An early lesson I learned in my foray into doing most of my own bike mechanics was how very desperately I needed to apprentice with Saint Joseph in his workshop. He is expert at taking stunningly raw material and crafting beautiful things through loving patience, perseverance, charity, et al. He's taught me that nothing is worth fretting over, that it is better to walk away and focus on something I can do and somehow I thing I couldn't do becomes simple and easy to do. I have much yet to learn under his stewardship, and I look forward to it with abandon. Every request (as one does with a friend and mentor) I've made of him has been answered beyond my wildest comprehension and in a way I would have never known to ask for. Grin.
With abandon, Patrick On Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 10:52:42 AM UTC-7, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > > I’ve had my 2019 blue Clem L for a few weeks now, but it’s taken me awhile > to get it set up for me. It’s still very much a work in progress, but it’s > really turning out to be a spectacular bicycle. As I discussed in a > previous post A Tale of Two Clems, this new Clem is quite different than my > 2015 Clementine. The Clementine fit me like a glove with zero need for > adjustments. The new Clem is much longer, which changed a lot for me. I > needed a shorter stem (went from a 12 to a 9...or something), and even so, > I’m probably going to scoot my Brooks a bit forward because I *still* want > the grips closer to me. I’m 5’6” with an 83 cm PBH, but I wonder if the 45 > would have fit me like my old Clementine does. > > The Clem also boasts the fancy seat lug I adore, cream fills in the > lugwork, slimmer, lithe-looking tubes and a gorgeous metallic blue paint > that no camera can capture. The bike just begs for blue and more blue, and > I’ve answered it. I’ve come to think of it as the 50 Shades of Blue Bike. > > I got it back from the shop yesterday. It has the new stem, a Nitto Basket > Rack, the Big Bens stolen from the Clementine, and was supposed to have the > Clementine’s fenders. The mechanic got the message mixed up and didn’t > install them, so the Clem is fenderless for now. The same day my Randi Jo > bag arrived, so I added that (the patch was a gift from our Roberta and a > perfect accessory to the bag) and put all my Sackville on the Clem. This > bike is now FORMIDABLE. What can it not do for me now? > > I took it out for an hour last night and laughed in the dark for most of > the ride. It is so much FUN. The Clem glides along, confident and strong. > It feels masculine, like its whisking me away somewhere, and I feel like > I’m in good hands. This is huge for me. I do a lot of hand-wringing when I > get a new bike, or even a new bike PART (I cried when I wore out my first > set of tires on the Betty and had to get new ones). I wonder if I’ve made a > mistake. I have visions of the bike falling apart underneath me as I ride > down the mountain on our school route. I rode the Betty exclusively for > nearly 7 years and it never let me down, so the Clem has a lot of live up > to. So far, so good. > > I took it to the boys’ school today loaded with: 2 U-locks, a lunchbox, a > laptop, a violin, a clarinet and my small personal effects. No sweat! The > bike shifts effortlessly, climbs just great and doesn’t complain about the > weight it carries. > > I’m still figuring out what grips I want (these black Ergon grips are > nice, but I need brown) and what fenders to get. The SKS on the Clementine > are fat and floppy looking, and the mechanic says the measurements are > nearly the same for the new bike. Meaning, the fenders are going to look > just as sloppy on the Clem, so he didn’t install them. I’ve got the Big Ben > tires; does anyone have a suggestion for good fenders (not metal) that will > be a nicer fit? I love how well the SKS fit and look on my Betty. > > Below are photos from yesterday. You can see the new bike along with the > other 2 I currently have. I’m really more of a 2 bike person, so I’ll > likely be selling the Clementine soon. I also made a fun 1 minute video of > my “shakedown ride” last night but I’m not sure you can view it on this > platform. Knowing that it’s goofy and not at all academic, PM me if you > want to view it anyway and I’ll send it to you. Or, find me on Instagram. > It’s a regular party over there! > > Leah > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/35169ece-981f-4e84-b915-0d8bc813c49b%40googlegroups.com.
