After starting with a bit of a light week, this month turned out OK. Stayed healthy, got some reasonably regular commuting in with steady but not overwhelming weekend loops. Also managed to ride a bunch of different bicycles over at RBWHQ&L, which was cool, but not included in the mileage count.
Ended up the month by riding home in a reasonably chilly storm tonight which made me wish I’d taken the moment to don gloves before starting. By the time I reached home, my hands had just about taken a “set”.
Snuck in 19 riding days this month, with three 50+ loops. (Of course, the cool kids were out on the SFR 400km last weekend - whew!) Also got in a couple of nice singletrack adventures (on the smooth-tired Hilsen), which made me realize both why I like that bike and how much fun mixing things up can be. This putthe March mileage into the books at 423 miles. Got in 9 yoga sessions, and every once in a while, I can feel the efficiencies gained there edging into my riding. Rains have visited us a few times, so the hills remain green and fenders can be a good thing.
Or not…
My brother’s tour of world book domination for - Cheesemonger,
A Life on the Wedge continues this month, with a loop up to the Seattle and Bellingham Washington areas - events listing yonder. If you live up that way and enjoy the odd cheese now and again, punk rock, food politics or worker-owned co-ops (or just want to hear him speak and get free cheese), check it out.
Bikey Miles so
far in 2010 - 1213
Finally had a good excuse to wander over to the RBWHQ&L* on Saturday. In this case, I was picking up the new rear wheel for the Quickbeam, efficiently crafted by Rich L. The original rim had failed reasonably impressively, and since the hub was acting more than tired, I went through the couch and found enough spare change to upgrade to a Phil Wood setup. With all the bicycles I’ve had over the years, it seems hard to believe that none have ever had a Phil hub (or bottom bracket), but there ya go. In the time between ordering and readiness, the real Phil Wood passed away, and it seemed appropriate that it worked out that way.
Besides, my cycling wrenching sensei handed me a wheel once. It was, he said, the first wheel he’d ever built. He rode it across the country, had seen countless miles, and still rolled out on a styling “lunch run” bike that he let me use. The hub rolled flawlessly after all those years. That made an impression on me.
Arriving at Riv, I got a chance to chat with Grant a bit, and he showed off the just-back-from-the-painter Hunqapillar frame - this time rendered in grey with orange contrasts. Like the grey with kidney bean version (seen here on the Bombadil back in December), it’s a head-cocker - one of those combinations is hard to believe works if someone just told you the colors, but does work when you see them. I’ve chatted about the Orange on the RBW group already, and there’s a more comprehensive pdf from Grant which can be found here. Suffice to say, both look great. Especially on the grey/burgundy, the lug edge lining really helps the dark/dark combination to pop. I’m not sure it would work as well without the lining.
But frames and color schemes have little to do with bike riding.
Maybe I need to get a bit of preamble out of the way. In recording some
impressions about these bicycles, my underlying belief is that Grant
designs a bike that fits me well and is comfortable, stable,
controllable and well-behaved. When I descend on my Hilsen or Quickbeam,
anytime I exit a corner, its always with the feeling that I was well
within the margin of safety. They are ridiculously confidence
building. That, to me, is the essence of the Rivendell design -
stability at speed under all manner of wacky conditions and simple
comfort while on the roads and trails. The following bikes gave no surprises on those counts. They all have that in their core.
When Grant is anywhere around, one thing that tends to happen very quickly when you arrive at RBWHQ&L is that a bicycle is eased your general direction and the saddle and bars get adjusted to fit. And before you know it, you’re rolling along on one of the Rivendell models. Which brings us to…
Sam Hillborne - rbw page
I did ride one of the early prototypes of the Hillborne, back at the end of 2008, but hadn’t really ventured too far away from the loop around the building. This time, I got a chance to spend a little more time with the bicycle, and must say that it has been done right.
(Yes, if you look at the photo closely, there is a kickstand mounted. Hence, no need to use the post to lean it against for a side view image. Old habits really die hard.)
Over the past year, there’s been a bit of chatter on the various lists about the idea of Rivendell’s “expanded” frame designs. Certainly, there’s a benefit in having to order and stock a smaller number of sizes. But, the real question is whether it rides right.
First off, the six degree upslope doesn’t quite hit you as hard in person as when you stare
at side view images online or in the catalogs. If you are standing near the bike, looking down, it’s even less noticeable. Yeah, there’s an upslope
to the top tube, but a Giant TCR (or any number of new bikes) it ain’t.
Then, when you climb aboard, you don’t really notice it. Obviously, you are looking forward anyway. But, unlike those compact frame designs I’ve ridden, it just seems and feels “normal”, but with a tad more standover height. (One of the reasons that I don’t like riding my geared soft-nosed mountain bike is that when a “S”ertain company repla”S”ed the original frame under warranty, they had dropped the top tube (already angled significantly) another couple inches or so. When you look down, the first thing you think is “there’s one helluvalotta seat post sticking out…” I have also bruised my shins against the top tube in technical conditions.)
The Hillborne rode very nicely - might even feel a
touch more nimble than my Hilsen, but there were a lot of other
variables as far as bar height, saddle setup, lack of bags and racks,
etc., and for some reason, a bicycle you don’t own always feels a little snappier…
The bottom line is just that it rides like a Riv. And that is great
thing in my book. Solid at speed, corners like a demon and perfectly
balanced at slow speeds. It would be interesting to take one onto the
trails or up the mountain (i.e. treat it the way I do my Hilsen), but it definitely gets my thumbs up.
SOMA San Marcos / Amos - rbw page?
This collaboration between Grant and the folks at SOMA popped out of the bag back in January (a blog post here, though it appears the “Amos” page is no longer on the RBW site.) This was the first prototype frame which had been photog’d back then, all built up with an orange fork. As of the end of March, they are anticipating delivery of a second prototype with pump peg and some other minor tweaks. But, this one is quite rideable. 
Because this bicycle is SOMA-branded, it will be distributed more widely to shops. I envision this retail scenario playing out:
“Hey, how was that test ride?”
“Great! I thought you said this bike was made of steel.”
“uh, yeah. It’s a steel fr..”
“Noooo….not this bike!”
“What do you mean?”
“Steel’s heavy. Carbon is light. Even aluminum is light. But, steel is heavy. All the magazines and websites agree on that!”
“Well…it is actually steel.”
“Look, I’m going to buy the danged thing. Just tell me what it really is made of…”
In other words, this bike is going to cause some recalibration among those who were unaware of the properties of a well-designed sporty steel frame. For folks who understand what steel can be, it’s bound to cause sweaty palms of anticipation.
This may be one size small for me, but I had a goodly little jaunt on it. Slow speed agility tests. Big-ringed my way down and around the block a few times. Hammered it through a rough, downhill corner with some seriously sketchy pavement. During the little pauses here and there to catch my breath, I kept thinking, “Dang… this one’s done right.” Snappy and very responsive. I think they are going to sell a few of these.
Betty Foy - rbw page
The black with cream accents Betty Foy is a joy to look at. I think GP may have once stated he wouldn’t make a black frame, and I am really, really glad he reconsidered. I thought they said this bicycle was also the 61 (which I actually don’t see listed on the site, so I may be incorrect), but the saddle dropped low enough for me (riding a 58/59 in the Riv sizing “old money” - not “expanded” frames) to be plenty comfortable. It was set up with Albatross Bars, angled slightly downward for a perfect wrist angle. 
Since I had just come off a few high-paced loops with the San Marcos, I was a bit revved up, and flew through the first couple of corners with a good bit of speed. Nary a squawk from Betty. It had the high volume cush from the 650B tires, but the did exactly what would be expected of a Riv. It would be fun to commute on this bike, and steam past folks on their repurposed open-wheeled racers. I would expect an extreme diversity in setups on this bicycle as well, as it lends itself to all manner of racks and bags, bars and saddles. My personal choice would be to run the setup just as seen here - there’s plenty of leverage with the Albatross bars for the hills on my commute route. I’ve run Col de la Vie tires on my Zeus 650B conversion, which sees commute duty, and they have never wanted for speed and comfort. With the even wider array of 650B/584 tires which have come out since, I don’t doubt you could tune for a variety of riding conditions.
Of particular note was the gearing - with an XD2 with guard affixed on the outermost side,
like a Quickbeam. But, then the small ring was a 24T (large was 40T),
which when paired with the wide range gearing in back (34?) let you
easily go from walking speed to fast-as-ya-need-to-go. Really a slick
setup.
I didn’t really know that I needed one of these, but after riding it…
well, you know. While it wouldn’t be the only bike I owned (at least for a couple decades), it would fit well into the lineup. The black finish was gorgeous, and I really liked the
gearing setup. Grant kind of chuckled when I brought it back. “Everyone needs a mixte,” he said.
Yes, indeed.
Rivendell Roadeo - rbw page
Riding this bike was a monumentally bad idea. 
I had been safe back in December, as they only had a couple of 55cm prototypes hanging around the showroom. Y’know - too small, nothing to get all worked up about. But, this visit, the 59 was there, on the rack, calling out to me with its siren song.
To get at how this bicycle rides, I’ll use an obscure musical reference. Brian Eno was being interviewed once upon a time, and he was asked what his ideal band would be like - he answered that it would be a combination of Kraftwerk and Parliment. Now, arguably, he achieved that in the “Remain in Light” period of work with David Byrne and Talking Heads. But, it gets at the crux of the issue with this bicycle - a fast, quick, snappy bicycle that really loves to roll along on 33 1/3 mm Jack Brown tires. A Lamborghini with a Range Rover undercarriage.
The Hilsen is about clearance. I find myself daydreaming about finding the most massive tire that would fit, and rolling that bike over the nastiest, rockiest bits of trails in my region. With the Roadeo, the idea seemed to be to tighten things up the other way, to suck up the clearances until they did precisely what was necessary and no more. If the Hilsen is about “possibilities”, the Roadeo is more about “specificity.”
And, holy moley, pass the salt, it does that very well.
It hurtled through the sketchy corners, loved to climb into the big gear and in general was snappy and responsive as could be. The Roadeo rides as advertised.
This is definitely a bicycle I’m lusting for. Really a beautiful ride.
If you take a step back from the offerings, there is really a stunning array of designs being offered - huge kudos to Grant and the gang for bringing this range of models to fruition.
–
*Rivendell Bicycle Works Headquarters & La-ir, as always, said in your best Dr. Evil voice…
To know where you are, you need to know where you came from.
Mountain Biking in the days of yore. Crested Butte - Pearl Pass ride from 1980.
Part 1:
And Part 2:
Never saw either of these videos before, but recognize a few folks here and there. Pretty cool bit of history.
There’s certainly been a fair amount of inaction on the Cyclofiend.com site and here. Nothing personal, and nothing specifically wrong. Just trying to get some non-bike things taken care of, get the whole VO thing up to speed and get some miles in. A number of folks have emailed privately to check in, make things were going ok and all that. I really appreciate that.
The only way to get started again is to get going, eh?
Things are going well these days. I’ve gotten to see my brother finally get his book published, and watched him read a couple times to adoring crowds. Went digging through audits and cycle counts at work to find every scrap of ugly overlooks and bad news that might be hiding, and managed to unearth some systemic problems that had been keeping things hidden. My wife had been in a two-week, all-day-and-then-some workshop, which kept me busy with all manner of tasks and chores. Been hammering auditions and doing the work in voiceover, which can leave me really wanting to get away from the computer and out of the house.
Getting out the door and feeling the road rolling under the tires, I’ve exhaled a warm and contented sigh every time.
Bicycling is back to what it always was - the respite from things, the restorative step.
And I’ve been wanting to write about it, knock out the odd bike-related snippet or thought. But, I’ve been trying to be rigorous about restorative efforts as well. Where before, I might begin a post at 11:15 pm, I’ve made myself pull the plug, take the little dog out back and then get to bed. I’ve block-deleted many more internet discussion posts and threads than ever (though not on the RBW group…. I still read everything there, though I’ve missed a day or two time and again and had to catch up.)
When the wave leans you over, you keep your feet firmly planted, trust that you battened down the right things, and wait for it to straighten back out.
One thing which got washed overboard was the 2010 Calendar. It isn’t happening until next year, when it will be rechristened the 2011 Calendar. There are a ton of great images, but rushing out a project too quickly does no justice to them. Thanks to everyone who patiently waited and gave encouragement.
Gallery submissions have been rolling in regularly. I’m about 63 years behind, it seems, but will start taking small bites again and chewing carefully. I think the first thing I’ll do is rewrite the “Submissions Guidelines” page, wherein I say I’ll let you know if the delay will be more than a couple weeks. It’s gonna be when it is, and I have no estimate right now. If that sounds like I’m heaving a long sigh as I say that, it’s not. I just don’t want folks to feel like I’m ignoring them if their images don’t immediately show up. Hang in there, and if you don’t see anything show up over the next few weeks, drop me a line. Otherwise, it’s definitely in the queue.
We kicked into daylight savings this week, which is always such a lift. With the rains we’ve been enjoying of late, it’s been a bit darker than usual in the evenings. On the clearer days, the skies have hinted at the longer days unfolding, but when the clocks hopped forward for Monday, it was a definite positive moment. Yesterday’s commute home brought perfect weather - just a hair warm with a two thin wool layers and a set of MUSA nylon knickers.
Sunglasses, warming sun, no lights. All good things.
Somewhere in the past few weeks - well, probably from Feb 28th or thereabouts - I scribbled down the phrase “Hilsen kicked my ass. Gears!”
I remember that day pretty clearly. Woke up with my legs just torched - sore and hammered from riding the previous day. It wasn’t that I went particularly long. Rather, it was the act of pairing my fixed-gear habit with changeable-gearing enthusiasm.
On a Friday night, I’d been checking out the rear wheel of the Quickbeam. It seemed like there was a hop, and I was wondering why, since I’d just trued the wheel a week before and couldn’t recall hitting anything stantial. Wiggling a couple spokes, I found a slack one. Seriously grabbing it made it obvious that it was quite slack in tension. Dang. I wasn’t going to haul it down and work on it right then, but as began to turn away, I gave the paired spokes a little squeeze - nothing serious, mind you. Just a little visceral reminder that I needed to get going a little earlier the next day to retrue the wheel before heading out.
“Thchunk!”
That didn’t sound right…
At first, I thought the spoke had broken. But, that’s always a thinner “tink” kind of sound with more of a pitch center. This noise had some resonance to it. Then I thought the spoke nipple had failed. But, there it was, looking relatively unscathed, still threaded into the spoke. Which left the rim…
To which I thought, “hmmm…that pulled the label off the rim.”
Nope.
Never quite seen one fail that way. Ah well, now I’ve got a new rear wheel on order from the incomparable Rich at Hands On Wheels. Upgrading the hub as well, which has been feeling sloppy of late. Plan is to set it up with a real fixed/free hub, since that’s the way the Quickbeam runs. More on that as things continue to develop.
That got me to get my tech together on the Hilsen. Set up the chainrings and get a crankset I can trust attached. One evening later, that was check, check and checkarooni. Which had me rolling around on a bike that provided a mind-numbing array of gearing options, in addition to the ability to actually stop pedaling now and again.
I found that the pedal-pause function was actually pretty helpful, although I think I scared some folks while screaming through downhill corners making “whoooooooshing” sounds….
What I think happened though was that I kept a high cadence and high pressure up for everyone other moment of the ride.
On a fixed-gear, you can loaf a little bit on the flats, taking just that much more of a rest from the bottom of the pedal stroke. As I’ve mentioned before, a fixed system creates a whole lot of momentum which works in your favor once you get it up and rolling. On climbs, your cadence drops by definition, and you can recover from the speed of motion while you get thwacked by higher effort. Cresting out, you just spin your feet, and blessed gravity takes over, moving your legs for you.
Changing suddenly to the coastable/many-geared setup, I think my feet were used to maintaining a certain amount of pressure, so no matter what gear I chose, I kept the pressure cranked up. Seems it would be helpful to jump back and forth between these things a bit more regularly. I mean, the bike seemed to move right along.
But, man, I suffered for it the next day. But, it felt good.
Because he’s my brother, and his book rocks, and he’s heading to Portland this weekend (Seattle-area next month…), and I love the “Lenny” camera angle of the while he’s reading -
If you are interested in seeing my brother on his World Domination Tour for “Cheesemonger - A Life On the Wedge”, check out his upcoming events listing here.
Bike-related posts on the way - got sucked into jury duty along with
everything else on the various plates right now. Hang in there for gallery updates, etc…