Thanks for sharing your story. Good on you for experimenting with different handlebars and tires. I too am a big fan of Rene Herse tires, going back to their days as Compass tires. Big fan of Choco bars too. Have them on both my rides, having switched the Sam Hillborne from Albatross bars and liking the Choco's so much I used them when I built up my Surly this past August.
David On Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at 10:28:51 AM UTC-8 Heather Hayes wrote: > *Long story short, here’s photos of my Cheviot!* > > > If you don't like lengthy, boring coming-of-age stories about bike riding, > you've been warned to turn back now or skip ahead to the pictures below. :) > But if you do, I'll share mine. The journey to discovering Rivendell and > this beautiful Cheviot was a *completely* unexpected one… > > > Riding my bike as a kid was one of my favorite pastimes, from the hot pink > Huffy with glittery tinsel streamers and a rose-patterned banana seat, to a > lemon yellow beach cruiser with a saddle the size of a movie theatre > recliner and playing cards clipped to the spokes with wooden clothespins. > In college I “upgraded” the cruiser to a super cheap, maliciously-magenta > Magna from Wal-mart. I biked to all my classes until someone cut the chain > on the front porch of my dodgy neighborhood and stole my sweet ride. Its > replacement was another Big Box cheapie, which got me where I needed to go > until moving from fairly-flat Raleigh to the mountains of Asheville, where > I couldn’t even make it up the first hill outside my front door on my > single speed sarcophagus of a bike. It was relegated to the basement and > started its sad new hobby of collecting dust. > > > Fast-forward 15 years. I hear about this magical place (beyond Middle > Earth) called Rivendell from cycling-enthusiast friends. But I couldn't be > a REAL cyclist, I'd be laughed off the road! Then I read JUST RIDE. Just > @&!%ing ride!!! What an amazing book, outlook, philosophy. Ride like you’re > a kid again. Have fun. Wear jeans. Be an UNracer. Who TF cares?! Beausage > for life. > > > My Chev is the first bike I’ve ever owned that cost over $75, and the > *priceless* result is rediscovering that I LOVE being on a bike again. > (Plus, I went to the School of Design, so I appreciate all those gorgeous > lugs as works of art!) Now, I can make it up those steep-ass hills, and I > even seek them out for fun. A good gravel grind in the woods became my > meditation. I was also thrilled to ride half a mile up to my neighborhood > market for fresh bread and cheese to put in my Nantucket wicker basket. > #NoRideIsTooShort > > > The Cheviot has already evolved many times as I discovered what I wanted > out of a bike. Cruising around only on beach vacations became more > adventures in the forest. Boscos were traded in for Chocos. Rene Herse > Switchback Hill smooth-treads were replaced with Juniper Ridge > mini-knobbies. My beloved basket became less practical for most rides and > made way for a front rack instead. I guess evolving, adapting, and dialing > in those components is all part of the fun, right!? > > > I knew next to nothing about bikes two years ago. But after COUNTLESS > hours spent perusing the Riv site, reading their catalog cover to cover, > pouring over the Blahg, and following this forum to *learn so much from > all of you*, a whole new world has opened up. Rivendell made bike riding > accessible again, and literally changed the way I was living my life. I > rediscovered that carefree kid on a bike, I'm beyond excited for all the > adventures still to come! > > [image: Cheviot2.jpg] > [image: Cheviot3.jpg][image: Cheviot5.jpg][image: Cheviot7.jpg] > > >>>>>>>>> -- 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/5414c2ff-1bfe-4c68-808e-51fab450f1f3n%40googlegroups.com.
