7 years ago, I had to bend back my front dropout on the Ram fork. Good as new in just a few minutes for something that initially had made me gasp. I was happy to have steel then.
Sent from my iPhone On Aug 18, 2012, at 12:49 PM, cyclotourist <cyclotour...@gmail.com> wrote: > Great to hear the repair-ability part. We hear how steel is easily > repairable, but never really hear of anyone doing it! > > On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:41 AM, lungimsam <john11.2...@gmail.com> wrote: > Pics, pics!! Love to see it. > > > On Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:23:08 PM UTC-4, Paul Yeoh wrote: > Tried to post this to rivbike.com, but they only allow 1000 characters and > this review is about 5X that. > Hope it helps anyone looking at the Hillborne. > > > This review is overdue, I have had the bike almost 2 years now, and its been > through a few configurations. I didn't love it at first, but I really do > appreciate it now, I guess I've grown into the bike. > > It might be good to first state that I don't fit the usual Riv customer > profile. I've been riding XC since 13 (age 32 at time of writing), and more > recently gotten into road riding. I love my go-fast kit, enjoy racing and > train with a heart rate monitor. That's not to say that I don't ever "Just > Ride" - I ride in a variety of ways. > > I first specced my Hillborne with moustache bars, a schmidt dynohub (powering > B&M lights front and rear) , phil rivy 7 speed rear hub, 42mm marathon > extremes (knobby) , tektro 720 cantis, MKS Sylvan pedals and B17 saddle. I > went to town on this build, thinking it'd be my bike to tour the world on. I > didn't enjoy riding it so much, it felt slow on the road, and not nearly as > much fun as my racing hardtail off road. The moustache bars have the cool XO > look, but felt awkward to me - I could never settle into a position for long. > > I didn't start to really enjoy and appreciate the bike until after making > several changes... which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys aggressive > riding. > > - Noodle bars and technomic stem: this handlebar setup gave me enough > positions to play with, both aggressive and relaxed. The only way to go, > imho. Much more comfortable over a long trip, and easier to crank out power > than on a moustache bar. > > - Jack Brown tires: The best 700c tire for this bike! These make it possible > to keep up with slower roadies while being very comfortable and secure. For > the same effort that I can keep my 23mm road racer going at 40 kph, I can > keep these tires going at 35 kph, which is pretty darn good considering 50psi > comfort and the Hillborne's significant heft. I feel that a fatter, knobby > tire like the 42mm marathon extreme is overkill for this frame, and doesn't > allow me to ride off road any faster anyway. > > - Crankbrothers 50/50 platform pedals : these were actually for my full > suspension trail bike but were put on the Hillborne while the trail bike was > out of service. Its much easier to put power down on the bike with a grippy > platform pedal vs. a more slippery MKS Sylvan. It lets me charge over rough > surfaces and accelerate with a great deal more conviction = more fun. I'd > tried clipless pedals on the Hillborne too, but platforms allow you to > embrace the Rivendell / Grant philosophy properly, and it works really well. > > I've not been a huge fan of the Silver friction shifters, and I am just about > getting used to them now. I don't shift very often on this bike, whereas I am > constantly shifting on my road racer to keep power output at a max. I prefer > my dura-ace brifters, but I can appreciate that friction bar ends do work > well for this bike's intended purpose. > > I ride this bike every where now. In any type of clothing, into any > non-extreme terrain. Commuting, adventuring, training, its never a bad time > to take the Riv out, especially when the terrain or weather is unexpected. > Ridden at an easy pace, this bike is effortless. Ridden hard, its fast enough > to feel fun and nimble. Not as quick as a road racer, but certainly quick > enough. The ride is like most would rave about - supple, confident, secure. I > agree wholeheartedly with Grant that if you had just one bike, you couldn't > do better, though knowing what I know now, I might've sprung for a Roadeo > instead, specced it with a full Ultegra 2x10 drivetrain, and reduced my > stable by one bike. > > Complaints: I did have regular trouble with chain suck when the bike from > new. It tends to be a problem when riding very muddy/dusty terrain. I > generally don't ride so much dirt with the hillborne now, and also keep the > drivetrain clean and well lubed, and the problem is not present then. Dirt > roads are generally fine, singletrack tends to cause problems. > > I also managed to break the frame whilst riding some singletrack. Not a very > big impact, riding up a river embankment, nothing that threw me off the bike, > but I cracked the joints joining the headtube to downtube and lower top tube > (56 cm, Waterford, double top tube model) This is not a strike against Riv > or Waterford - these things happen, and no manufacturer is 100%. To Riv's > credit, John handled the matter most graciously and offered me a chance to > buy a shop model at a deeply discounted price w frame swap. My problem was > that being based in South East Asia, shipping would be prohibitively > expensive. Since one of the selling points of a steel bike is its > repairability, I went with that route, and found a local builder to braze the > joints back. Its probably stronger than new now. > > All said and done, I know I'll be keeping this bike forever. > > -- > 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/-/AoJp7JgEX5cJ. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@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. > > > > -- > Cheers, > David > Redlands, CA > > ** > “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America > that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I > love.” > > -- > 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-bunch@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. -- 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-bunch@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.
