Ian sez, "...I still daydream of owning a beautiful lugged Riv that I could ride forever, I understand and appreciate their drive to innovate and embrace change, and know that change is the only real constant, but it's not always for the better...."
I began serious riding in the midst of the early 70's "bike boom" and have owned and ridden probably a dozen different bikes in the 50+ years since. Prior to that, I've had bikes ever since the mid-50's - a cantilever framed Schwinn with 24" wheels to start, then a 3-speed IGH Raleigh knock-off, then a cheap 10-speed. I, too, have always been in search of the "perfect" bike that I could ride for the remainder of my life. I finally dialed in on such a bike when I bought my Ram back in '04. I'm approaching 75 now (IOW, "middle" old age) and still find it perfect fit. I wish I would have had that bike way back when I began riding more seriously. It was basically a production model of what Riv called the "long low." Everything about it is just perfect (for me anyway). On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 8:46:56 AM UTC-6 ian m wrote: > On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 2:11:06 AM UTC-5 iamkeith wrote: > > Like Tim, I got an early Clem, thinking it would be an updated, > proper-fitting version of an analog 80s or 90s mountain bike - because > that's how it was initially concieved and described by Grant. But I > admittedly struggled on trails, just as you describe. So it kind of > morphed into something else, for other kinds of riding. > > > I too had the same Clem origin story. I had always wanted a Riv but > couldn't afford one at the time while I was daily riding, touring, and > offroading an my '90 Fisher MTB. When the Clem was announced I was over the > moon, it sounded like it was designed just for me and the lower price point > meant I could stop dreaming of falling into some money to buy a Hunq and > get my first Riv. I think it's unfortunate that it was designed around the > Bosco bars which made it impossible for me to get a good fit with less > aggressively upright bars, and soon found out the extra long chainstays > made it a chore to lift the front end even enough to clear sharp tree roots. > With the Clem not being up to off-road duty where I live I picked up a > Jones Plus LWB to hit the trails on and what a revelation. Similar > wheelbase length but it's the front center that is extended rather than the > rear triangle, so the bike felt incredibly nimble and handled > fantastically. Really smart design. Unfortunately I had to sell a bike to > free up some funds and chose the Jones over the Clem which I regret. > > I also wish that not every Riv model had growing chainstays. I still > daydream of owning a beautiful lugged Riv that I could ride forever, I > understand and appreciate their drive to innovate and embrace change, and > know that change is the only real constant, but it's not always for the > better. > -- 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/bdb7cfa2-bc3c-40f5-98f3-f29a9096d4b3n%40googlegroups.com.
