First, what an awesome story. What a lucky & no doubt deserving young man. And oh, what a beautiful big Clem. That said & having started my cycling life @ University in the ‘70’s, I would take something like this to college.Sent from my iPhone On Aug 6, 2023, at 9:35 AM, Johnny Alien <johnny.alien...@gmail.com> wrote:
I know nothing about college theft BUT if he is relying on bus transportation as well I am 99.9% positive that a Clem that size won't work with their racks. If thats the case then more often than not the bike won't get used. Side note...judging by photos the 59 Clem looks like a really good fit. Side, side note...congrats to both you and your kid!! On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 8:08:30 AM UTC-4 Bill Schairer wrote:
I'll take the middle ground. Let him get the lay of the land before making a decision.
On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 12:53:46 AM UTC-7 Luke Hendrickson wrote:
Do it!!! What a way for him to think of your father and remember him.
DON'T DO IT !
I am collectively in the same thought as the others before my post. Save the Clem Smith Jr. "L" for after his college years for him to thoroughly appreciate it, as a graduation present.
Yes, the likelihood of it getting stolen is very high in a college setting. Buy him a second hand bicycle to ride to college. If it does get stolen, you will be heart-broken and have a very difficult time forgiving yourself for allowing him to ride the Clem to college.
Rivendell bicycles are very special and their owners treat them well with the utmost care.
*The Clem will not fit on the bicycle rack of a transit bus. It is nearly 80" long.*
Kim Hetzel Yelm, WA.
On Saturday, August 5, 2023 at 9:23:44 PM UTC-7 Josiah Anderson wrote:
I'm going to go against others' strong opinions here. It probably depends on where exactly he's going, but a Riv can be fine on a college campus if he's careful. My Crust and Rivendell have both survived college campus life at the University of Montana with me. I've had to use all sorts of creativity for keeping them inside in Montana winters; they've ended up under my bed, hanging in a closet, in the garage at work, in my living room in the house I live in now, and the list goes on and on. When leaving them locked up, my thinking is that they don't look like fancy modern bikes that would be attractive to theives, and if they are locked well (I usually use two u-locks if leaving for more than a couple hours) then the theives will go for the abundance of basic modern mountain bikes locked with cables instead. It's worked well for me for the past three years, and I know several others who have ridden nice bikes on college campuses for many years. Lock it up well, don't completely ignore it and it'll be fine. And if it's not, then at least it was being loved and not just sitting around.
Josiah Anderson Missoula, MT
It nearly kills me to say it, but my older son will be heading to college in a year. Freshman aren’t to bring cars to campus, so that leaves buses, bikes, and your own two feet for transportation. My boys have grown up riding Clem Hs; this son rides a 52 cm cast-off from my husband (who doesn’t ride, sigh).
My 6’3” Dad had a blue 59 cm Clem on order when he died suddenly in 2020, and his blue Clem has sat, boxed, waiting for my boy to grow into it. I lugged the gargantuan box up from the basement last week to see how if the bike would fit. “Now that I’ve obtained optimal height,” my son is fond of saying…
Anyway, he’s 6’1” now (likely still growing) and I need him to decide if he wants to stick with his old Clem H (that he was fond of) or settle into this Clem L. Because whichever bike he chooses is getting new wheels, dyno and fenders and going to college with him. At first he was opposed to the idea of a new Clem; he liked his old Clem, thought it looked cool. But after the - as he calls it - Big Bike was assembled, he really began to like it. “It looks elegant,” he said. It really does, all long and lithe, in blue and silver. He put his saddle and bags on the bike and we test rode it tonight. He said, “I am really liking the Big Bike. I like that my knees don’t have anything to hit (geez, were his knees hitting his bars?!) and it looks elegant. It feels more at home now that I have my old saddle on it.”
I have mixed feelings about sending him to college with this bike, because it’s so nice. I also doubt he’ll be able to get it on a bus bike rack - and I have no idea how often he will want to do that. His bike life is totally unknown at this point. All I know is that I’m getting him dyno because the kid has never remembered to charge a light in his LIFE and I will not sleep at night without it.The 52 takes 650b wheels and the 59 takes 700c, so I don’t want to buy the wheels until I know which bike he really wants. But as of now, he wants his new bike.
I know people will say we should just get a beater. I know why that would be advisable, but I also hate to think of a Clem languishing when it could be serving a noble purpose. I’d love for him and his Clem to journey through undergrad together.
I am wondering…has anyone gone to college or sent their kid to college with a Clem? What do you have to say about it? Photos in the next post… 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/963b3e14-65a7-484b-9536-604638920c4an%40googlegroups.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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3A5BEB81-7C57-4720-B722-A13CFB050E07%40gmail.com.
|
