Maybe an analogy....
When I first started fly fishing, I bought the 'intro' level Orvis rod.
Good rod, but, wasn't long until I was eyeing other rods, like Winston,
Sage... Orvis had a lot more expensive rods, I didn't want to go that far
up the scale, so I thought I could find better than the low-end Orvis stuff
elsewhere for less. Thing about Orvis, they have nice rods and reels, and
anything you get from them is usually top-notch in function and aesthetics;
however, I will say, some of their other items, like clothing, or associated
gadgets, they find decent, good gear, and either relabel it, or just sell it
too, but, usually at a noticable mark-up over what you could find it for
elsewhere. Anyway, I ended up getting a G.Loomis Streamdance, which is
still my favorite, my go-to rod for tailwater trout here. For smallmouth,
ended up w/ another Loomis (an aside: Loomis is now owned by Shimano), and a
Winston for my son. Thing is, I somehow got in my head that, Orvis was a
good go-to company to get people into fly-fishing, but there were other
companies that were focusing on just specifics [kind of like comparing LL
Bean's encompassing catalog of about anything you could need, against Sage,
with just rods, reels, and maybe just a few other things like a vest or a
hat, etc.]. But as time went on, I started becoming more critical of other
companies, and started appreciating small things about the higher-end Orvis
rods, and ended up back buying my next couple of rods from Orvis... paid
more for some of the rods than I ever would have believed I would have when
I started out, but, I had learned to appreciate some of the nuances that
come w/ the extra costs.
I hope Grant doesn't find this insulting or a bad thing, but I think of
Rivendell as the Orvis of steel bicycles. [Is it ironic that I first learned
of Rivendell while in my local Orvis shop?] There are some models that have
been over the years that have brought people to Rivendell (thinking of the
Bleriot, and maybe the Soma San Marcos will; and maybe the Sam Hillborne);
and, every single thing that Riv sells is a good item (even if, there are
some of them that I can find elsewhere for less); they sell so much more
than just a bicycle, aside from frames and components, you have MUSA,
stoves, sleeping bags, knives, tools, books, wax, soap, toys... I'm amazed
at some of the cool things they have. And, likewise with my
post-Orvis-intro, having gotten into Rivendell, I've ended up learning about
other bikes that I'd never heard of before (Hampsten, Handsome, Vassago,
Ragley, Singular, Bruce Gordon) [before Rivendell, I knew Trek, Fuji,
Specialized, Cannondale, Giant (and my Nishiki), Schwinn, etc., but that's
*that* level, not the same level as the aforementioned). I considered
certain ones of those others, Kona, Surly, etc., but, in the end, I worked
myself up into justifying the cost of the Rivendell instead... so I've got
a Rambouillet now, and, am also waiting on my next Riv frame to get in....
So, I suppose, I'd say, to work it off of your premise, I would state it
as: "I was gonna buy a bike, and then talked myself into a Riv... then, was
gonna get something else, and came back to Riv instead... "
(and, I hope y'all don't think I'm a complete loon now!)..... :)
-L
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW
Owners Bunch" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/9rbR-gnlYk0J.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
