Woods valves! I remember them! I suppose you can still buy the little rubber tube that fits over the metal valve core?
I wonder if these are made in India ...? If so, I should think one could sell them in the US for far less than $500. (Oh, spiffed up -- as in alum rims, ss spokes, better brakes, Schraeder valves ...) But it looks like a very affordable, 3d world type utility bike that is far, far far FAR (did I say it often enough? In case I didn't: FARFARFARFARFAR!!!) better than the crapola, turn-of-the-19th-century design, rod brake roadsters. ($1,500 Pashleys --- faugh!) On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 6:47 AM, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > Not a for sale ad. :) > > I was just surprised that I got no responses to my reply to the Riv > beater thread, but I did respond rather late... Anyway, if they can > sell this bike for $120 in Thailand, > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/25150...@n08/4811164801/ > > I can't see why it couldn't sell in the US for $500 with some spiffed > up specs. It really is too bad this market niche remains empty in the > US. > > This is my wife's bike, a 2008 lugged steel, 6 speed Raleigh with > metal headbadge, fenders, basket, kickstand, chainguard and > skirtguard, and even a passenger seat w/foot-pegs in lieu of a rear > rack. :) (As the Thais say: "buy one, free one.") > > I was dead-set against buying it, because it seemed too cheap, but it > has held up very well for 1.5 years of almost daily commuting and the > occasional ride to dinner with me as the captain and my wife on the > back seat. The lugs are the crudest you'll ever see, the fork is a > unicrown and an ugly one at that, the rear drum brake is a joke, > especially combined with the plastic brake levers (but the stamped > metal front sidepull works well), and the indexed shifting requires > overshifting to get into certain gears (but at least it's easy to do > with the thumbshifter). The nipples are plated steel and have started > to rust (I just WD40 them on occasion), and the cranks, seat post, > hubs, and bars are steel as well. The tire sidewalls cracked all > around the first year because the tubes kept loosing air and my wife > would ride it with 15-20 psi or so rather than dealing with the stock > Woods valves or asking me to pump up her tires, but the tires are > still going anyway. The paint started out as a metallic turquoise but > has faded to a much nicer bluish silver from 1.5 years of tropical sun > exposure at her work. > > Anyone wanna help me import these? :) > > Cheers, > > Gernot > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW at resumespecialt...@gmail.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
