Very interesting - thanks for sharing. And beautiful bike, old-style narrow clearances notwithstanding.
From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul Brodek Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2013 10:30 PM To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: [RBW] Introduction I am now the proud 3rd or 4th owner of an early '95 Riv Road Std 59.5cm, W'ford production, ser# 95060. BB paint is thick and stampings shallow, can't see any month letter stamp in front of the 95, so I don't know production month. Pretty sure is was originally frank_a's frame, sent him a pm to verify, but the missing paint scabs match his exactly. Burnt orange with a deep blue head tube, built as a fixie for now. I've been on ibob since '96, guess it took me quite a while to finally nab a Riv and join here. I almost feel a little out of place, not in a bad way at all, but so many folks here have newer Rivs with mega-rubber clearance and off-road capability. What was revolutionary in '95, a quality road bike with clearance for 30mm tires, now seems quaint and almost dainty. All these pix of Hunqs and Homers with 40mm+ tires makes me feel like I'm back on a twitchy crit bike with 21mm Specialized Turbos---and Grant's building frames now with double top tubes? Evolution is an interesting/spooky thing... I'm a bike biz vet/refugee, wrenched at Fuji Cycle Center of NJ '80-'83, then went to SunTour USA '84-'88, Maeda Kogyo/SunTour Japan '89-'90, Trek Japan '90-'99, Fuji America '00-'01. I was bobbish when lugged steel and wool/cotton was just about all that existed, then flirted with aluminum at SunTour, then carbon at Trek. Started looking at steel again after trashing my very first Trek OCLV frame on its maiden voyage, first or second front shift dumped the chain and sawed through several critical layers of chainstay carbon. I was honestly Just Riding Along (JRA). Frame was toast and I started thinking maybe carbon wasn't a great bicycle frame material. Started reading ibob, Grant/Riv and the Sheldon Chronicles, grew increasingly disenchanted with aluminum/carbon. My steel epiphany/satori was my first lunchtime ride on a '99/'00 Fuji Roubaix Pro, tig'd Reynolds 853, when I realized it was the "rightest" feeling bike I had ridden in more than a decade. Dove back into steel in a big way, got rid of all my non-ferrous steeds and haven't looked back. So now I find myself an old cuss, fatter and weaker than ever, but I've never been happier with my bikes. My love for lugged steel has been rekindled (I'm also OK with fillet-brazed and even tig'd) and I seriously jones for small-volume American handbuilt frames from the '70s-'80s---a weird full-circle thing for me because some of these builders were customers of mine or show-buddies from my SunTour days. I made it to NAHBS in Richmond 2010 and Denver this year, also finally just made it to Cirque. Left behind a period-correct components phase and now often run semi-modern parts where it makes sense to me; also ride only spiky platform pedals these days, no more foot retention. Although my riding mileage is still pitifully low, it's generally on a slow upswing. I re-connected with the Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey (BTCNJ), which had a couple hundred members in '82 and now has a couple thousand, and getting back out on club rides has been fun. Not a lot of steel out there, though, especially higher-end steel. Took a few piccies of the Riv today, did a flattish 25mi fixed ride w/500' of climbing, my legs are toast. Here's a small flickr set, you'll also find some other bikes, and some overly-large sets from NAHBS 2013 and Cirque: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26383479@N04/sets/72157633888172218/ Looking forward to some Rivish dialog.... Paul Brodek Hillsdale, NJ USA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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