night without it.The 52 takes 650b wheels and the 59 >> takes 700c, so I don’t want to buy the wheels until I know which bike he >> really wants. But as of now, he wants his new bike. >> >> I know people will say we should just get a beater. I know why that would >> be advisable, but I also hate to think of a Clem languishing when it could >> be serving a noble purpose. I’d love for him and his Clem to journey >> through undergrad together. >> >> I am wondering…has anyone gone to college or sent their kid to college >> with a Clem? What do you have to say about it? Photos in the next post… >> Leah >> >> -- >> 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/0d23bcf0-daea-486b-8c3c-86de9391c5cbn%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0d23bcf0-daea-486b-8c3c-86de9391c5cbn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- 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/812162a9-0d41-4e7d-9e33-f5a469031a86n%40googlegroups.com.
