Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 cyclotour...@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-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. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5G5SFngBoPU/U9VT3AVzZPI/ABQ/7lNvn7Zr3qI/s1600/+1992+RockHopper+Single+Speed.JPG 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 javascript: 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. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5G5SFngBoPU/U9VT3AVzZPI/ABQ/7lNvn7Zr3qI/s1600/+1992+RockHopper+Single+Speed.JPG On Sunday, July 27, 2014 1:28:25 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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?
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 ericda...@gmail.com 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! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5G5SFngBoPU/U9VT3AVzZPI/ABQ/7lNvn7Zr3qI/s1600/+1992+RockHopper+Single+Speed.JPG 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
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 uscpeter11...@gmail.com 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 ericda...@gmail.com 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! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5G5SFngBoPU/U9VT3AVzZPI/ABQ/7lNvn7Zr3qI/s1600/+1992+RockHopper+Single+Speed.JPG 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
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 uscpet...@gmail.com javascript: 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 eric...@gmail.com javascript: 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 javascript: 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! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5G5SFngBoPU/U9VT3AVzZPI/ABQ/7lNvn7Zr3qI/s1600/+1992+RockHopper+Single+Speed.JPG 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
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 Technologyhttp://www.washoecountyschools.org/aact/ *“Blazing the Trail to College and Career Success”* Educator: Professional Portfolio http://addisonwilhite.blogspot.com/ Blogger: Reno Rambler http://reno-rambler.blogspot.com/ Bicycle Advocate: Regional Transportation Commission, Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committeehttp://www.rtcwashoe.com/public-transportation-22-124.html On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 8:54 PM, grrlyrida grrlyr...@gmail.com 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 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/bulldog1935/1966_SearsCatalog.jpg 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 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 10:55 AM, Chris Lampe 2 clampe9...@yahoo.comwrote: 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/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 not my cup of tea. I
RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 refuse to admit 26 is dead! But if I were to choose, 650 is the smallest platform I'd go to. -- You received this message because you are subscribed
RE: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 '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
Re: [RBW] Re: Evolution of your bike preference?
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 bulldog...@gmail.com wrote: oh, we're going that far back - first bike was a Sears The Rail http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/bulldog1935/1966_SearsCatalog.jpg 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 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
