Photo, please! On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Beth H <[email protected]> wrote: > Enough of you are familiar with The Rivvy (my '99 LongLow) that I > don't need to go into the background (for those who aren't see > RivReader # 18 or the Summer 2010 Bicycle Quarterly). > > But here's the part of the history I haven't shared with folks. > > When I selected the LongLow in 1998, Rivendell was phasing out their > All-Rounder, and was testing the Atlantis. They were also offering the > Heron. I really, really liked the idea of a 26"-wheeled do-everything > bike, but I also wanted to have the flexibility of swapping in drops > or uprights. Based on the geometry of the time I had concerns that a > 26"-wheeled frame would not give me a short-enough top tube for that > sort of flexibility without sacrificing standover height. I also > wanted a bike that do it all -- commuting, touring and unencumbered > sport riding -- and the LongLow seemed like a better choice than the > last of the All-Rounders at the time. > > Along the way I've had ample opportunity to try all sorts of > configurations with The Rivvy, and while the uprights felt great, the > fact is that as I've gotten older I've favoered a fatter and fatter > tire -- something that no one was really planning for in 1998 for a > 700c-wheeled touring frame. The fattest tire The Rivvy can take with a > fender is a 700x32 and in the rear that is a tight fit. > > Enter the All-Rounder, which came to me through an act of unspeakable > amazingness in fall 2007. I spent three years running it with drops > and never being fully satisfied with it. This year, fed up with my > inability to run a fatter tire on The Rivvy and finally freeing myself > of my stubborn struggle with drop bars, I swapped the entire handlebar/ > stem setup from the LongLow to the A-R, and voila! > > I now have The Bike I (Really) Always Wanted. It just took me awhile > to figure it out and get there. > > So now I have a Rivendell LongLow hanging on a hook in partial > assembly, and I will stare at it (rather guiltily) this fall and > wonder how to configure it next. Rather than pay a frame builder to > make it take a roomier tire (I might be able to squeeze a 35 in there > with fenders if I do that and I don't know if it's worth the cost to > add 3 more mm), I will just disassemble it, clean it really well, and > perhaps -- gasp! -- even repaint it. > > In the meantime, the person responsible for bringing the A-R my way > should be happy to know that I'm riding the crap out of it even more > than I was before. Thanks. > Beth > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > >
-- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW at [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
