I was trying to remember how I stumbled upon RBW... and it was the moustache bars! For some crazy reason, I put 'em on an old REI XR steel "cross" bike in the mid 90's and I was hooked. It must have been from that order (phone? mail?) that I got a catalogue, and started buying Pine Tar soap and cloth bar tape. Things would have stayed there, except I came into a bit of scratch from an insurance settlement after being doored in west Berkeley, and called up Grant to get a custom frame to replace the damaged Centurion I had been riding. The LongLow came in 1998, the Catalogues and Readers kept coming (I have 'em all), and I've been a loyal customer and big fan ever since. The 66cm QuickBeam has been a delight, and gets as much use as the LongLow.
What has worked for me, most of all, is the velosophy of "*Just Ride*." It's nothing to do with particular kit or style, it's "just" getting out and riding, unencumbered by worries over how I look, or what I'm riding, or what cool thing I do or don't have. A big part of "just riding" for me is non-indexed shifting... Grant once described friction shifting as, I think it was, noisy, but "honest" noise, that directed you to trim and get the lever in synch with the cogs. That's been great advice, and it's stuck with me. As to gear, it's all been said above. I like M'bars for short rides, and Noodles for long and multi-day rides. Leather saddles. Conspicuity. Thin platform pedals. Nitto race cages. And 32 or 33mm tires on road bikes. - Andrew, Berkeley -- 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.
