Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

['Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch]

I didn't see the Hardrock for sale but I just looked it up and it sounds 
like one of the earlier ones, which means it might not have had the 
geometry I want.  

I've got a bid on E-Bay for a 20" Rockhopper.  My initial inclination is to 
want a 22" but I realize those will be much more rare. I've got a 22.5" 
Trek 820 and a 21" Trek 730 and riding both with 26" wheels, I really 
prefer the 730.  I think it's just the smaller, lighter and shorter 
wheelbase of the 730 feel better for the riding I'm going to do.  I rode a 
19" 730 for 12 years before I knew any better so a 20" Rockhopper shouldn't 
be any problem.

I'm working on selling some non-bike stuff to finance this build but thru 
E-bay I can use PayPal and PayLater until I make my sell.  If I sell my 
other stuff soon I might just advertise here and on a few more like-minded 
boards (internet-bob, Bicycle Lifestyle, 650b come to mind).   

On Sunday, July 27, 2014 2:47:30 PM UTC-5, Peter M wrote:
>
> It was David and he was selling a Hardrock, I wish I could have picked it 
> up but just no time. 
> On Jul 27, 2014 3:44 PM, "Goshen Peter" > 
> wrote:
>
>> I know there was a lister selling a rockhhopper frame for 40 bucks a week 
>> or so ago. I think it was a 22.
>> On Jul 27, 2014 3:42 PM, "Eric Daume" > 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> My '92 Stumpjumper Pro had short horizontal dropouts that made it easy 
>>> to single speed. 
>>>
>>> Eric
>>> Dublin, OH
>>>
>>> On Sunday, July 27, 2014, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
>>> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com > wrote:
>>>
 Definately want the sportier geometry!  By the mid-90's the Rockhopper 
 and Stumpjumpers seem have switched completely to vertical dropouts and 
 even in the 1992 the Rockhopper comp had vertical dropouts instead of the 
 forward facing ones the base model Rockhopper has.  I think they are the 
 same tubing and I'm looking for a frameset only so no loss there.  

 Patrick,

 If this SS idea lives up to my expectations, I will probably have a 
 custom rear wheel built and if I do, it will be a reversible SS/Fixed 
 wheel.  For now I'm going to use a spacer kit on a 7-speed Shimano hub.  

 Here is an image of a 1992 Rockhopper Comp.  It has the vertical 
 dropouts and thus a chain tensioner.  I'm looking at the same size, same 
 year Rockhopper with forward facing dropouts.  It should look pretty much 
 the same and that excites me because this is a tough looking bike! 


 


 On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but 
> the later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm 
> guessing: http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html 
> The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would 
> think: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html
>
> I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to 
> have the really shallow angles though, double check those.
>
> I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez, 
> Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch 
>  wrote:
>
>> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build 
>> up a dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for 
>> this but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts 
>> but 
>> it's just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is 
>> revolving around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to 
>> recreate my childhood riding. 
>>
>> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the 
>> forward-facing dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's 
>> Rockhoppers.  From what I can find, they are all cro-mo, have the 
>> shorter 
>> chainstays I like, have reasonable top-tube lengths and have the 
>> all-important dropouts.  I'd love to pick up a sporty geometry 
>> Stumpjumper 
>> with the really good tubing but right now I don't want to spend the time 
>> it 
>> would take to find one.  Plus, I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with 
>> the 
>> geometry and dropouts I want even exists.  
>>
>> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a 
>> set of 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured 
>> out 
>> it was the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had 
>> passed. 
>>  I'm thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Philip Williamson]

Schwalbe was very good about replacing a tire with a broken bead. It was pretty 
much just "Send us a picture. Okay. Choose your preferred tread pattern." 
http://www.biketinker.com/2011/projects/big-apple-failure/

And... A White Industries Eric's Eccentric ENO wheel will let you use a newer 
frame with vertical dropouts. You just missed Tony's... which is en route to 
me, now. 

Just yesterday I set up a singlespeed mountain bike, AND had freaky tire 
issues. 
Philip
www.biketinker.com

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Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Goshen Peter]

It was David and he was selling a Hardrock, I wish I could have picked it
up but just no time.
On Jul 27, 2014 3:44 PM, "Goshen Peter"  wrote:

> I know there was a lister selling a rockhhopper frame for 40 bucks a week
> or so ago. I think it was a 22.
> On Jul 27, 2014 3:42 PM, "Eric Daume"  wrote:
>
>> My '92 Stumpjumper Pro had short horizontal dropouts that made it easy to
>> single speed.
>>
>> Eric
>> Dublin, OH
>>
>> On Sunday, July 27, 2014, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
>> rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Definately want the sportier geometry!  By the mid-90's the Rockhopper
>>> and Stumpjumpers seem have switched completely to vertical dropouts and
>>> even in the 1992 the Rockhopper comp had vertical dropouts instead of the
>>> forward facing ones the base model Rockhopper has.  I think they are the
>>> same tubing and I'm looking for a frameset only so no loss there.
>>>
>>> Patrick,
>>>
>>> If this SS idea lives up to my expectations, I will probably have a
>>> custom rear wheel built and if I do, it will be a reversible SS/Fixed
>>> wheel.  For now I'm going to use a spacer kit on a 7-speed Shimano hub.
>>>
>>> Here is an image of a 1992 Rockhopper Comp.  It has the vertical
>>> dropouts and thus a chain tensioner.  I'm looking at the same size, same
>>> year Rockhopper with forward facing dropouts.  It should look pretty much
>>> the same and that excites me because this is a tough looking bike!
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:

 Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but
 the later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm
 guessing: http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html
 The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would
 think: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html

 I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have
 the really shallow angles though, double check those.

 I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez,
 Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.

 Cheers,
 David

 "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal





 On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch
  wrote:

> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build
> up a dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for
> this but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts 
> but
> it's just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is
> revolving around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to
> recreate my childhood riding.
>
> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the
> forward-facing dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's
> Rockhoppers.  From what I can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter
> chainstays I like, have reasonable top-tube lengths and have the
> all-important dropouts.  I'd love to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper
> with the really good tubing but right now I don't want to spend the time 
> it
> would take to find one.  Plus, I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the
> geometry and dropouts I want even exists.
>
> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set
> of 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it
> was the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.
>  I'm thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will
> be what I will go with.
>
> This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the
> neighborhood.  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths
> throughout.  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is
> questionable) there are virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are 
> so
> long that it's easy to completely avoid them all-together if there are any
> out.  There isn't a single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole
> network so it's a perfect twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26"
> wheels.
>
> I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the
> bulk of my riding once I've got one.
>
>
>
> On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>
>> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating
>> event that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully 
>> I'll
>> get the bike back today or tomorrow.
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>>>
>>> Hopef

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Goshen Peter]

I know there was a lister selling a rockhhopper frame for 40 bucks a week
or so ago. I think it was a 22.
On Jul 27, 2014 3:42 PM, "Eric Daume"  wrote:

> My '92 Stumpjumper Pro had short horizontal dropouts that made it easy to
> single speed.
>
> Eric
> Dublin, OH
>
> On Sunday, July 27, 2014, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
> rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
>> Definately want the sportier geometry!  By the mid-90's the Rockhopper
>> and Stumpjumpers seem have switched completely to vertical dropouts and
>> even in the 1992 the Rockhopper comp had vertical dropouts instead of the
>> forward facing ones the base model Rockhopper has.  I think they are the
>> same tubing and I'm looking for a frameset only so no loss there.
>>
>> Patrick,
>>
>> If this SS idea lives up to my expectations, I will probably have a
>> custom rear wheel built and if I do, it will be a reversible SS/Fixed
>> wheel.  For now I'm going to use a spacer kit on a 7-speed Shimano hub.
>>
>> Here is an image of a 1992 Rockhopper Comp.  It has the vertical dropouts
>> and thus a chain tensioner.  I'm looking at the same size, same year
>> Rockhopper with forward facing dropouts.  It should look pretty much the
>> same and that excites me because this is a tough looking bike!
>>
>>
>> 
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>> Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but
>>> the later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm
>>> guessing: http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html
>>> The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would
>>> think: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html
>>>
>>> I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have
>>> the really shallow angles though, double check those.
>>>
>>> I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez,
>>> Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> David
>>>
>>> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
>>> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>>
 As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up
 a dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this
 but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's
 just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving
 around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my
 childhood riding.

 I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the
 forward-facing dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's
 Rockhoppers.  From what I can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter
 chainstays I like, have reasonable top-tube lengths and have the
 all-important dropouts.  I'd love to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper
 with the really good tubing but right now I don't want to spend the time it
 would take to find one.  Plus, I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the
 geometry and dropouts I want even exists.

 My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set
 of 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it
 was the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.
  I'm thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will
 be what I will go with.

 This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the
 neighborhood.  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths
 throughout.  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is
 questionable) there are virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so
 long that it's easy to completely avoid them all-together if there are any
 out.  There isn't a single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole
 network so it's a perfect twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26"
 wheels.

 I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the
 bulk of my riding once I've got one.



 On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>
> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating
> event that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully 
> I'll
> get the bike back today or tomorrow.
>
>
> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>>
>> Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake
>> cables and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding
>>
>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>>
>>> My bike pr

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Eric Daume]

My '92 Stumpjumper Pro had short horizontal dropouts that made it easy to
single speed.

Eric
Dublin, OH

On Sunday, July 27, 2014, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote:

> Definately want the sportier geometry!  By the mid-90's the Rockhopper and
> Stumpjumpers seem have switched completely to vertical dropouts and even in
> the 1992 the Rockhopper comp had vertical dropouts instead of the forward
> facing ones the base model Rockhopper has.  I think they are the same
> tubing and I'm looking for a frameset only so no loss there.
>
> Patrick,
>
> If this SS idea lives up to my expectations, I will probably have a custom
> rear wheel built and if I do, it will be a reversible SS/Fixed wheel.  For
> now I'm going to use a spacer kit on a 7-speed Shimano hub.
>
> Here is an image of a 1992 Rockhopper Comp.  It has the vertical dropouts
> and thus a chain tensioner.  I'm looking at the same size, same year
> Rockhopper with forward facing dropouts.  It should look pretty much the
> same and that excites me because this is a tough looking bike!
>
>
> 
>
>
> On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com
>  wrote:
>>
>> Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but the
>> later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm guessing:
>> http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html
>> The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would
>> think: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html
>>
>> I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have
>> the really shallow angles though, double check those.
>>
>> I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez,
>> Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> David
>>
>> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
>> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up
>>> a dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this
>>> but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's
>>> just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving
>>> around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my
>>> childhood riding.
>>>
>>> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the forward-facing
>>> dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's Rockhoppers.  From what I
>>> can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter chainstays I like, have
>>> reasonable top-tube lengths and have the all-important dropouts.  I'd love
>>> to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper with the really good tubing but
>>> right now I don't want to spend the time it would take to find one.  Plus,
>>> I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the geometry and dropouts I want
>>> even exists.
>>>
>>> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set
>>> of 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it
>>> was the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.
>>>  I'm thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will
>>> be what I will go with.
>>>
>>> This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the
>>> neighborhood.  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths
>>> throughout.  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is
>>> questionable) there are virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so
>>> long that it's easy to completely avoid them all-together if there are any
>>> out.  There isn't a single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole
>>> network so it's a perfect twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26"
>>> wheels.
>>>
>>> I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the
>>> bulk of my riding once I've got one.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:

 I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event
 that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get
 the bike back today or tomorrow.


 On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>
> Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables
> and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding
>
> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>
>> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding
>> and 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of
>> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short
>> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

['Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch]

Definately want the sportier geometry!  By the mid-90's the Rockhopper and 
Stumpjumpers seem have switched completely to vertical dropouts and even in 
the 1992 the Rockhopper comp had vertical dropouts instead of the forward 
facing ones the base model Rockhopper has.  I think they are the same 
tubing and I'm looking for a frameset only so no loss there.  

Patrick,

If this SS idea lives up to my expectations, I will probably have a custom 
rear wheel built and if I do, it will be a reversible SS/Fixed wheel.  For 
now I'm going to use a spacer kit on a 7-speed Shimano hub.  

Here is an image of a 1992 Rockhopper Comp.  It has the vertical dropouts 
and thus a chain tensioner.  I'm looking at the same size, same year 
Rockhopper with forward facing dropouts.  It should look pretty much the 
same and that excites me because this is a tough looking bike! 




On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but the 
> later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm guessing: 
> http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html 
> The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would think: 
> http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html
>
> I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have 
> the really shallow angles though, double check those.
>
> I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez, 
> Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com > wrote:
>
>> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up a 
>> dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this 
>> but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's 
>> just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving 
>> around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my 
>> childhood riding. 
>>
>> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the forward-facing 
>> dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's Rockhoppers.  From what I 
>> can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter chainstays I like, have 
>> reasonable top-tube lengths and have the all-important dropouts.  I'd love 
>> to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper with the really good tubing but 
>> right now I don't want to spend the time it would take to find one.  Plus, 
>> I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the geometry and dropouts I want 
>> even exists.  
>>
>> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set of 
>> 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it was 
>> the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.  I'm 
>> thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will be 
>> what I will go with.  
>>
>> This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the 
>> neighborhood.  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths 
>> throughout.  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is 
>> questionable) there are virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so 
>> long that it's easy to completely avoid them all-together if there are any 
>> out.  There isn't a single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole 
>> network so it's a perfect twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26" 
>> wheels.  
>>
>> I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the 
>> bulk of my riding once I've got one.  
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>>
>>> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event 
>>> that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get 
>>> the bike back today or tomorrow.  
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:

 Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables 
 and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding

 On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>
> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding 
> and 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of 
> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short 
> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays 
> of 
> this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the 
> Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about 
> this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday. 
>
>
>
>>>

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Patrick Moore]

Chris: make it a fixed ss and all your desires will be fully and perfectly
achieved.

I've used the 32-35 mm Kojaks in both 26" and 700C sizes and they are very,
very nice tires, and my brother says that the 26" 2" Kojaks are the Bees'
Knees, but if the 37 mm Jan Heine* tires in any way compare to 2" Kojaks
the way the 30 mm Parigi Roubaix compare to the narrower Kojaks, I'd
advise, go with the Jan Heine tires. (*Can't remember the "brand" or the
model names.)

Or, if you ride dirt and gravel: why not the fattest Furious Freds, which
at 360 grams and paperskin thickness for at least the 2" X 622s, are
wonderful as long as there are no goatheads for 1,000 miles (or unless you
go tubeless with Stan's).


On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 12:28 PM, cyclotourist 
wrote:

> Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but the
> later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm guessing:
> http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html
> The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would think:
> http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html
>
> I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have
> the really shallow angles though, double check those.
>
> I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez,
> Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
> rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
>> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up a
>> dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this
>> but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's
>> just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving
>> around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my
>> childhood riding.
>>
>> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the forward-facing
>> dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's Rockhoppers.  From what I
>> can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter chainstays I like, have
>> reasonable top-tube lengths and have the all-important dropouts.  I'd love
>> to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper with the really good tubing but
>> right now I don't want to spend the time it would take to find one.  Plus,
>> I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the geometry and dropouts I want
>> even exists.
>>
>> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set of
>> 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it was
>> the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.  I'm
>> thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will be
>> what I will go with.
>>
>> This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the
>> neighborhood.  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths
>> throughout.  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is
>> questionable) there are virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so
>> long that it's easy to completely avoid them all-together if there are any
>> out.  There isn't a single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole
>> network so it's a perfect twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26"
>> wheels.
>>
>> I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the
>> bulk of my riding once I've got one.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>>
>>> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event
>>> that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get
>>> the bike back today or tomorrow.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:

 Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables
 and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding

 On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>
> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding
> and 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of
> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short
> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays 
> of
> this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the
> Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about
> this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday.
>
>
>
>
>  --
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>> "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
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Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[cyclotourist]

Sounds like it will be a good bike! I'm not super-versed in them, but the
later-steel Rockhoppers look like real good bikes. This era I'm guessing:
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/4589937760.html
The earlier ones are probably more relaxed re-pack geometry I would think:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/4589450453.html

I've seen several real old Stumpies recently as well. They seem to have the
really shallow angles though, double check those.

I tell ya, mid-80's Specialized designed some good bikes. Allez,
Stumpjumper, Sequoia, Expedition, Rockhopper.

Cheers,
David

"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal





On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 10:09 AM, 'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch <
rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote:

> As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up a
> dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this
> but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's
> just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving
> around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my
> childhood riding.
>
> I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the forward-facing
> dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's Rockhoppers.  From what I
> can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter chainstays I like, have
> reasonable top-tube lengths and have the all-important dropouts.  I'd love
> to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper with the really good tubing but
> right now I don't want to spend the time it would take to find one.  Plus,
> I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the geometry and dropouts I want
> even exists.
>
> My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set of
> 55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it was
> the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.  I'm
> thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will be
> what I will go with.
>
> This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the neighborhood.
>  We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths throughout.
>  If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is questionable) there are
> virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so long that it's easy to
> completely avoid them all-together if there are any out.  There isn't a
> single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole network so it's a perfect
> twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26" wheels.
>
> I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the bulk
> of my riding once I've got one.
>
>
>
> On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>
>> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event
>> that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get
>> the bike back today or tomorrow.
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>>>
>>> Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables
>>> and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding
>>>
>>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:

 My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding
 and 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of
 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short
 chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays of
 this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the
 Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about
 this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday.




  --
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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

['Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch]

As a further evolution of my bike preferences, I've decided to build up a 
dedicated single-speed bike.  My Devil frameset would work well for this 
but I want to use 26" wheels.  My 83-84 MTB has the right dropouts but it's 
just not that much fun to ride.  I think my mid-life crisis is revolving 
around bicycles instead of sports cars and I want a bike to recreate my 
childhood riding. 

I've set my sights on some vintage MTB framesets with the forward-facing 
dropouts.  Right now the leader is the early 90's Rockhoppers.  From what I 
can find, they are all cro-mo, have the shorter chainstays I like, have 
reasonable top-tube lengths and have the all-important dropouts.  I'd love 
to pick up a sporty geometry Stumpjumper with the really good tubing but 
right now I don't want to spend the time it would take to find one.  Plus, 
I'm not even sure the Stumpjumper with the geometry and dropouts I want 
even exists.  

My biggest question is going to be tires.  I'm currently running a set of 
55mm Big Apples but one is defective and by the time I figured out it was 
the tire and not the wheel, the window for returning it had passed.  I'm 
thinking 2.0 Kojaks, the largest Racer or the Compass 44mm tires will be 
what I will go with.  

This will literally be a bike that probably never leaves the neighborhood. 
 We have a very large greenbelt with concrete sidewalk paths throughout. 
 If I pick the right time of day (or if weather is questionable) there are 
virtually no pedestrians and the sight-lines are so long that it's easy to 
completely avoid them all-together if there are any out.  There isn't a 
single straight stretch of sidewalk in this whole network so it's a perfect 
twisty-curvy path to blast down on nimble 26" wheels.  

I'll keep my Devil as my geared bike but I suspect my SS will get the bulk 
of my riding once I've got one.  



On Monday, March 24, 2014 5:34:38 AM UTC-5, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>
> I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event 
> that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get 
> the bike back today or tomorrow.  
>
>
> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>>
>> Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables 
>> and a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding
>>
>> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>>
>>> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding 
>>> and 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of 
>>> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short 
>>> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays of 
>>> this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the 
>>> Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about 
>>> this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday. 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[RJM]

Well, I think when I was young I had a bike with a banana seat and ape 
hangers and it was called The Good Buddy or something. Broke that frame 
after a year or so. 
 
When in grade school I had some no name 10 speed. It was black and I rode 
that everywhere. Broke that frame ghost riding it off a hill.
 
When in college I got into mountain biking and bought some sort of steel 
Fuji. Rode that for a year, broke that frame crashing into a tree.
 
Then in 1996 I saved up my money and I bought a 1996 Stumpjumper, installed 
a Judy XC fork and some light saddle and rode that for a long time. Still 
have that bike but it is in parts. 
 
In 2001 I went back to school and bought a Jamis Aurora. I used that for 
commuting and did a little touring on it. Had that bike when I got hitched, 
rode sparingly because ...life got in the way. 
 
I bought a Trek 7.5fx in 2008 or 09, can't really remember. I rode that 
bike with my wife, solo, friends all over the place. Really a good bike.
 
Started reading about Rivendell, my friend had a A. Homer Hilsen and I 
thought it was awesome, so I started saving up the pennies again but I 
built the Jamis up to be Riv like with mustache bars, B17, friction 
shifters. Eventually I bought an orange/Canti 48cm Sam Hillborne on some 
member only sale that Riv had and have ridden that bike a ton. Built it 
with noodles, bar end shifters, 7 speed Phil "Rivy" - Dyad wheels,  I used 
it for club riding, rails to trails, commuting, slow rides with the wife, 
long s24os...everything. Then I noticed I would really like a club riding 
bike, built light and agile, so I can continue with the club but also have 
a bike that does touring and commuting well. I bought a Roadeo, got it 
painted Ram orange, built it up with Ultegra 6800 and some lighter weight 
wheels. The Sam is morphing into a more upright bike, permanently racked 
and bagged...thinking of some dyno lights too and maybe boscoe or alba 
bars. 
 
If I was going to buy another bike, I would think about a Hunqapillar or a 
Cheviot built up as a mountain bike. 

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Chris Lampe 2]

I've cabled up one bike and it was such a tedious and frustrating event 
that I now just take it to an LBS and let them do it.  Hopefully I'll get 
the bike back today or tomorrow.  


On Sunday, March 23, 2014 10:05:20 PM UTC-5, jpp wrote:
>
> Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables and 
> a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding
>
> On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>>
>> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding and 
>> 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of 
>> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short 
>> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays of 
>> this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the 
>> Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about 
>> this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday. 
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[jpp]

Hopefully someday your tastes evolve into putting shifter/brake cables and 
a chain on a bike, but to each their own!!!  Only kidding

On Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:55:09 PM UTC-4, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:
>
> My bike preferences continue to evolove and I've recently been riding and 
> 83-84 MTB, one of those bikes with 48cm chainstays and a wheelbase of 
> 1120mm.   HUGE bike and I'm really enjoying it!!  I liked the short 
> chainstays of the Troll and Karate Monkey but I also like the long stays of 
> this old MTB.  Riding this bike has really reignited my interest in the 
> Bombadil and the Hunqapillar so I'm looking forward to hearing more about 
> this "proto-hunq" that was unveiled yesterday. 
>
>
>
>
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Evan]

As a kid I rode Stingrays and Stingray knockoffs. Then at age fourteen I 
stopped riding altogether. Many years later, in 1996, a friend passed me 
his Rivendell catalog and told me I might like it. He was wrong. I loved 
it. Read every word of the catalog and Reader for ten years but still 
didn't ride at all. Finally I caved in and bought a Miyata 710, and then 
a Univega Viva Touring, and then an Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II (completely 
beautiful but I was in awe of it), and then a Univega Gran Rally, each 
festooned with at least a few Riv bits. While I liked each bike, there was 
still something missing. Then one day about a year ago my wife asked, "Why 
don't you just buy a Rivendell?" Bought a Hillborne. It is not only my 
favorite bike, but one of my best purchases period.

Evan E.

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[jinxed]

Everyone responded with SUCH better detail than my original ramble could 
have expected! I feel I should follow suit:

My first 2 wheeled adventure began 1975 on a Huffy exactly like this 
one. Dad 
stuck training wheels on it for a few weeks till I was ready to pilot solo. 
I rode this beast in one form or another till I was about 11. Then my step 
dad sold it at a yard sale on a weekend I was at my dad's house and 
replaced it with a sears 10 speed. I hated the bike and furious with him 
for selling my BMX.

Anger and determination in my gut I mowed my ass off that summer to earn 
enough money specifically for a baby blue GT ProPerformer with white mags. 
I was knee deep reading the BMX/Freestyle mags with Dizz Hicks and Ceppie 
Maes and all the other 80s legends. 2 weeks before school started, I had 
one of these.  Pics from BMX 
Museum

Shortly after we moved from Ohio to Colorado and I ended up doing more dirt 
riding and jumping than freestyle and purchased my friends PK Ripper. That 
was mainly used to ride the dirt roads into town to the one patch of cement 
where we all met to skateboard.

Right out of highschool I got my first mountain bike, a Trek 820 Antelope, 
and I was bitten with the MTB bug in a BIG way. I saw Cindy Whitehead race 
her HUGE aluminum tubed Klein and would go to the downhill cup races to 
watch Tomac, Herbold, Tinker, Wiens, Overend, Grewal Bros, Furtado etc etc 
doing their thing. I worked for my moms embroidery company, and was doing 
work with Yeti, DEAN, Rock Shox, Norba and a bunch of other companies 
making their hats, shirts, aprons. I got to meet Paul Turner when he came 
to our shop with a "new" thing called bicycle suspension...IE the very 
first prototypes of the RS1. We did patches for him I think for the Anaheim 
show.

I ended up with a metallic blue Klein Rascal with a a Scott Unishock! The 
pogo stick was quickly replaced with a Rock Shox Mag 20. I rode this bike 
for several years and ended up working for my local bike shop. Our crew of 
employees were attached at the hip for about 4 years. It was nonstop ride, 
build bikes, work the shop, go to the trade shows, ride, ride, ride. We 
rode mainly MTB but also BMX, Trials, CX, Unicycles, High wheelers, folding 
bikes, fixed gear...basically any bike we could find from about 93 till 98.

During that time, I had several VERY wonderful bikes. One of the best was a 
Specialized S-Works Steel outfitted with a Mag 21 SL-Ti fork and a bunch of 
DEAN ti parts. It was an incredible XC bike and crazy light at 21lbs. I 
unfortunately crashed it and folded the down tube on a tree. By that time 
Specialized had ceased production on the S-Works steel and moved fully into 
the M2 Alloy. I ended up on one of the early AMP designed full suspension 
bikes build by DEAN Titanium. It was cool and squishy, but I longed for my 
rigid steel. Luckily I met Keith Bontrager at the Bio Show in Vegas and his 
display Race Lite was the answer. Soon as we returned to Denver, I called 
Keith and had one on the way. Oddly enough, that trip also landed me a job 
offer to work for DEAN Ti in neighboring Boulder. I jumped at the chance 
and for nearly 2 years was one of a 3 man team building custom Ti, Steel 
and Alu bikes. I had also started racing on the road. Unfortunately 12-14 
hours of building bikes followed by a few hours of training and racing on 
the weekends burnt me out. I quit the bike biz, went to work in Denver for 
small family owned business called Orange Glo. Yea...OXY CLEAN! BILLY 
MAYS!! That one.

While working there I had only kept my Colnago race bike, and a custom 
steel cyclocross bike I built myself. The CX became my commuter when I 
wasnt riding my motorcycle. I didnt have a MTB for several years but sorely 
missed it. As I was getting really restless with the corporate life, I got 
offered a job selling Ducati, Triumph, and BMW motorcycles and said bye bye 
to great wages, spending money, health care etc and went into motorsport. 
Thankfully this also led me back into mountainbiking because a few of my 
coworkers were into it. My manager happened to have a Cannondale F1000 
Woody edition with a lefty fork he wanted to get rid of and I was back in 
the dirt!

That led into a chain of different MTBs. Cannondale F1000 - Yeti ASR-SL - 
Specialized Epic - Cannondale Caffeine 29er - Surly Karate Monkey - Spot 
Brand 29er.

At the same time I got married, and we had a daughter. I became a stay home 
dad and my riding very abruptly became more urban. I started riding my CX 
bike almost exclusively. Wanting something more comfortable, I looked into 
Rivendell and hastily snagged a 54 
Bleriot.
 
Although it was too small, I immediately took to it. I purchased a trailer 
and my daughter and I were on a mission to bike to every park and 
playgr

[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Jeremy Till]

Really neat thread, haven't had time to read all of the responses, but my 
own thinking has been meandering along this path recently.  I'm relatively 
young (29) but have been cycling seriously for 11 or 12 years.  I'd always 
considered myself relatively faithful to my bikes, not turning them over 
that often, and having a fairly deep relationship with them.  But recently, 
I was considering my stable, and realized that all of my bikes were less 
than 1.5 years old, which surprised me.  As the Talking Heads song goes, it 
was a "How did I get here??" moment.   Read on...

I might be unique in that the steel all-rounder thing has been been part of 
my cycling identity from the beginning.  I started cycling as a teenager in 
massachusetts, mainly on summer "Overland" trips (multi-week outdoor 
adventure trips for teenagers, run by a company in Western MA). My first 
tour was with them, from Seattle to San Francisco in 1999, on a used Trek 
720 hybrid I had bought for the purpose.  I was so dorky as a kid I thought 
hybrids were cool  I generally recognized the beginning of my "serious" 
cycling life as 2001-2002, when I decided to do Overland's hardest tour, 
the coast-to-coast "American Challenge," and bought a Trek 520 for the 
purpose.  As training I started riding it the 8 miles to high school every 
day.  I loved it!  Again, I like the idea of the touring bike: a road bike 
with drop bars, but beefier, something that wasn't afraid to be loaded up 
or abused.  The tour was awesome, a big defining moment in my young life, 
and I've been riding pretty much continuously since.  I even took college 
as an opportunity to move to NorCal (Berkeley), where I can pretty much 
ride year round, and I've stuck around ever since then.  

At college I started out riding with the college's racing team, just to 
learn the local routes, but found them too fast to hang with really and 
didn't really like the competitive, jock atmosphere of the whole thing.  At 
the same time I started thinking about a second "beater" bike that I could 
use for getting around campus and urban riding, and that's when fixed gears 
entered my life.  Yep, I was a fixie kid, even rode brakeless for a couple 
of stupid months.  However, fixed gears also turned me on to Sheldon Brown, 
with who's help I learned how to convert fixed gears and generally started 
taking care of my own bikes.  Sheldon was also how I discovered Rivendell 
and the Bridgestone mentality.  The first Rivendell I thought was super 
cool was his fixed gear Ram; around the same time I also saw a picture of 
the prototype Quickbeam and was pretty enamored.   However, being a college 
student ever affording one seemed a very far off proposition.  Meanwhile, I 
focused on old steel bikes, converting them to fixed gear and riding them 
all over Berkeley.  I still had the Trek 520 but was less into it because 
it had gears.  Eventually, it too got rebuilt as a Fixed/SS with a white 
ENO eccentric hub, and I proceeded to ride that all over the Bay Area, even 
took it touring/backpacking around Europe one summer.  My senior year I 
bought some Moustache bars from Riv to try out on the Trek and got a copy 
of the Reader and the old print catalog (the one with Mark on the cover), 
and reading those it was really when I became a real Riv enthusiast.  It 
was a cool time...Grant had just gotten Tektro to make the Silver 55-73 
brake and was bringing out the Homer, and they were selling the second run 
of orange Quickbeams, which I still totally lusted after, the first 
Bombadils were in prototype stage. 

Post college, working and earning a bit but not a lot of money, I wanted 
something a bit more roadie but still fixed gear and high handlebars, so I 
bought a Salsa Casseroll kind of poor man's combination Ram/ Quickbeam with 
a dingle fixed/SS drivetrain.  I rode that for a long time, continuing my 
habit of epic climbs on a single gear bike.  The Trek got rebuilt as a 
gearie all-rounder, again with flared drop bars, but up real high on a 
steerer extender and hi-rise stem.  It rode great but looked totally 
weird.  Through this all I also had an old Schwinn World Sport frame as a 
beater townie fixed gear with North Road bars that I had built in college, 
which rode awesome, and turned me onto the idea that upright bars can be 
fun, but I still had a lot of latent racerism or drop bar snobbery as 
well.  

Along in there I went to grad school at UC Davis and moved to Sacramento, 
which for those not familiar with California geography, is in the 
pancake-flat central valley.  I commuted the ~16 miles from Sacramento to 
Davis a lot, probably the peak of my mileage came somewhere along in those 
years.  Along the way I got a bee in my bonnet that I hadn't really figured 
out the bike fit thing, which kicked off a period of experimentation the 
last 4 years or so that I'm still in.  I sold the faithful fixed gear 
beater to buy an older, REALLY BIG (66cm) Takara touring bike that

Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Bruce Herbitter]

I re-discovered bicycles in 2000 when I was looking for a fun way to 
stay encouraged to get some cardio exercise. A visit to a local shop in 
Midland MI provided me with a left over Trek Navigator (all steel) which 
I enjoyed immensely.  I kept playing with it to make more useful, but 
without any guidance. Picture an upright rail trail bike with aero bars 
and a sprung Brooks B67 saddle. I finally decided to try something else. 
Another LBS in the area had a several years old Fuji Touring that he 
tried to make more appealing by "racifying" it. I got it, and rode it a 
while but did not like the feel, position, or handling.


The B67 purchase was from Harris Cyclery by phone order. It introduced 
me to a wider vista of bikes. Jay suggested I check their web site and 
when the Ram came out, it became my dream, but not yet affordable bike. 
meanwhile, I tried a series of bikes off ebay. A univega Activa, a 
Waterford 1100, a Trek 560. I liked the fully lugged Trek best, but at 
57 cm it was too big for me and like the others mentioned above, re-sold it.


Local friends suggested a race style bike, so I bought a reynolds 853 
frame and carbon fork and a local shop helped me build up my own 50 cm 
700 size wheel go-fast. It was a great light bike, but I kept trying to 
make it more comfortable for longer rides. Finally, it was sold too. In 
2007, funds came together and I called Keven in Walnut Creek and ordered 
a 52 cm Ram. After my 1st ride on it, I realized I am an unracer. Looser 
clothes, platform pedals sans cleats, sandals, even in winter. Yeah.


Later that year, an opportunity to get a Saluki came along and I jumped 
on it. It gets less miles becuase I am not the tourer I thought I would 
become, but it will be ridden this afternoon for example. It sold me on 
650B bikes. The same seller had an Ed Braley mustache bar concoction 
that has become my hill training ride of choice, with Pascenti 
Pari-Motos for rubber.


Finally, I picked up a pre production sample frameset of the Rivendell 
Road from a 650B list member. A project he never got around to. I built 
it up (had it painted 2 yrs ago) and absolutely flat out love it. It's 
fast, comfortable and eye catching. 650B converted, light, responsive, 
can carry racks and bags and fenders too. It gets most of my miles now.


The Trek was given to a coworker's wife for her to start exercise with. 
It's still trucking along, afaik.


Tailwinds

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Matthew J]

Over time I have moved to simplicity.  Fewer gears - my road bike is a true 
ten speed, my commuter / light tourer is a 1x5, and will have a single 
speed for heavy touring off road.  Less pizazz/paint - road bike has simple 
cinelli lugs one color, commuter is raw stainless fillet braze, single 
speed is satin chrome plate.  On the practical side, integrated lights and 
braze on brakes for the commuter and tourer.  Commuter is low trail front 
bias.  Have a full size Swift Industry porteur bag on porter rack.  The 
Chrome will be set up for low rider racks and panniers.

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 10:57:59 PM UTC-6, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery 
wrote:
>
> I dislike categories, but my bike preferences now are definitely in the 
> range between off-pavement touring bikes and fat bikes. Sold my Surly Disc 
> Trucker today, which leaves me with a Surly Ogre with 29x2.35 tires as my 
> "road bike". I also have a Surly ECR and a Moonlander. This all started 
> with me trying to cram the biggest tires possible onto my Atlantis, yet 
> wanting a little more rubber to ride the sand along the Minnesota River 
> bottoms. A few years ago, I really wanted to like road bikes, and to be a 
> randonneur, but I just couldn't maintain my interest level in that kind of 
> thing. Now I'm only interested in bikes that can go almost anywhere. If I 
> had to pick one, it'd probably be the Moonlander or Surly's new Ice Cream 
> Truck.

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

I dislike categories, but my bike preferences now are definitely in the range 
between off-pavement touring bikes and fat bikes. Sold my Surly Disc Trucker 
today, which leaves me with a Surly Ogre with 29x2.35 tires as my "road bike". 
I also have a Surly ECR and a Moonlander. This all started with me trying to 
cram the biggest tires possible onto my Atlantis, yet wanting a little more 
rubber to ride the sand along the Minnesota River bottoms. A few years ago, I 
really wanted to like road bikes, and to be a randonneur, but I just couldn't 
maintain my interest level in that kind of thing. Now I'm only interested in 
bikes that can go almost anywhere. If I had to pick one, it'd probably be the 
Moonlander or Surly's new Ice Cream Truck.

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[sameness]

BMX bikes, to freestyle bikes, to MOTR race bikes, to full suspension 
mountain bikes, to track bikes, to cyclocross bikes, to rehabbed UJBs, to 
tourish all-rounders.

Basically, pick a two-wheeled trend and I was there, plus or minus a couple 
of years. 

Jeff Hagedorn
Los Angeles, CA USA

>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Christopher Murray]

Pretty easy for me:

inexpensive bike> expensive bikes

Cheers!
Chris

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Montclair BobbyB]

I tend to remember the bikes that really helped to influence and ultimately 
shape my current preference...  

   - ''63 Schwinn Typhoon fat-tired SS coaster. (That unmistakable 
   style/look AND feel still lives in my heart)
   - Garage sale 70s Atala 10-spd frankenbike (probably in it's second or 
   third life). It had nice Campy derailleurs and carried me all around Boston 
   during my college years (late 70s/early 80s)... I also credit this 
   bike with getting me interested in loaded touring
   - My first mountain bike - 1985 Peugeot Orient Express... mediocre, but 
   re-awakened my interest in biking
   - 2005 Salsa Ala Carte - after years of full-suspension I re-discovered 
   steel (and have never looked back)
   - 2007 Kogswell PR - traded in my alu-carbon go-fast Felt racer, further 
   reinforcing my love of steel frames.
   - 2010 Bombadil - 'nuff said

Today my stable consists of only steel bikes... A few 80s 
MTB-turned-Rivish-all-rounders (StumpJumper, Rockhopper, Trek 970, Schwinn 
Cimarrons, Mongoose ATB), a 1986 Nishiki Prestige racer, 1989 Fuji Touring 
Series IV, Niner MCR and SIR, and my trusty Riv SimpleOne.

My bike life is perfect (if not a bit crowded...) I want for nothing.

Peace,
BB 


On Friday, February 28, 2014 12:13:47 PM UTC-5, jinxed wrote:

> Over the last couple weeks I have been fortunate to get out and ride each 
> of the bikes in my stable. This offered some really surprising comparisons 
> and conflicted some of my previous thoughts on each bike. My bikes are USA 
> made and they're all steel, and I'm attached to all of them. They also 
> happen to be different wheel sizes. 26" Riv AR, 650b OAC Rambler, 29" Spot 
> MTB, and 700c Cross/race.
>  
> My biking trajectory was BMX - MTB - Cross - Road - and now is some sort 
> of hybrid of all those. I was a staunch opponent of 29er and clung to 26" 
> adamantly until I finally gave up and tried the larger wheel size. I had to 
> eat a lot of crow when I enjoyed it. Since then I've never gone back to 26" 
> off road, but still held on to romantic praise for it.
>  
> CX was just a natural offshoot of MTB when trying to ride on the road. 
> Although I raced road bikes, I much preferred riding them in the dirt. My 
> ultimate ride is a fast swoopy twisty turny jaunt through wooded 
> singletrack on a CX bike. It's what my bike dreams are made of.
>  
> My first Rivendell was also my first 650b and it felt like a bridge 
> between the MTB and CX. It seemed to be the true all round that perfectly 
> fit the way I wanted to ride, and more importantly where I have the most 
> access to ride. I have several dirt trails I prefer riding on, but I must 
> take pavement to get there. I think the best aspect of the Rivendell line 
> in it's entirety is that they do well in many types of terrain. Obviously 
> age and life circumstances affect how and where I ride, but I find much 
> more enjoyment out of the exploration type of riding I'm doing now. I 
> attribute much of that to this list and the ideals behind the bike designs.
>  
> This brings me to my recent riding. If I had ranked my bikes based on 
> mental attachment, it would have been AR, CX, 650b, 29er. But after riding 
> them all back to back I realized my enjoyment of the ride of those bikes is 
> a different sequence: 650b, CX, 29er, AR.
>  
> I'm surprised I prefer larger diameter wheels, because I refuse to admit 
> 26" is dead! But if I were to choose, 650 is the smallest platform I'd go 
> to.
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Will]

My evolution is pretty typical. 

Started with newspaper delivery bikes: Worksman industrial plus big Wald 
baskets front and back. Really useful, no-nonsense, bikes.

Moved to Raleighs: The Competition and their fabulous metric crit bike 
(RRA) during college. Great bikes for bombing around town quickly.

The RRA's were rare, they look like this:  http://velospace.org/node/34182

Next up: semi-custom trail bike: 3D frame with XTR, Raceface, Chris King 
bling...  good for woodsy adventures. I ended up putting slicks on it.

These days... #1 is a $10 garage sale special: Minty 1970 Motobecane 
SuperMirage Mixte, racked and fendered. Has Suntour Command Thumbies :-) 

I totally get where Grant's gone with the Cheviot. Love the long 
chainstays. I'll have that before I go toes-up. 

Will

On Friday, February 28, 2014 11:13:47 AM UTC-6, jinxed wrote:
>
> Over the last couple weeks I have been fortunate to get out and ride each 
> of the bikes in my stable. This offered some really surprising comparisons 
> and conflicted some of my previous thoughts on each bike. My bikes are USA 
> made and they're all steel, and I'm attached to all of them. They also 
> happen to be different wheel sizes. 26" Riv AR, 650b OAC Rambler, 29" Spot 
> MTB, and 700c Cross/race.
>
> My biking trajectory was BMX - MTB - Cross - Road - and now is some sort 
> of hybrid of all those. I was a staunch opponent of 29er and clung to 26" 
> adamantly until I finally gave up and tried the larger wheel size. I had to 
> eat a lot of crow when I enjoyed it. Since then I've never gone back to 26" 
> off road, but still held on to romantic praise for it.
>
> CX was just a natural offshoot of MTB when trying to ride on the road. 
> Although I raced road bikes, I much preferred riding them in the dirt. My 
> ultimate ride is a fast swoopy twisty turny jaunt through wooded 
> singletrack on a CX bike. It's what my bike dreams are made of.
>
> My first Rivendell was also my first 650b and it felt like a bridge 
> between the MTB and CX. It seemed to be the true all round that perfectly 
> fit the way I wanted to ride, and more importantly where I have the most 
> access to ride. I have several dirt trails I prefer riding on, but I must 
> take pavement to get there. I think the best aspect of the Rivendell line 
> in it's entirety is that they do well in many types of terrain. Obviously 
> age and life circumstances affect how and where I ride, but I find much 
> more enjoyment out of the exploration type of riding I'm doing now. I 
> attribute much of that to this list and the ideals behind the bike designs.
>
> This brings me to my recent riding. If I had ranked my bikes based on 
> mental attachment, it would have been AR, CX, 650b, 29er. But after riding 
> them all back to back I realized my enjoyment of the ride of those bikes is 
> a different sequence: 650b, CX, 29er, AR.
>
> I'm surprised I prefer larger diameter wheels, because I refuse to admit 
> 26" is dead! But if I were to choose, 650 is the smallest platform I'd go 
> to.
>

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Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Addison Wilhite]

Years ago I started a series of blog posts called, "To All The Bikes I've
Loved Before."  I never completed it because there are so many.  Maybe I
should go back to it though.  I think I left off with the Eisentraut frame
I picked up used and have since sold.  The funny thing for me about my
bikes as I look back is that even though I've always considered myself a
roadie at heart with my emphasis on paved routes and commuting, if you look
at my stable, the only thing that screams pure road bike is the Della
Santa.  Everything else... the Riv AR, MB-1, Jamis Dragon, Gunnar
Crosshairs, and even the Gunnar Sport with its 33. tires all scream
"get off that pavement!"

http://reno-rambler.blogspot.com/search?q=to+all+the+bikes+I've+loved+before


Addison Wilhite, M.A.

Academy of Arts, Careers and
Technology


*“Blazing the Trail to College and Career Success”*

Educator: Professional Portfolio 

Blogger: Reno Rambler 

Bicycle Advocate: Regional Transportation Commission, Bicycle Pedestrian
Advisory Committee



On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 8:54 PM, grrlyrida  wrote:

> That looks like my pink Schwinn Junior Miss!! I wish I still had that
> bike. Folks here in Silverlake build them up and ride around town with
> them. I saw one parked at Traders and looked at it with envy.
>
>
> On Friday, February 28, 2014 6:36:05 PM UTC-8, Ron Mc wrote:
>>
>> oh, we're going that far back - first bike was a Sears The Rail
>>
>> 
>>
>> exactly the same as the purple one in the ad - 5-sp RD, stick shift, 20"
>> front and 24" rear (I wonder if this is why I run a Vittoria Evo front tire
>> and Parigi rear on my go-fast?)
>>
>>
>> On Friday, February 28, 2014 5:50:35 PM UTC-6, Deacon Patrick wrote:
>>>
>>> Age 7-11: Schwinn Stingray, to school a few miles away, but most
>>> memories of "ghost riding" it down the road, over ramps and jumps and over
>>> the same jumps over the ditch in front of our house.
>>> 11-17: Diamond Back mountain bike. Most memorable ride was Fall River
>>> Road in Rockey Mountain national park, where I lost brakes due to mud and
>>> bailed, watching it fly over the edge (payback for ghost riding my previous
>>> bike no doubt). I was bruised up, but the bike was fine except for a
>>> slightly bent front big chain ring. Used a rock to bash it back into place.
>>> 17-2002: Cannondale Alum. touring bike. Skinny tires. Racing poser
>>> unable to ride dirt. Toured Europe after high school like a lycra fool.
>>> Memories include a century ride through London after which I was covered in
>>> soot that felt an inch thick and didn't completely come off until we
>>> followed the Seine River into Paris in 100˚F/100% humidity, but replaced it
>>> with dead gnats, so maybe not. Then there was baulking like a chicken in
>>> the middle of the just closed French grocery to ask for where the chicken
>>> soup was, only to be dragged on the hard heels of my cycling cleats (in
>>> which I walked like a chicken) to the eggs. Apparently I looked I'd just
>>> laid an egg. Sardonic grin.
>>> 2003-200? Greenspeed recumbent trike until I discovered going barefoot
>>> and running the trails was possible with vertigo and it was so remote and
>>> wonderful I gave the trike to our godson's brother who has multiple
>>> challenges, including walking.
>>> 2012-Present: RIvendell Hunqapillar and wondrous trail riding and
>>> bikepacking to places nobody else goes. Glorious solitude! Fat tires are
>>> beautiful, but I suspect I don't want to go fatter because of the bounce,
>>> but I'll try that someday and see how we get along.
>>>
>>> With abandon,
>>> Patrick
>>>
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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[grrlyrida]

That looks like my pink Schwinn Junior Miss!! I wish I still had that bike. 
Folks here in Silverlake build them up and ride around town with them. I 
saw one parked at Traders and looked at it with envy.

On Friday, February 28, 2014 6:36:05 PM UTC-8, Ron Mc wrote:
>
> oh, we're going that far back - first bike was a Sears The Rail
>
> 
>
> exactly the same as the purple one in the ad - 5-sp RD, stick shift, 20" 
> front and 24" rear (I wonder if this is why I run a Vittoria Evo front tire 
> and Parigi rear on my go-fast?)
>
>
> On Friday, February 28, 2014 5:50:35 PM UTC-6, Deacon Patrick wrote:
>>
>> Age 7-11: Schwinn Stingray, to school a few miles away, but most memories 
>> of "ghost riding" it down the road, over ramps and jumps and over the same 
>> jumps over the ditch in front of our house. 
>> 11-17: Diamond Back mountain bike. Most memorable ride was Fall River 
>> Road in Rockey Mountain national park, where I lost brakes due to mud and 
>> bailed, watching it fly over the edge (payback for ghost riding my previous 
>> bike no doubt). I was bruised up, but the bike was fine except for a 
>> slightly bent front big chain ring. Used a rock to bash it back into place.
>> 17-2002: Cannondale Alum. touring bike. Skinny tires. Racing poser unable 
>> to ride dirt. Toured Europe after high school like a lycra fool. Memories 
>> include a century ride through London after which I was covered in soot 
>> that felt an inch thick and didn't completely come off until we followed 
>> the Seine River into Paris in 100˚F/100% humidity, but replaced it with 
>> dead gnats, so maybe not. Then there was baulking like a chicken in the 
>> middle of the just closed French grocery to ask for where the chicken soup 
>> was, only to be dragged on the hard heels of my cycling cleats (in which I 
>> walked like a chicken) to the eggs. Apparently I looked I'd just laid an 
>> egg. Sardonic grin.
>> 2003-200? Greenspeed recumbent trike until I discovered going barefoot 
>> and running the trails was possible with vertigo and it was so remote and 
>> wonderful I gave the trike to our godson's brother who has multiple 
>> challenges, including walking.
>> 2012-Present: RIvendell Hunqapillar and wondrous trail riding and 
>> bikepacking to places nobody else goes. Glorious solitude! Fat tires are 
>> beautiful, but I suspect I don't want to go fatter because of the bounce, 
>> but I'll try that someday and see how we get along.
>>
>> With abandon,
>> Patrick 
>>
>>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[grrlyrida]

My mom told me that when I was 2 we were stationed at Strategic Air Command 
HQ's. She thought I was outside playing with the neighbor kids and then 
went to check on me and I was riding my tricycle along side an Air Police. 
He said I had rode my trike 2 miles to the gate and I didn't know my 
address but knew how to get home. That was the start of my love affair with 
bikes. 

I don't remember my bikes when we were station in Japan, Guam and the 
Philipines because we moved every 2 to 4 years. But when we were stationed 
at Vandenberg AFB, my dad bought me a Schwinn Junior Miss. It was in my 
favorite color--pink and had a white plastic basket with pink and white 
plastic flowers on the front. I loved riding around the base with my 
friends for hours. I rode it to school everyday. I felt so independent. I 
even brought home our first puppy in that basket.

Then my dad retired to Santa Ynez Valley and I still rode my Schwinn to 
elementary school everyday. Since I outgrew my Junior Miss by the 6th 
grade, my dad bought me a purple 10 speed and I hated it. I was confused by 
the brakes and the shifters plus it was a boys bike (straight top tube) and 
I didn't like that I could barely put my feet on the ground. I hated the 
uncomfortable drop handlebars. I tried riding it one time in front of my 
dad and put it away. 

Then junior high and high school came and went and I didn't a bike because 
my dad bought my sister and I a small car to share. In college I had this 
crappy Fiat X19 and it broke down every other week. The last time it 
stopped working I used my part time job money to buy a trek 720 purple 
hybrid. They only had a guys version so I used that to ride around to 3 
summer lifeguarding jobs. I was in the best shape ever. Then I graduated 
and one of my work study supervisors gave me her old car, so I started 
driving again.

In 2006, I notice I had gained 30 lbs. I remembered what great shape I was 
in riding my bike in college, so I bought a trek 2200 woman specific bike, 
in pink, of course. The go fast bike was great climbing, but I couldn't 
ride it when the pavement disappeared, which happens a lot on mountain 
roads in LA. One day I wanted to go to Traders and pick up a few items, but 
it took 30 mins for me to get al kitted up and thats when I decided I 
needed a new bike. I was online and started reading about Betty Foy and in 
2009 I discovered this list.

3 years later, I found an old bridgestone mixte in the back of a car repair 
shop and built it into my grocery getter with bags and basket from Rivbike. 
I also had a dyno wheel built. Then I became head pastry chef and treated 
myself to a Riv custom mixte. I received it last June. If it wasn't for 
discovering Rivendell, I would still be using a messenger bag and getting 
kitted up just to pick up a few groceries. 


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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[rob markwardt]

As a kid I went from little red roadster, to Sears Free Spirit stingray, to 
a Huffy ten-speed (all gifts from parents. I'd get the Paramount I really 
wanted later...much later).  In college I had a Schwinn (LeTour?) and a 
Shogun which was the best bike I'd ever had.  Felt fast but in reality it 
was pretty heavy brute.  I later built it up into a fixed-gear and rode it 
for quite a few years.  Next came a Trek Multi trek and another 
Schwinn….then the madness begins!  I signed up for the STP in 2002 and 
started looking for a "good bike". That was when I first discovered 
Rivendell but I ended up with a Bianchi instead.  It was fine but didn't 
have the clearance or the aesthetics of what I was looking for.  Got the 
vintage bike bug (and the Paramount) and became somewhat obsessed…many 
bikes later still working on that affliction.  Got a Bleriot in 2007 and 
it's been my favorite bike since.  I also had a Rambouillet but ended up 
selling it to finance a used custom Riv a few years ago.   I'm pretty happy 
now but still keep looking.  Not much interests me except for certain 
vintage looks …would love an old Frenchie or an early Jack Taylor.  I've 
also had kind of a desire for the whole BQ, custom, Rando/650b thing but 
every time I think about pulling the plug I go for a ride on my Bleriot and 
feel pretty satisfied.  

Some pics of most of the bikes mentioned plus my current vintage 
favorites...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77502424@N00/sets/72157641680403133/. 

 

Rob Markwardt

On Friday, February 28, 2014 9:13:47 AM UTC-8, jinxed wrote:
>
> Over the last couple weeks I have been fortunate to get out and ride each 
> of the bikes in my stable. This offered some really surprising comparisons 
> and conflicted some of my previous thoughts on each bike. My bikes are USA 
> made and they're all steel, and I'm attached to all of them. They also 
> happen to be different wheel sizes. 26" Riv AR, 650b OAC Rambler, 29" Spot 
> MTB, and 700c Cross/race.
>
> My biking trajectory was BMX - MTB - Cross - Road - and now is some sort 
> of hybrid of all those. I was a staunch opponent of 29er and clung to 26" 
> adamantly until I finally gave up and tried the larger wheel size. I had to 
> eat a lot of crow when I enjoyed it. Since then I've never gone back to 26" 
> off road, but still held on to romantic praise for it.
>
> CX was just a natural offshoot of MTB when trying to ride on the road. 
> Although I raced road bikes, I much preferred riding them in the dirt. My 
> ultimate ride is a fast swoopy twisty turny jaunt through wooded 
> singletrack on a CX bike. It's what my bike dreams are made of.
>
> My first Rivendell was also my first 650b and it felt like a bridge 
> between the MTB and CX. It seemed to be the true all round that perfectly 
> fit the way I wanted to ride, and more importantly where I have the most 
> access to ride. I have several dirt trails I prefer riding on, but I must 
> take pavement to get there. I think the best aspect of the Rivendell line 
> in it's entirety is that they do well in many types of terrain. Obviously 
> age and life circumstances affect how and where I ride, but I find much 
> more enjoyment out of the exploration type of riding I'm doing now. I 
> attribute much of that to this list and the ideals behind the bike designs.
>
> This brings me to my recent riding. If I had ranked my bikes based on 
> mental attachment, it would have been AR, CX, 650b, 29er. But after riding 
> them all back to back I realized my enjoyment of the ride of those bikes is 
> a different sequence: 650b, CX, 29er, AR.
>
> I'm surprised I prefer larger diameter wheels, because I refuse to admit 
> 26" is dead! But if I were to choose, 650 is the smallest platform I'd go 
> to.
>

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Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Peter Morgano]

My Murray BMX got me everywhere as a kid. My brother had a matching one and
we had great adventures. We then went to mtbs. But as cars and girls took
over bikes took a backseat. In my late 20s got back into cycling, had many
a vintage bike trying to get that just right feel. A buddy of mine at work
would send blug posts saying they had changed his whole way of riding. Took
the plunge, took a few different models to get it right but life after
Rivendell is like seeing the light!
On Feb 28, 2014 9:36 PM, "Ron Mc"  wrote:

> oh, we're going that far back - first bike was a Sears The Rail
>
> 
>
> exactly the same as the purple one in the ad - 5-sp RD, stick shift, 20"
> front and 24" rear (I wonder if this is why I run a Vittoria Evo front tire
> and Parigi rear on my go-fast?)
>
>
> On Friday, February 28, 2014 5:50:35 PM UTC-6, Deacon Patrick wrote:
>>
>> Age 7-11: Schwinn Stingray, to school a few miles away, but most memories
>> of "ghost riding" it down the road, over ramps and jumps and over the same
>> jumps over the ditch in front of our house.
>> 11-17: Diamond Back mountain bike. Most memorable ride was Fall River
>> Road in Rockey Mountain national park, where I lost brakes due to mud and
>> bailed, watching it fly over the edge (payback for ghost riding my previous
>> bike no doubt). I was bruised up, but the bike was fine except for a
>> slightly bent front big chain ring. Used a rock to bash it back into place.
>> 17-2002: Cannondale Alum. touring bike. Skinny tires. Racing poser unable
>> to ride dirt. Toured Europe after high school like a lycra fool. Memories
>> include a century ride through London after which I was covered in soot
>> that felt an inch thick and didn't completely come off until we followed
>> the Seine River into Paris in 100˚F/100% humidity, but replaced it with
>> dead gnats, so maybe not. Then there was baulking like a chicken in the
>> middle of the just closed French grocery to ask for where the chicken soup
>> was, only to be dragged on the hard heels of my cycling cleats (in which I
>> walked like a chicken) to the eggs. Apparently I looked I'd just laid an
>> egg. Sardonic grin.
>> 2003-200? Greenspeed recumbent trike until I discovered going barefoot
>> and running the trails was possible with vertigo and it was so remote and
>> wonderful I gave the trike to our godson's brother who has multiple
>> challenges, including walking.
>> 2012-Present: RIvendell Hunqapillar and wondrous trail riding and
>> bikepacking to places nobody else goes. Glorious solitude! Fat tires are
>> beautiful, but I suspect I don't want to go fatter because of the bounce,
>> but I'll try that someday and see how we get along.
>>
>> With abandon,
>> Patrick
>>
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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Ron Mc]

oh, we're going that far back - first bike was a Sears The Rail



exactly the same as the purple one in the ad - 5-sp RD, stick shift, 20" 
front and 24" rear (I wonder if this is why I run a Vittoria Evo front tire 
and Parigi rear on my go-fast?)


On Friday, February 28, 2014 5:50:35 PM UTC-6, Deacon Patrick wrote:
>
> Age 7-11: Schwinn Stingray, to school a few miles away, but most memories 
> of "ghost riding" it down the road, over ramps and jumps and over the same 
> jumps over the ditch in front of our house. 
> 11-17: Diamond Back mountain bike. Most memorable ride was Fall River Road 
> in Rockey Mountain national park, where I lost brakes due to mud and 
> bailed, watching it fly over the edge (payback for ghost riding my previous 
> bike no doubt). I was bruised up, but the bike was fine except for a 
> slightly bent front big chain ring. Used a rock to bash it back into place.
> 17-2002: Cannondale Alum. touring bike. Skinny tires. Racing poser unable 
> to ride dirt. Toured Europe after high school like a lycra fool. Memories 
> include a century ride through London after which I was covered in soot 
> that felt an inch thick and didn't completely come off until we followed 
> the Seine River into Paris in 100˚F/100% humidity, but replaced it with 
> dead gnats, so maybe not. Then there was baulking like a chicken in the 
> middle of the just closed French grocery to ask for where the chicken soup 
> was, only to be dragged on the hard heels of my cycling cleats (in which I 
> walked like a chicken) to the eggs. Apparently I looked I'd just laid an 
> egg. Sardonic grin.
> 2003-200? Greenspeed recumbent trike until I discovered going barefoot and 
> running the trails was possible with vertigo and it was so remote and 
> wonderful I gave the trike to our godson's brother who has multiple 
> challenges, including walking.
> 2012-Present: RIvendell Hunqapillar and wondrous trail riding and 
> bikepacking to places nobody else goes. Glorious solitude! Fat tires are 
> beautiful, but I suspect I don't want to go fatter because of the bounce, 
> but I'll try that someday and see how we get along.
>
> With abandon,
> Patrick 
>
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Evan Baird]

Mongoose BMX bikes > Schwinn hardtail > Specialized CrMo single speed > 
Ironhorse long travel hardtail > KHS OX steel hardtail single speed 
conversion > Specialized fixed gear > Surly Cross Check w/ Albatross bars > 
Steamroller with mustachio bars > Soma ES w drops and friction shifters > 
Origin 8 single speed > Suly 1x1 rigid > Traitior fixed gear porteur > Pake 
C'mute w/ guido levers > self built fillet brazed 650b low trail thingy 
(but I haven't built it up yet). I probably left out a few...

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Deacon Patrick]

Age 7-11: Schwinn Stingray, to school a few miles away, but most memories 
of "ghost riding" it down the road, over ramps and jumps and over the same 
jumps over the ditch in front of our house. 
11-17: Diamond Back mountain bike. Most memorable ride was Fall River Road 
in Rockey Mountain national park, where I lost brakes due to mud and 
bailed, watching it fly over the edge (payback for ghost riding my previous 
bike no doubt). I was bruised up, but the bike was fine except for a 
slightly bent front big chain ring. Used a rock to bash it back into place.
17-2002: Cannondale Alum. touring bike. Skinny tires. Racing poser unable 
to ride dirt. Toured Europe after high school like a lycra fool. Memories 
include a century ride through London after which I was covered in soot 
that felt an inch thick and didn't completely come off until we followed 
the Seine River into Paris in 100˚F/100% humidity, but replaced it with 
dead gnats, so maybe not. Then there was baulking like a chicken in the 
middle of the just closed French grocery to ask for where the chicken soup 
was, only to be dragged on the hard heels of my cycling cleats (in which I 
walked like a chicken) to the eggs. Apparently I looked I'd just laid an 
egg. Sardonic grin.
2003-200? Greenspeed recumbent trike until I discovered going barefoot and 
running the trails was possible with vertigo and it was so remote and 
wonderful I gave the trike to our godson's brother who has multiple 
challenges, including walking.
2012-Present: RIvendell Hunqapillar and wondrous trail riding and 
bikepacking to places nobody else goes. Glorious solitude! Fat tires are 
beautiful, but I suspect I don't want to go fatter because of the bounce, 
but I'll try that someday and see how we get along.

With abandon,
Patrick 

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RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

Let some air out – the perfect bike will become uber-perfect.

From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com 
[mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of LeahFoy
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 6:28 PM
To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

This is fun!

Age 7: Parents scored a Huffy purple and white with pink roses banana seat bike 
at a garage sale. Said bike had been run over by the family's car, and someone 
had decided to "fix" it with a weld job. It was because of this that pedaling 
the thing was near-impossible, but my scrawny little 7-year-old self managed 
it. Probably on flat tires. I loved having a bike, and was only jealous when I 
got the chance to ride my neighbor's shiny, new Rainbow Brite bike. It pedaled 
like butter compared to mine.

The next bike I remember...

Age 11, 6th grade: It was 1992 and Christmas; I recieved a purple/black/gray 
Huffy (again with the Huffy) mountain bike. It had a BAG and a WATER BOTTLE! 
The bottle came cracked and leaked. The theme for Leah's bikes must have been, 
"mostly functional." I'm sure I rode that with flat tires, too. But I was its 
first owner, and nobody in town had taken a welding torch to it, so I was 
thrilled. I made frequent visits to the garage all winter to look at it and 
smell it and touch it. Come spring, I rode it all over my rural North Dakota 
town and even to my best friend's farmhouse, 5 miles away on gravel roads. She 
had received the exact same bike for Christmas, so we were "twins." But her 
water bottle wasn't cracked. We'd ride horse all weekend. It was FREEDOM.

It WAS North Dakota, after all, and one does have to depend on motor vehicles 
for many things, so bikes fell out of favor with me for my high school years. 
At college, bikes weren't such a big deal, either. We walked or drove.

Finished college, got married and moved to the southwest. Had my little boys 
and suddenly realized they were big enough to be in a bike trailer. My husband 
got me a metallic blue Walmart Schwinn for my 29th birthday (we knew nothing 
about LBS bikes) and my in-laws got me a baby-blue bike trailer. Soon, I was 
flying down hills with my boys and the dog in tow. Still remained clueless 
about riding flat tires. I was hooked.

We moved to Valencia, California and I rode all over it on paved paseos fit for 
a queen. My older son was on his own bike by now, and my younger was still in 
the trailer. I loved every single minute of our bike rides and it was 
contagious. The Indian family next door to us became our best friends, and they 
caught the bike bug from us. Pretty soon they had bikes and we moms and the 
kids were out biking together every day. We moved our younger kids onto 
trail-a-bikes.

My Walmart Schwinn started making a lot of strange sounds. Rattling and grating 
metal were becoming sounds one would associate with me and my bike. One day my 
husband rode it and said, "You know, this bike has seen better days. If you 
want a new one, I'll get one for you."

Music to my ears! I decided I wanted a "nice" bike and since I recognized the 
Trek name, I settled on getting one. I found a screaming deal from a fellow 
nurse on Craigslist - $400 for a barely used Trek 7.6FX. I couldn't believe the 
difference in quality. I even learned about filling tires! I felt spoiled and 
proud of my new bike - this was the best bike ever!

But that didn't last long. I started disliking the flat bars. I wanted to see 
the scenery. My neck and shoulders hurt. The saddle was a killer. The skinny 
tires unnerved me. I couldn't take the gravel when my son asked if we could. I 
started to toy with the idea of selling the Trek in favor of a different bike. 
I went to bike shops. People started talking about carbon and drop bars. I 
started listening to them. I had a dirty thought I couldn't banish - I wondered 
why the best bars I'd ever had were the upright, swept-back ones on my cheap 
bikes. I banished the thought as the foolishness of a novice. I was into "nice" 
bikes now; time to embrace the drop bar and carbon culture.

I was set to do it - really I was - and I had a Specialized road bike with drop 
bars all picked out. But there were some nagging questions; this was the bike 
people recommended, but they didn't seem interested in the part where I said 
I'd be pulling a trail-a-bike and running errands. Nobody mentioned braze-ons, 
racks, or the like. I probably would have just trusted them that this was my 
perfect bike, but the price tag was hefty - remember, I was only acquainted 
with cheap Target/Walmart bikes prior to this - and the fear associated with 
the price tag made me search online a bit more, hoping for a better bike.

I came across Just Ride on Amazon.com, and as soon as I read Grant, it was a 
done deal. I had the perfect answer - a '

[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[LeahFoy]

This is fun!

Age 7: Parents scored a Huffy purple and white with pink roses banana seat 
bike at a garage sale. Said bike had been run over by the family's car, and 
someone had decided to "fix" it with a weld job. It was because of this 
that pedaling the thing was near-impossible, but my scrawny little 
7-year-old self managed it. Probably on flat tires. I loved having a bike, 
and was only jealous when I got the chance to ride my neighbor's shiny, new 
Rainbow Brite bike. It pedaled like butter compared to mine. 

The next bike I remember...

Age 11, 6th grade: It was 1992 and Christmas; I recieved a 
purple/black/gray Huffy (again with the Huffy) mountain bike. It had a BAG 
and a WATER BOTTLE! The bottle came cracked and leaked. The theme for 
Leah's bikes must have been, "mostly functional." I'm sure I rode that with 
flat tires, too. But I was its first owner, and nobody in town had taken a 
welding torch to it, so I was thrilled. I made frequent visits to the 
garage all winter to look at it and smell it and touch it. Come spring, I 
rode it all over my rural North Dakota town and even to my best friend's 
farmhouse, 5 miles away on gravel roads. She had received the exact same 
bike for Christmas, so we were "twins." But her water bottle wasn't 
cracked. We'd ride horse all weekend. It was FREEDOM.

It WAS North Dakota, after all, and one does have to depend on motor 
vehicles for many things, so bikes fell out of favor with me for my high 
school years. At college, bikes weren't such a big deal, either. We walked 
or drove.

Finished college, got married and moved to the southwest. Had my little 
boys and suddenly realized they were big enough to be in a bike trailer. My 
husband got me a metallic blue Walmart Schwinn for my 29th birthday (we 
knew nothing about LBS bikes) and my in-laws got me a baby-blue bike 
trailer. Soon, I was flying down hills with my boys and the dog in tow. 
Still remained clueless about riding flat tires. I was hooked.

We moved to Valencia, California and I rode all over it on paved paseos fit 
for a queen. My older son was on his own bike by now, and my younger was 
still in the trailer. I loved every single minute of our bike rides and it 
was contagious. The Indian family next door to us became our best friends, 
and they caught the bike bug from us. Pretty soon they had bikes and we 
moms and the kids were out biking together every day. We moved our younger 
kids onto trail-a-bikes. 

My Walmart Schwinn started making a lot of strange sounds. Rattling and 
grating metal were becoming sounds one would associate with me and my bike. 
One day my husband rode it and said, "You know, this bike has seen better 
days. If you want a new one, I'll get one for you."

Music to my ears! I decided I wanted a "nice" bike and since I recognized 
the Trek name, I settled on getting one. I found a screaming deal from a 
fellow nurse on Craigslist - $400 for a barely used Trek 7.6FX. I couldn't 
believe the difference in quality. I even learned about filling tires! I 
felt spoiled and proud of my new bike - this was the best bike ever!

But that didn't last long. I started disliking the flat bars. I wanted to 
see the scenery. My neck and shoulders hurt. The saddle was a killer. The 
skinny tires unnerved me. I couldn't take the gravel when my son asked if 
we could. I started to toy with the idea of selling the Trek in favor of a 
different bike. I went to bike shops. People started talking about carbon 
and drop bars. I started listening to them. I had a dirty thought I 
couldn't banish - I wondered why the best bars I'd ever had were the 
upright, swept-back ones on my cheap bikes. I banished the thought as the 
foolishness of a novice. I was into "nice" bikes now; time to embrace the 
drop bar and carbon culture. 

I was set to do it - really I was - and I had a Specialized road bike with 
drop bars all picked out. But there were some nagging questions; this was 
the bike people recommended, but they didn't seem interested in the part 
where I said I'd be pulling a trail-a-bike and running errands. Nobody 
mentioned braze-ons, racks, or the like. I probably would have just trusted 
them that this was my perfect bike, but the price tag was hefty - remember, 
I was only acquainted with cheap Target/Walmart bikes prior to this - and 
the fear associated with the price tag made me search online a bit more, 
hoping for a better bike.

I came across Just Ride on Amazon.com, and as soon as I read Grant, it was 
a done deal. I had the perfect answer - a 'nice' bike that could be useful 
to me! I did some serious fast talking to my husband, who by this time 
believed I had lost my mind, and I sort of got him on board. I sold the 
Trek for $200 more than I paid for it and called up Keven to chat about a 
Sam Hillborne with drop bars. He said, "Why not a Betty with Albatross 
bars?" Woah, you mean I could be serious about bikes but have the 
swept-back bars and mixte frame of my girlhood 

RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

There seems to be a lot of jonesing for fat bikes this winter!  Me, too.

From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com 
[mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ryan
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 3:57 PM
To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

Neat thread

1961 - learned to ride on my sister's Glider (English brand that Eaton's 
carried) - nice, smooth and quite light bike...electric blue with white fenders 
and nice almostNitto North Road type bars
 1962 - moved to Winnipeg and inherited my other sister's late 40's CCM. But it 
was my bike. Then got first sister's Glider
1968-1971 - abandoned bikes for other adolescent hormonal pursuits
1972 - I came back to my senses .1st 10-speed bought from local hardware. Truly 
scary riding that thing in the rain with the steel rims and crappy brakes. My 
mother's boyfriend owned a 60's Legnano which had chromed lugs and was painted 
an unfortunate shade of Mountsin Dew yellow-green, but rode like a thoroughbred 
compared to my mule
1973 - Read Richard Ballantine's book about Bicycles (cool guy w ponytail 
wrenching an immaculate Condor) and basis that bought a Peugeot PX-10. ^ months 
later it was stolen and I replaced it; 10 years later that one was stolen out 
of our garage in Charleswood , but luckily Gooch's had another model in the 
basement that our insurance paid for
1984 - Cannondaly M500...the funky one with the 26" front and 24" back wheel. 
Cool bike. Sold it to a coworker
1986- Joined touring club. Rode around Manitoba a bunch on Peugeot PX10 
3...which was not ideal for some of the hills we have or carrying 
panniers.Lives now as a terrif single-speed I got a screaming deal on a 
Cannondale 18-speed touring bike. Indexed shifting. This worked really well as 
a loaded tourer and was fun to ride unloaded too. I also bought a Rossin w 
Super Record..nice Italian racer but I never totally warmed up to it. Sold it 
in 2007 or so to a neighbour who kind of collected and rode Italian bikes
1991 Cannondaly SM2000 mountain bike with the Pepperoni forks. Still have it 
but don't ride it
1993 - Bought the iconic, much loved 1993 orange X0-1. I'd never get rid of 
this bike. My wet weather commuter
1997 - Enamoured of all things Bridgestone, ordered the very lovely 
All-Rounder...a deluxe version of the X0-1, but a smoother more refined ride
2000 - Ordered my Riv road as the road bike I should have had
I like practical, elegant, well-made and unique  bikes. If I fell into a CF 
racer I wouldn't be unhappy, but I'm perfectly happy without one

Next? A custom mixte (I am 61 after all) may be in the cards at some point. 
Also, with this interminable winter, I'm sort of jonesing for a fatbike

Ryan - Winnipeg

On Friday, February 28, 2014 11:13:47 AM UTC-6, jinxed wrote:
Over the last couple weeks I have been fortunate to get out and ride each of 
the bikes in my stable. This offered some really surprising comparisons and 
conflicted some of my previous thoughts on each bike. My bikes are USA made and 
they're all steel, and I'm attached to all of them. They also happen to be 
different wheel sizes. 26" Riv AR, 650b OAC Rambler, 29" Spot MTB, and 700c 
Cross/race.

My biking trajectory was BMX - MTB - Cross - Road - and now is some sort of 
hybrid of all those. I was a staunch opponent of 29er and clung to 26" 
adamantly until I finally gave up and tried the larger wheel size. I had to eat 
a lot of crow when I enjoyed it. Since then I've never gone back to 26" off 
road, but still held on to romantic praise for it.

CX was just a natural offshoot of MTB when trying to ride on the road. Although 
I raced road bikes, I much preferred riding them in the dirt. My ultimate ride 
is a fast swoopy twisty turny jaunt through wooded singletrack on a CX bike. 
It's what my bike dreams are made of.

My first Rivendell was also my first 650b and it felt like a bridge between the 
MTB and CX. It seemed to be the true all round that perfectly fit the way I 
wanted to ride, and more importantly where I have the most access to ride. I 
have several dirt trails I prefer riding on, but I must take pavement to get 
there. I think the best aspect of the Rivendell line in it's entirety is that 
they do well in many types of terrain. Obviously age and life circumstances 
affect how and where I ride, but I find much more enjoyment out of the 
exploration type of riding I'm doing now. I attribute much of that to this list 
and the ideals behind the bike designs.

This brings me to my recent riding. If I had ranked my bikes based on mental 
attachment, it would have been AR, CX, 650b, 29er. But after riding them all 
back to back I realized my enjoyment of the ride of those bikes is a different 
sequence: 650b, CX, 29er, AR.

I'm surprised I prefer larger diameter wheels, because I refu

RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

My first  “real” bike was a red Sears 3 speed with upright bars (I was 10).  I 
took them off immediately and replaced them with drops, wrapped in lime green 
semi-transparent plastic tape.  I thought it was the shit.  Rode it to school 3 
years running every day, 6th through 8th grade.  It was stolen from the school 
bike rack (we didn’t lock our bikes way back in the Paleozoic Era), and I 
didn’t replace it – a drivers’ license didn’t seem that far away at that point, 
and anyway my high school was much farther away than my junior high school.

So: a 7 year bike hiatus, through college graduation.  But during my senior 
year my girlfriend and I were planning a post-graduation summer bike tour in 
Europe (summer of 1974) and I needed a bike, so I bought a Fuji S10-S on a bike 
shop recommendation (a very smart bike shop, as it turned out – that was a 
wonderful bike for the price).  I rode it all over England and France, 75 to 
100 miles a day, for 3 months (by myself – the g/f broke up with me right 
before we were going to leave!), after not having ridden a bike for 7 years.  
(Oh, to be that young and flexible again!)  I think I put something like 4000 
miles on that bike that summer.

Brought it back to Philadelphia for law school, where it was promptly stolen.  
(Unlike my Sears bike, it was locked – I don’t know how the thief got it.)  
Anyway, I replaced it with a Raleigh Super Grand Prix in 1975.  Rode that bike 
to and from school for two years, then basically hung it up for almost 25 
years, until one of my sons wanted it (interestingly, to use as a commuter bike 
in Philadelphia – he rode it every day for 3 years until the top tube cracked 
at the headtube lug).

Hanging up the Raleigh led to two decades of no riding at all.  In the late 
‘90s, I bought an aluminum Trek hybrid (a 7600) to ride around on at the beach 
in New Jersey.  A few hundred miles a summer, max.  But it reminded me how much 
I enjoyed being out on a bike, and led to the next stage.

In 2005, I decided I was getting too sedentary, and thought I’d try to commute 
to work on the Trek.  I did that for a year until I had a bad crash, and ruined 
the front wheel on the Trek (in addition to, temporarily, several of my ribs, 
my collarbone, and my wrist).  Interestingly, though, the crash just made me 
more determined to keep up with my commute, and also to try to begin to learn 
more about how bikes worked, and what makes a good bike.  Investigating the 
latter point, I stumbled on the Rivendell website (2006).  I saw the Bombadil 
(then in prototype), and fell in love with its appearance, which reinforced my 
instincts that the Riv way was mostly the right way, for me.  I bought a 
Bombadil shortly thereafter, and Rivendells and the Riv way of looking at 
biking has dominated my approach ever since.  Since then, I’ve had 11 Rivendell 
bikes, and built or rebuilt most of them; I’ve passed on three of them to 
family members, but still have the others.  I’ve probably built up another 15 
bikes in that period – most of those have been passed on as well, either to 
family and friends or as contributions to charity auctions, which I enjoy.

So it took me many years, but biking is again an important part of my life, and 
Rivendell has been an important part of the inspiration for that.

From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com 
[mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike Schiller
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 4:28 PM
To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

The 1st bike I really remember was a candy apple green Stingray... I rode that 
from age 6 'till maybe 12. Most of the time on dirt roads, cow trails, off 
jumps. I stripped it down and rattle can painted it may 5 times. In Jr high I 
got a road bike.  Rode that every where the Stingray went.   Started doing 
longer rides in the canyons of the San Gabriel Mtns. In summer we would be gone 
from morning until after dark.  1st year of college I got a nice Centurion.  
Still riding the dirt canyon roads on 25mm tires.  I was into triathlons for a 
while at that time.  Loved the bike and run but I swim like a stone.  Next was 
a Univega Gran Rally. I loved the way that bike rode.

Then mountain bikes came on the scene, I bought a 1983 Schwinn Sierra, 
Snakebelly tires, a 14-38 Suntour freewheel.  I probably didn't ride that 
Univega ever again. For at least a decade I road 100% off road.  I went through 
a number of MTB's after that, a 1st year 1986 Rockhopper, Fisher HKK, 
Bridgestone MB-2, Fisher Mt Tam. I started racing MTB's Mammoth, Big Bear, 
Keyesville, anything within driving distance.

As full suspension bikes came on the scene and downhill speeds increased I lost 
interest in racing a bit. Owned a few full suspension MTBs but I ended up going 
back to a hardtail 29er. I also  bought a Ciocc road bike and started doing 
more road riding, Some centuries and organized rides.  OK but n

[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Mike Schiller]

oh... and I forgot to say... I'm seriously considering a fat bike next 
can't go with much fatter tires than that!

~mike

On Friday, February 28, 2014 1:27:33 PM UTC-8, Mike Schiller wrote:
>
> The 1st bike I really remember was a candy apple green Stingray... I rode 
> that from age 6 'till maybe 12. Most of the time on dirt roads, cow trails, 
> off jumps. I stripped it down and rattle can painted it may 5 times. In Jr 
> high I got a road bike.  Rode that every where the Stingray went.   Started 
> doing longer rides in the canyons of the San Gabriel Mtns. In summer we 
> would be gone from morning until after dark.  1st year of college I got a 
> nice Centurion.  Still riding the dirt canyon roads on 25mm tires.  I was 
> into triathlons for a while at that time.  Loved the bike and run but I 
> swim like a stone.  Next was a Univega Gran Rally. I loved the way that 
> bike rode.  
>
> Then mountain bikes came on the scene, I bought a 1983 Schwinn Sierra, 
> Snakebelly tires, a 14-38 Suntour freewheel.  I probably didn't ride that 
> Univega ever again. For at least a decade I road 100% off road.  I went 
> through a number of MTB's after that, a 1st year 1986 Rockhopper, Fisher 
> HKK, Bridgestone MB-2, Fisher Mt Tam. I started racing MTB's Mammoth, Big 
> Bear, Keyesville, anything within driving distance.  
>
> As full suspension bikes came on the scene and downhill speeds increased I 
> lost interest in racing a bit. Owned a few full suspension MTBs but I ended 
> up going back to a hardtail 29er. I also  bought a Ciocc road bike and 
> started doing more road riding, Some centuries and organized rides.  OK but 
> not my cup of tea. I prefer adventure rides where I almost get lost or have 
> to climb fences to get home. I picked up an early version of the Soma Cross 
> bike and re-discovered mixed terrain rides.  Did my first multi-day bike 
> tour.  Bought my 1st Riv, an Orange Hillborne, equipped it with 40mm 
> knobbies and had a blast. Found a nice green Ram and sold the Sam H.  The 
> ride was just so much nicer for me.   
>
> I still have an MTB, a custom steel 29er hardtail, but most of my rides 
> are on a lugged steel 650B custom  with Hetres.  Got a mountain cross 
> custom about done for 700c x 45mm tires. That will probably get a lot of 
> use too. 
> So not much of an evolution, I love riding dirt and going places I've 
> never been before, the bikes are custom now and tailored to my passion. Big 
> fat tires, no suspension, fun, fast rides and sometimes I may stop and 
> admire the views.
>
> ~mike
> Carlsbad Ca
>  
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Mike Schiller]

The 1st bike I really remember was a candy apple green Stingray... I rode 
that from age 6 'till maybe 12. Most of the time on dirt roads, cow trails, 
off jumps. I stripped it down and rattle can painted it may 5 times. In Jr 
high I got a road bike.  Rode that every where the Stingray went.   Started 
doing longer rides in the canyons of the San Gabriel Mtns. In summer we 
would be gone from morning until after dark.  1st year of college I got a 
nice Centurion.  Still riding the dirt canyon roads on 25mm tires.  I was 
into triathlons for a while at that time.  Loved the bike and run but I 
swim like a stone.  Next was a Univega Gran Rally. I loved the way that 
bike rode.  

Then mountain bikes came on the scene, I bought a 1983 Schwinn Sierra, 
Snakebelly tires, a 14-38 Suntour freewheel.  I probably didn't ride that 
Univega ever again. For at least a decade I road 100% off road.  I went 
through a number of MTB's after that, a 1st year 1986 Rockhopper, Fisher 
HKK, Bridgestone MB-2, Fisher Mt Tam. I started racing MTB's Mammoth, Big 
Bear, Keyesville, anything within driving distance.  

As full suspension bikes came on the scene and downhill speeds increased I 
lost interest in racing a bit. Owned a few full suspension MTBs but I ended 
up going back to a hardtail 29er. I also  bought a Ciocc road bike and 
started doing more road riding, Some centuries and organized rides.  OK but 
not my cup of tea. I prefer adventure rides where I almost get lost or have 
to climb fences to get home. I picked up an early version of the Soma Cross 
bike and re-discovered mixed terrain rides.  Did my first multi-day bike 
tour.  Bought my 1st Riv, an Orange Hillborne, equipped it with 40mm 
knobbies and had a blast. Found a nice green Ram and sold the Sam H.  The 
ride was just so much nicer for me.   

I still have an MTB, a custom steel 29er hardtail, but most of my rides are 
on a lugged steel 650B custom  with Hetres.  Got a mountain cross custom 
about done for 700c x 45mm tires. That will probably get a lot of use too. 
So not much of an evolution, I love riding dirt and going places I've never 
been before, the bikes are custom now and tailored to my passion. Big fat 
tires, no suspension, fun, fast rides and sometimes I may stop and admire 
the views.

~mike
Carlsbad Ca
 

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Ryan]

Neat thread
 
1961 - learned to ride on my sister's Glider (English brand that Eaton's 
carried) - nice, smooth and quite light bike...electric blue with white 
fenders and nice almostNitto North Road type bars
 1962 - moved to Winnipeg and inherited my other sister's late 40's CCM. 
But it was my bike. Then got first sister's Glider
1968-1971 - abandoned bikes for other adolescent hormonal pursuits
1972 - I came back to my senses .1st 10-speed bought from local hardware. 
Truly scary riding that thing in the rain with the steel rims and crappy 
brakes. My mother's boyfriend owned a 60's Legnano which had chromed lugs 
and was painted an unfortunate shade of Mountsin Dew yellow-green, but rode 
like a thoroughbred compared to my mule
1973 - Read Richard Ballantine's book about Bicycles (cool guy w ponytail 
wrenching an immaculate Condor) and basis that bought a Peugeot PX-10. ^ 
months later it was stolen and I replaced it; 10 years later that one was 
stolen out of our garage in Charleswood , but luckily Gooch's had another 
model in the basement that our insurance paid for
1984 - Cannondaly M500...the funky one with the 26" front and 24" back 
wheel. Cool bike. Sold it to a coworker
1986- Joined touring club. Rode around Manitoba a bunch on Peugeot PX10 
3...which was not ideal for some of the hills we have or carrying 
panniers.Lives now as a terrif single-speed I got a screaming deal on a 
Cannondale 18-speed touring bike. Indexed shifting. This worked really well 
as a loaded tourer and was fun to ride unloaded too. I also bought a Rossin 
w Super Record..nice Italian racer but I never totally warmed up to it. 
Sold it in 2007 or so to a neighbour who kind of collected and rode Italian 
bikes
1991 Cannondaly SM2000 mountain bike with the Pepperoni forks. Still have 
it but don't ride it
1993 - Bought the iconic, much loved 1993 orange X0-1. I'd never get rid of 
this bike. My wet weather commuter
1997 - Enamoured of all things Bridgestone, ordered the very lovely 
All-Rounder...a deluxe version of the X0-1, but a smoother more refined ride
2000 - Ordered my Riv road as the road bike I should have had
I like practical, elegant, well-made and unique  bikes. If I fell into a CF 
racer I wouldn't be unhappy, but I'm perfectly happy without one
 
Next? A custom mixte (I am 61 after all) may be in the cards at some point. 
Also, with this interminable winter, I'm sort of jonesing for a fatbike
 
Ryan - Winnipeg

On Friday, February 28, 2014 11:13:47 AM UTC-6, jinxed wrote:

> Over the last couple weeks I have been fortunate to get out and ride each 
> of the bikes in my stable. This offered some really surprising comparisons 
> and conflicted some of my previous thoughts on each bike. My bikes are USA 
> made and they're all steel, and I'm attached to all of them. They also 
> happen to be different wheel sizes. 26" Riv AR, 650b OAC Rambler, 29" Spot 
> MTB, and 700c Cross/race. 
>
> My biking trajectory was BMX - MTB - Cross - Road - and now is some sort 
> of hybrid of all those. I was a staunch opponent of 29er and clung to 26" 
> adamantly until I finally gave up and tried the larger wheel size. I had to 
> eat a lot of crow when I enjoyed it. Since then I've never gone back to 26" 
> off road, but still held on to romantic praise for it.
>
> CX was just a natural offshoot of MTB when trying to ride on the road. 
> Although I raced road bikes, I much preferred riding them in the dirt. My 
> ultimate ride is a fast swoopy twisty turny jaunt through wooded 
> singletrack on a CX bike. It's what my bike dreams are made of.
>
> My first Rivendell was also my first 650b and it felt like a bridge 
> between the MTB and CX. It seemed to be the true all round that perfectly 
> fit the way I wanted to ride, and more importantly where I have the most 
> access to ride. I have several dirt trails I prefer riding on, but I must 
> take pavement to get there. I think the best aspect of the Rivendell line 
> in it's entirety is that they do well in many types of terrain. Obviously 
> age and life circumstances affect how and where I ride, but I find much 
> more enjoyment out of the exploration type of riding I'm doing now. I 
> attribute much of that to this list and the ideals behind the bike designs.
>
> This brings me to my recent riding. If I had ranked my bikes based on 
> mental attachment, it would have been AR, CX, 650b, 29er. But after riding 
> them all back to back I realized my enjoyment of the ride of those bikes is 
> a different sequence: 650b, CX, 29er, AR.
>
> I'm surprised I prefer larger diameter wheels, because I refuse to admit 
> 26" is dead! But if I were to choose, 650 is the smallest platform I'd go 
> to.
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Ron Mc]

Most changes based on comfort.  
First thing was a Unicanitor saddle on my old Raleigh because it looked 
good and I could ride it then.  The desire was a go-fast bike within a 
student budget.   Then killed the spined crank on my old Raleigh climbing 
to my apartment in south Austin.  Bought parts at the co-op bike shop where 
racers sold the parts they won, and replaced it with a Sugino Mighty Comp. 
 Had s set of wheels built on Zeus hubs with Rigida 1320 rims and 1" tires, 
tighter 5-sp sprocket, Shimano 600 RD (190g, still one of the lightest and 
most reliable road RD ever made), and threw in Zeus shifters and gum-hood 
brake levers (getting rid of the old Weinmann safety levers) - the wheels 
changed the nature of the bike, and kept me riding it a long time.  It was 
fast. 
As I got older eased up to 1-1/8" tires and softer saddles - Concor then 
Terry.  
Finally couldn't get comfortable on the long GB stem and Maes bend drops. 
 After finding Rivendell whet for a moustache cockpit rebuild, B-17, 
bar-end shifter pods, and found a new level of comfort.  6-speed rear, 
Half-step chainring in the front then found a cyclotouriste triple with 
half steps and escape to make the bike more versatile.  Rivved out with 
fenders and front rack/bags.  Most recently new wheels, finally 700c, 
7-speed rear, and back to 32mm tires.  Still riding the bike after 38 
years.  
After getting back in shape was ready for a go-fast and built my Moser, 
though with (moderately) tall Nitto stem and Cinelli dream bars.  
Don't have the budget for a Rivendelll for a few more years, but it's high 
on my want list.  
It's going to be versatile and big tires.  

On Friday, February 28, 2014 1:20:19 PM UTC-6, Liesl wrote:
>
> 1963:  Pretend that I own my Brother's 3-speed black Raleigh; for a family 
> photo, pose next to it barefoot in my brother's bad-ass green bay packer 
> uniform like all of it was mine.
> 1965:  learn to ride on a prehistoric BMX type fixed gear with solid 
> rubber wheels covered with cloth electrical tape.  Point down grassy hill 
> and hang on for dear life.
> 1968:  Blue Sears girls bike.  Wanted a Schwinn.  Wanted a boys bike.
> 1971:  Save money.  Buy Schwinn Cherry Crate stingray.  Thought it /I was 
> cool until I tried to ride more than 1 block and/or more than a 1% grade
> 1974:  Save money.  Read books on bikes.  Buy Mercier "10-speed".  Ride a 
> lot happily in my small city of Madison WI and surrounding country roads.
> 1980:  Get into motorcycles in a big way and bicycles go by the wayside 
> for 2 decades.
> 1998:  Return to bicycles.  Don't need to save money in the same way to 
> get one.  Live in Frisco.  Buy a Kona Fire Mountain because "that's what 
> you want".  Have lots of fun riding it.
> 2005:  Start bike commuting 20 miles round-trip to work.  Live in Mpls.  
> Do it in the winter.  Love it.
> 2006:  See an Atlantis with Baggins panniers. Gob-smacked.  Google 
> Rivendell.  Fall in love. Devote myself to riding enough to warrant a Riv.
> 2007:  Visit Riv.  Ride a Ram and a Glorious.  Eventually decide on a 
> Saluki.  Love it.  Fall out of love with my Kona.
> 2008:  Pick up a Trek 620 single speed for a winter bike.
> 2009:  Snatch a Proto Bleriot Frame and build it up as a single speed.  
> Love it.
> 2010:  Must travel with bike!  Use recent 50th birthday as an excuse and 
> buy a pair of Bike Fridays for me and Erin.  Love it.
> 2013:  Win Riv raffle and go to heaven.
>
>

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Edwin W]

The first bike that I bought, with my own hard earned money was a Redline 
BMX in 7th grade or so. I still have it. The first useful bike I got was in 
8th grade. I would tally up my babysitting money and go to the local bike 
shop (Larry and Jeff's on 79th and 3rd in NYC). Each time I would think, 
gosh, if I could just babysit one more time I could get the next bike up. 
Then the next. Then the one with leather (may have been faux, but to 
contrast with foam) wrapped bars, dt shifters instead of stem shifters and 
sportier graphics (these are the things I noticed). And finally I had to go 
ahead and get it because I needed it to get to my summer job. It was a 
Panasonic DX-1000 (I think? Maybe the 500 had the foam handlebars).
Anyway, I rode it all over Central Park and the Upper East and West Sides 
of Manhattan. I took it on a bike trip to the Pacific NW one summer. And I 
outgrew it.
I then had a series of beaters I didn't ride much. All errand bikes. Which 
has been most of my riding all my life. In the middle of college I got my 
friend's ?5 year old Cannondale racing type bike and rode that on and off 
for ten years. While commuting all over NYC I made it into flat bar to be 
like the messengers. I flatted on the 23s and got some 25s, but only 
certain 25s could fit. I realized that there were different tire clearances 
for different bikes! I also had an LBS build up a single speed bull horn 
1980's lugged steel something or other. Messenger style, again. 
I continued with that as my daily commuter and then got a Redline 925 fixed 
gear used off CL and like the slightly fatter tires. 
I commuted on that 925 for a couple of years. Toward the end of that I 
discovered Riv. I sold the Cannondale for $175 15 years after I bought it 
for $225. That was worth it!
I moved to Nashville and our bikes were in storage on on the way so I got a 
Raleigh Sprite off this or iBob list (thanks Marty!). IT was a lot bigger 
than the 925, but I had been reading Grant's stuff and thought I could go a 
bit bigger. I loved a bigger bike! I loved the 1x5 friction shifting and 
700x35s and fenders and racks and I eventually got a dynamo. 
But I thought might do some road riding! So I got a used Nishiki Riviera 
off this list (thanks Patrick M!). But I always liked to ride the Raleigh 
since it had dynamo lighting. And with three young kids I rarely went on 
long bike rides during the day. I liked building it up, but I sold it after 
2 years of little use.
After a few years of that I had a 40th birthday and treated myself to a 
used Hillborne (thanks Jim M!). I ride everywhere on that and it is what I 
have been looking for now for awhile - a perfect town and country bike.

Living in the town known for country,
Edwin in Nashville

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Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Patrick Moore]

On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 10:55 AM, Chris Lampe 2 wrote:

> This should be a fun thread!
>>
>>
>
Indeed! I've acquired my preferences over almost 45 years of building my
own bikes -- my first complete build, not counting modifications egregious
or otherwise, was at age 15 in 1970 -- and modifying all the others, and
making all the mistakes with them that it is possible to make.

Long story short, I've come very much to like bikes designed and built for
particular uses -- the all rounder type bike is the least desirable in my
stable. But all the bikes have features and particularly fitting that is
very, very close across dedicated gofast smooth pavement bike to sandy dirt
road bike: low bbs, long stays, way-back saddle and a frame that
accommodates this position and this weight distribution, and the sort of
fit and handling that I can only define as what I've gotten from my 3 Grant
designed road customs (with the Grant-mandated fit: saddle back, bar up and
back, that cured some real weirdness in fit and handling at the time I
ordered my first Road). (I sometimes find this same "feel", at least as to
fit, on other bikes -- somewhat to my surprise -- but -- and this has been
consistent over almost 20 years of riding them -- every time I get back on
one of my Rivendells after extended affairs with other bikes, I feel as if
I've "come home". This applies to the 3 customs, but also largely to the
Ram, which isn't quite as "just right".

That said, all my other bikes are set up to mimic as much as possible the
fit and feel of the 2 remaining Riv Roads, with modifications according to
use. Even the Fargo has saddle height and setback (ie behind bb) identical
to those of the Roads, and bar reach the same, tho' higher bar.

But back to a bike for each use:

Gofast: no nod to usefulness; just gofast (that is a relative term),
particularly for climbing in a highish gear.

Commuter: Even though I no longer commute, my principal errand bike is just
like the gofast but has fatter tires, fenders when needed, rack and lights.
This bike was built 4 years after the Gofast and used for commuting for
several years until I stopped working in an office.

Errand: this one is a high end beater in my taxonomy and it has multiple
gears. This is the Ram, and it does much that the Commuter does, but I
don't need to worry about it as much and I can choose it when I am feeling
lazy (tho' I generally ride it in just one or two gears).

Off road, part A: dirt roads. Must have fat tires for sand and drop bars.
Currently this is the Fargo, but I'd love to afford a Hunquapillar.

Off road, part B: I should get a ss singletrack machine, probably 26".
Upright bar of some sort.

If I had more money than sense: I'd add a Rivendellian equivalent of a top
ed 1970s racing bike: long stays, shallow seat angle, that Rivendell fit
and feel and turn-in.

Oh hell, why not? A fatbike.

-- 
Albuquerque, NM, USA

Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and letters that get interviews.
By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching.
Other professional writing services.
http://www.resumespecialties.com/

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[RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?

[Chris Lampe 2]

>
> This should be a fun thread!
>  
>
I started out with normal kid's bikes in the 1970's that were mostly based 
on BMX designs.  At some point my parents bought matching 3-speeds and one 
of my goals was to be able to ride my dad's "giant" bike.  I did have one 
10-speed my parents got at K-Mart and I LOVED that bike until the 
"cassette" fell off a couple of miles from home and I had to walk it back.  
At some point I discovered I was big enough to ride my dad's 3-speed, which 
by this time was old and rusty, and I rode that bike until I turned 14 and 
got a motorcycle.  I did pick up a Murray or Roadmaster 10-speed right 
before my freshman year of college.  I knew nothing about how the gearing 
worked and probably didn't put 20 miles on it before leaving it in the 
backyard to rust away.  This was 1986.
 
Around 1993 or 1994 I got the wild notion that I wanted to get an adult 
bicycle.  I did some research and casually looked at catalogs and at some 
point got really serious and narrowed my choice down to a Trek 730 
Multitrack.  I was just starting graduate school and I quit my job of 7.5 
years (that I despised).  The day after I quit I drove 100 miles to the 
nearest large city and bought my 19" Trek 730.  I got REALLY into it 
and rode on a daily basis.  After about six months I decided I wanted a 
road bike so I bought a Raleigh R500 aluminum bike.   I was amazed by how 
light and fast it was and managed one 19 mile ride, my longest as an adult, 
before I decided road biking wasn't for me.  I sold it ASAP.  
 
I continued to ride that Trek 730 until 2007, when I decided it was time to 
"upgrade" to an aluminum hybrid.  I did my research and bought a Trek 7.2 
FX.  I was content riding that bike until 2011 or so when I followed a link 
to RBW from another website that has nothing to do with bicycles.  I 
started reading Grant's ideas and realized that I was already on board with 
many of them, like wider tires, higher bars, broad gearing range, etc...   
I decided to get my old 730 back from dad to test the steel vs aluminum 
difference.  The aluminum bike was sportier (stiffer?) and the steel bike 
was more comfortable.  I think a lot my decision came down to excitement 
about stripping down a steel frame, having it repainted, and then building 
it back up with new components.  
 
I then gave my old 730 back to my dad and started watching Craigslist and 
E-bay.  After three months of constant monitoring, a 1995 21" Trek 730 came 
for sale in the subdivision across the street from ours!  I bought it 
immediately and sold my 7.2 FX to finance a custom Rich Lesnik rear wheel 
and cassette.   
 
I rode the "new" 730 and continued really researching frame geometry.  I 
discovered that both of my 730's and even my 7.2 FX had what was 
essentially MTB geometry so I wanted to try "road" geometry.  Finding a 
bike with that geometry that would allow the use of canti brakes and wider 
tires took awhile but I finally found the Handsome Cycles Devil.  I bought 
the frameset and had it built up with new components I'd purchased.  I was 
thrilled with the bike for the first 6-9 months but then I watched Salsa's 
"So Far to Go" video and "Ride the Divide".  This sparked my interest in a 
more MTB oriented bike so I picked up used MTB's from the 80's and 90's and 
discovered I really like the 1995 Trek 820 with 55mm Big Apples.  
 
I was now sure about wanting a bike that would allow me to run BA's.  This 
precluded my Devil so the search began anew.  At first I decided that 
Velo-Orange's Camargue was the bike for me but it's trail of 56mm with a 
2.1" tire concerned me.  All of those Treks, including my 820, had trail in 
the 70's while my Devil was closer to the Camargue with 61mm of trail.   
 
I found an LBS that carries Surly products and test-rode a Karate Monkey 
and a Troll.  I continued to ride my Devil and my old 820.  Another issue I 
had to resolve was whether to switch to drop bars.  I put them to the test 
and they lost out.  It's MTB bars all the way for me.   
 
At this point I've basically discovered that I prefer a bike that rides 
like a mountain bike.  High trail measurements and shorter chainstays seem 
to do it for me.  I'm decided on selling the Devil and although I love 
riding the 820, newbikeitus is killing me.  Right now I'm contemplating 
whether to simply build up my 820 with the parts from the Devil, to buy a 
Troll or to buy an Ogre (equivalent in geometry to the KM).  As discussed 
in another thread here, I'm enamored with the 26" wheels but my long-term 
goals include riding long distances on dirt and I'm pretty well convinced 
that 700c tires are preferable in that role.  I think once I've saved the 
money for a new frameset I'm going back to the LBS and just doing a 
ride-off between the KM and the Troll.  It will pretty much be an 
apples-to-apples comparison and I'll order the frameset that wins out.  

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