It's a funny thing about memory and the passage of time. I wanted an XO-1 * bad* back in the day, and finally got the opportunity (twice) in the last couple years. I've also owned a few Rivs, which proved that sometimes change is good. XO's are still awesome bikes, but their successors are more better. I sold those Bstones to happy new owners...still have my Bleriot. Joe Bernard Vallejo, CA.
On Tuesday, October 29, 2013 4:25:21 PM UTC-7, James Warren wrote: > > http://www.velominati.com/technology/mustache-monster-mash/ > > > Ooh, the photo in this brings back mid-90's bike lust. > > In late '94, I had an MB-4 and an RB-2, but I started getting the > in-betweener bug. This is probably because after over 5 years of "mountain > biking" I realized that I was never going to warm up to scary downhills. I > was still chickening out on them and realizing that I just liked the > trekking nature of riding and that the dirt just expanded the possible > treks. I remembering seeing some samples of the Bridgestone in-betweeners > (XO-1 and to a lesser extent RB-T), and I remember thinking "oh bummer; > Bridgestone has left the market (in 1994)" at a time when my interest in > that segment of cycling was growing. > > At that time, I wasn't so aware of other companies that were doing bikes > like that (probably the biggest difference between 1995 and 2005.) It would > be another 4 years before I finally bought my first frame that was road > style but worked with canti brakes. I had fun following Rivendell, because > Grant Petersen's own ideas on the all-rounder and tourers evolved a lot > between the XO-1 to what he later began calling the "country bike", and > through the journals he put in the Reader, there was always something > interesting and lasting. There's even one from the early days where he > writes that he was thinking of frame pumps painted to match the frame, but > didn't think he would like the "double-top-tube look" that would result > from mounting the pump under the top tube. > > But anyway, the XO-1 photo brings back the shiny orange Christmassy > feeling I would sometimes get about these types of bikes. I finally traded > for an XO-1 in 2006, and that summer when I took it on the Berkeley death > ride and then 2 days later toured with it in Sonoma County riding it loaded > for camping up extremely steep Hauser Bridge Road and so on, it really > proved to be an excellent bike. > > -Jim W. > > > -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
