walked into a different type of bike shop today..road a diff type of bike.

[vash]

ahh..played hookie today.

some history. i used to be a B.O.B. member. bridgestone owners bunch. grassroots cycling stuff. i believe nostatic was a member. really grassroots. beeswax as chapstick, wool jerseys and pants..nobody weighed their bikes. FENDERS! i had a mountain bike. MB-2..no suspension. just a nice steel frame. fast!

being grassroots, i think they lost business to the ever present siren's song of exotic bike frames and full suspension. bridgestone closed their doors. one employee opened a company, called it Rivendell. (might be the land Elves come from?)..he took the same grassroots mentality and started building bikes. old school. brazed lugged frame. good ole steel.

i found out he was local!! i used to email "grant" about life as a mech engineer..i went civil and lost touch.

today i walked into his shop. everyone looked FAST!! lean..wearing lots of cotton..haha.

i chose their roadbike. the ROADEO. big heavy, stout...beautiful!! the lugs and little details made you want to rub them. the tires were big fat 33's!! he set me up with a bike my size..fitted me to it.. a loaner, he fitted. he changed out a stem. i took it for a spin, and i was GONE! it was kinda heavy feeling, but nimble. it is without doubt, the best bike i have ever ridden for me!! it was so stable. i've always had a difficult time turning to look at my blind spot. my bike wandered. this thing was planted and kept giving me feedback as to where we were going. i tracked straight. i pulled into a german auto garage, and did the tightest u-turn in the shop. it was tiny. i went to look at a cherry BMW 2002 tii..(it was amazing)..the german shop guys knew Rivendell test rides went by their shop all the time. they were super cool. some bike were way out there. wacky almost. but that Roadeo was amazing. i now have to have one. i think my wife is on board. she insisted i test ride it.

the shop was cool. they sold swedish wool, and swedish axes as well.
i think my road bike will be oldschool, and my mountain bike can be the tech wonder..

how much can i get for a kidney?

[vash]

^^ that isnt the bike i rode. mine had a brookes saddle (hated it) and some bad ass SRAM shifters i had to learn how to use.

[nostatic]

I had a Riv some years back. Always been a fan of Grant and the "retrogrouch" approach, though I don't agree with everything he says. His thoughts on fit and having the bars high is spot-on imho.

[LWJ]

I love the Rivendell bikes. My brother has one. (Funny, he had an old Bridgestone MB-1 waaay back). Lots of $$$ however. Sort of a lottery bike in my mind.

[Aragorn]

Kidneys come in twos. As a rule of thumb, anything that comes in twos, you can live with only one.

Nice looking bike. Fit is important to the feel. That seat looks like torture though.

You ever take it off any sweet jumps?

[vash]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Kidneys come in twos. As a rule of thumb, anything that comes in twos, you can live with only one.

Nice looking bike. Fit is important to the feel. That seat looks like torture though.

You ever take it off any sweet jumps?

Funny. You sign this waiver before you calm ride. The last sentence says something like: accidents happen. If you crash while on your test ride, we call it the cost of doing business. Hope you didn't get hurt.

I still rode casual

[creaturecat]

Wouldn't be for me.
Looks nicely done, however.
Have you taken a nice carbon fibre bike for a spin?
Swedish wool, that's the itchy scratchy stuff, right?

[craigster59]

Checked out their website. I love their business concept, different and creative. A bit pricey, but seems like quality. I may order a Wiggy's bag.

[Tobra]

MB 2 was my commuter ride in college, loved that bike. Finally wore the frame out, and they sent me a new one. It is in the attic, waiting for my sorry ass to put it together, ancient components and all. I do have some nice wheels for it though.

[jim72911t]

My bike collection features 3 steel hardtail mountain bikes, a steel cross, a steel roadie and a steel townie. I gave away my aluminum hardtail, and my two full suspension mountain bikes hardly see dirt, unless I'm loaning one out to a buddy. As the saying goes: Steel is real.

So, I like the Rivendell philosophy. I hear the bikes are nice, but I've never ridden one personally.

As far as the company goes, I've got mixed feelings. Grant is VERY opinionated, which comes through quite well in his book Just Ride. Take it or leave it, I guess. At least he is honest about it.

-edit- Comment deleted. I'll just conclude by saying, please support the small companies in the bike industry. Most aren't in it for the money, but for the love of the sport.

[cantdrv55]

You have to ride my Ciocc. It's your size and I'll give you a great deal for it.

[vash]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

You have to ride my Ciocc. It's your size and I'll give you a great deal for it.

looking forward to it..is there a tiny M emblem on the top of your post?

[cantdrv55]

I don't know how that M got there.

My wife and I are doing the 30 mi Tour of Napa Valley ride tomorrow. Wanna come and ride the Ciocc? Talk about a good long test. You don't have to register to ride the tour. You just can't have the grub afterwards.

Tour of Napa Valley

[intakexhaust]

vash- The new Oldretro stuff is addicting

I'm liking this ebay listing:

RARE Metaloplan Ideale Roulements Annuaires Real Museum Piece Extra Light | eBay