Tag Archives: rivendell

The Feel is in the Frame

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Cycling

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,


I went on a lunch ride with the “fast guys” at work.  I’ve done this ride with them before on my rando’d out AHH, but this time I wanted to try out a bike I recently set up for my wife.  It was unencumbered by fenders, racks, lights, and all the things I normally ride with.  It also had 28mm tires at about 60-70 psi.

The frame/fork is attractive, and lugged steel construction (made in China) and designed by a local Washington company, so that much is consistent with my Rivendells, but everything else was very different.  The bike is unridable no-handed.  It wanted to veer left every time I let go of the bars.  The steering was twitchy – high speed and low.  The ride was harsh and bone-rattling – all on pavement, no less.
When I got home, I decided I never wanted to ride that bike again.  I felt like it wasn’t worth my time riding a bike that wasn’t up to the normal comfort level I was used to.  It makes you wonder all the work and time folks waste building and riding uncomfortable bikes.
It also made me realize how little difference the components make.  I had used all the parts on this bike before on other bikes, yet they felt completely different on this frame.  The cockpit was on prior road and mountain bikes.  The shifters (Silver Friction) and derailleurs (Sachs and Shimano) worked great and did what they need to do – simply shift gear.  The wheels were definitely part of the negative equation, but most of the issue I had was the handling and “rigidity” of the frame.  Too twitchy, too stiff.  Feh…
I rode a total of 36 miles today, and never “got used to the handling”.  Talk about a great way to make you appreciate how great the frames are that Rivendell designs and sells.  I was mentally comparing the ride of my Hunqapillar and AHH with this thing all the way home.  They are in another class altogether.  Next time someone says that the components make all the difference, I’ll just have to smirk.

Comfy

Grant Was Here

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Cycling

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,


Grant at the podium

We had a visit in May from the unassuming hero of steel, leather, and twine.  Grant Petersen made a stop on his book tour for Just Ride at Free Range Cycles in Fremont, Seattle, WA, USA, Universe.  We had a glorious sunny day to welcome him, and it brought local luminaries like Jan Heine, Kent Peterson, and Dan Boxer (among others I am surely missing) to wish him well and listen.

It was standing room only

His half-hour talk was a personal recollection of his path from young bike racer, to becoming an un-racer who is out to enjoy riding for its own sake.  The crowd flowed out the door at the small Seattle bike shop, and after his discussion, we all went for an easy ride along the ship canal to the Ballard Locks and back.

Grant at the locks

He had to leave for the airport by 7:30pm, so we had to get him back within an hour according to his “agent” who was going to hold yours truly personally responsible for this.  Hmmm – me responsible for Grant’s safety for an hour.  That’s funny…

Kathleen and Grant

I saw some friends from prior “riv rides” and was able to meet some new friends, as well.  I’m wishing I had taken some better photos of the whole event, as Jan had ridden his infamous Alex Singer, and there were so many nice Rivendells and Bridgestones, I lost count.  I’d like to thank Kathleen at Free Range Cycles for having an awesome LBS, as well as giving me the opportunity to “lead” the ride after the signing.  Truly one experience I won’t soon forget!

 

Rene Herse Crank

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Cycling

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , ,


Rene Herse Crank

I’ve been commuting for the past few weeks with one of the new Rene Herse cranks on my AHH.  http://www.compasscycle.com/cranks_bb.html  I haven’t seen any reviews on this yet, so I figured I would share a few thoughts/opinions.  I’m not really a crankoholic, and have mainly ridden wider Q mountain cranks.  I wanted to upgrade my rando bike a bit, and thought a well built crankset would be a nice add.  Something that would last as long as the frame, perhaps.

Spacing on non-drive side

I’ve never had any experience with a narrow tread road bike, and was a bit worried that having a narrow Q would be a problem.  So far that has not worked out to be the case.  I find it comfortable, and natural.  The length of these are 171mm, which is close to what I’m finding to be ideal for me.  I tend to favor the 170mm cranks I have on another bike over the 175mm I’ve been using for the past 20 years.  It feels like less of a stretch when I’m just cruising on road and light trail.

Drive-side clearance

The finish and feel of these cranks is indeed very nice, and every bit as good as it has been billed.  The chainrings are nice and thick, but elegant.  To me, these cranks feel more solid than the others I’ve used lately including Sugino XD, Suntour XC Pro, and modern Shimano Deore and XT cranks, as well as a Race Face outboard bearing set I have on my mtb.   They are very nice to look at, as well, with a highly polished finish, and simple, clean and classy lines that go really well with the Rivendell frame.

non-drive side

It was recommended by Jan that I use a 110mm bottom bracket, so I ordered one, but decided to try the cranks with a 107mm that I had on already.  They went on easily, and the arms have at least 3-5mm clearance with the chainstays.

Chainline

The chainline is adequate, as well.  I purchased 44/28 rings to go with an 11-32 cassette.  This gives me plenty of range for the hilly riding I do in the area.  Bottom line – I highly recommend these.  Love em!

drive-side

Like new shoes…

21 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Cycling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,


I remember when I was a kid growing up in the Midwest, when someone got new sneakers, everyone would try to scuff them up.  They would reach out a foot and try to scrape it against your new white shoes.  At first you would resist, but I do recall feeling self-conscious about having bright, shiny shoes.  They always looked better after a few weeks of running around.

Today was one of those scuffing days for the new bike.  It was the first rainy commute ride for the Hunqapillar.  It rained pretty hard all the way into work, but it was nice and warm, so I really enjoyed the pleasant washing.  Everything gets mighty green when it rains, and the colors are much more vivid.

I got there and wiped off the grime, a bit, but definitely got to test out the fenders.  These Sykes fenders are flat and don’t have any “wrap” around the tire.  As such, they still do a good job of keeping the bike clean and most of the water off me.  There is a bit more splash, but it wasn’t bad – I arrived with just “damp” shoes.  Here are some pics I took on the way home.  The ground was still wet, but it only misted a bit, so I stopped on the Ravenna ravine bridge and snapped a few pics of the fully baked final build.

On the Bridge

Fenders are lookin’ red

This is a big!! bag

Home and Vivid!

Rearview

Proper Useful Bicycle

All demons sorted on this one.  Now it’s time to ride it ’til it looks used!

Harlequin Bar Tape

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Cycling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,


I’m starting to get the hang of doing the diamond pattern bar wrap.  I think the key is just doing about 10 bars to practice.  The last two went so well, I didn’t even have to look up the instructions (http://www.wastedlife.org/bike/harlequin/index.html).  First time for everything.  So…  There were two bars to get done.

I recently replaced the B115s on my Hilsen with some 41cm Noodles.   I wanted to give ’em a second chance, as I found I like a narrower road (drop) bar.  I chose my standard green and yellow tape as it gives good contrast.  Here’s a pic post wrap:

Clean cotton bar tape

I like the Nitto bar end accents!  I rode the bar this way with no comfort issues for a 20 mile commute.  Now onto the shellacking!  Here’s the bar after three coats of amber.  It should dull up a bit after being used/doused.

Post Shellac

OK – one down.  Now on to the Hunqapillar.  I did a bit of adjustment to the brakes to lower them a bit.  It’s always a good idea to ride the bike for a few miles before you tape it.  Especially when you do the coatings that will pretty much make your setup permanent for a while.  I had adjusted the bar angle on a couple of my commutes last week to get it just right, and had to bring the brake levers down a bit to compensate.  I wanted a similar them with the diamond pattern on the main flats, so I went with the red and yellow, and planned to use amber to darken up the red to get a similar color to the kidney bean red of the Hunqa.

Pattern Close-Up

You can just see the mahogany sykes fenders I put on this weekend.  Like!  I will do a write up on these in a future post after I ride them through a rain storm.  Here are some more views of the moustache bars, also with three coats of the amber on ’em.

Showing the Whole Bar

I used red twine to wrap the tape ends on the inside of the bar.  It was a good match for the tape, and is almost invisible.  The harlequin pattern is started with a rolled edge that makes twine (or electrical tape) unnecessary on the bar end by the shifters.  It’s very clean.

More Diamonds

Nice to have this wrapped up – now I can get on to riding the heck out of this beast.  The big bag/basket, fenders, and double kickstand added a few pounds to this bike, but it’s ready for some serious off-road camping, and heavy commuting now.  Can’t wait for the first S24O!!