RE: [RBW] Bleriot ride report...

[Marc Schwartz]

Interesting report. Thank you.
I also love my Bleriot! By the way, THEY PLANE, YA KNOW (enlightenened by a posted observation from a fellow list member- I dont remember who)
She is now, or soon will be, my solamente Rivendell. Also, My favorite, most loveliest bicycle.

"she's built for comfort,
she ain't built for speed."

-Willie Dixon-

Enjoy,
Schwartzy

From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of lungimsam [john1...@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 5:22 PM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Bleriot ride report...


Been commuting on my Bleriot for about a week now. No long rides on it until today.

40 miles and change. Very hilly. 80's. Clear. Perfect day for riding. Road ride with a friend of mine around western Howard County and Baltimore County, MD.

Here's a shot:
[IMG]http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/pp66/lungimsam/Rivendell%20Bleriot/8112012ridewithJoe.jpg[/IMG]

The good:
I must say, that the Bleriot is much more comfortable than my race bike. I don't have to crane my neck and look up to see the sky and surroundings anymore , because, with my Technomic a few inches above the saddle height, I am already up to see everything around, which is so great!!
Descents were so stable, it was fantastic. 35 mph and not twitchy at all. At one point during the ride I was being a little rough on the bars and the bike was still rock solid. The handling is great.
My first bike with bar-ends, and I love them. I do friction all the way. I really like how easy the shifting is, though I am learning my way around the gears being that I am used to brifters. More on that later.
Brooks saddle was like sitting on a pillow, except I started getting a twinge of left sit bone pain around the 35 mile mark. Barely noticeable. But that is much better than when my rump starts to hurt at mile 10 on my race bike.
Shoulder discomfort? Yes, but after ~25 or so miles, and it was minor, compared to the shoulder and neck pain I used to get on my race bike I was having this year.

The bad:
The hills were brutal. Either that, or I was just having a bad day. Seemed like I was worn out after the first 10 miles. Bike seemed sluggish, but that coulda been me. Or the 650b's with the smaller than 700c diameter size, 1/2 the air pressure I am used to riding on, and 8mm wider tires than I am used to. I don't know. My friend said he felt sluggish, too and he had skinny race tires. I joked that maybe it was something in the Belgian Waffles we ate for breakfast, which were fantastic, by the way.

The other, and most likely, thing that could have been affecting me was that this is the first couple weeks for me riding a compact crankset and using bar-ends. I am used to triples and brifters have been trying to find my way around the new shifting/gearing. So I feel like I am pedalling too fast or mashing too hard alot, because I am still trying to figure out which gears to get into. Got better as the ride went on.

Back to the hills. After a set of the most lung-busting of hills, my chain hopped off the lower end of the rear cassette on a climb, and when I stopped to put it back on, all the cogs were loose and wiggling around. The chain even fell between the cogs when I tried to ride with the chain in the middle gears. The lock ring had worked loose. No one's fault, except probably mine for not tightening it down enough when I assembled it after shipping.

With no Park Tool FR-1 in sight, I had to strip the bark of an elder tree that was nearby and carefully... just kidding! I used two skinny allen wrenches from our tool kits, to get it back on and snug 'er up. It held for the rest of the ride. I am very thankful for that, 'cuz we were 20 miles from his place. Successful roadside repair.

It was a tough, but fun ride. Had a great time and look forward to many more long rides. We have done a couple before. 62 miles, and 40-ish miles. The scenery is always beautiful and you see the coolest old stone structures aound these parts.

So, all in all, I am really happy with this bike. I see no reason to return to race/aluminum/composite bikes again. I hope to get a new Rivendell one day. I really think they have great designs for comfort!








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[eflayer]

Bleriot. I tried the Bleriot two different times. Lovely to look at. On the other hand, I was used to lighter frames with 700c wheels with nothing bigger than 25 mm tires. For my pavement club rides, I found the Bleriot to be sluggish too. Could not put my finger on it, but decided I prefer lightweight steel and faster, better, thinner tires. Good luck with your ride.

 

Eddie

[lungimsam]

OK, I know I said the Bleriot felt sluggish, but I just beat my all time average speed on my commute today with my Bleriot - with full rear rack bag, and tired legs from the 40 miler last weekend.

 

The difference I noticed was that I seemed to have the shifting/gear selections down better today, and was able to keep the pace up instead of dying when hitting the wrong gear.

 

Maybe I just needed to get used to the new  use of bar ends and compact crankset. I am used to brifters/triple on the race bike I have been riding before I got the Bleriot.

[islaysteve]

I'm happy to hear that the Bleriot is at least somewhat redeemed!  I have my STI shifters on mine, I won't give them up, see no reason to.  I couldn't begin to say whether the 

Bleriot feels faster or slower than my Ti "racing" bike.  The factor of the motor (after years off the bike) is WAY bigger than any other factor.  But I can say for sure, that the Bleriot is way comfy. If I ever give in to the temptation of trying moustache bars, maybe I'll try bar-ends.  Cheers, Steve

[lungimsam]

I love the bar-ends. I friction shift with them. Quiet and smooooooth. Fun to use.

I have thought about brifters, but I like the bar-ends.

I thought that they would be difficult to reach and harder to use, but they are a delight.

 

Post a pic of your STI Bleriot if you get a chance. I'd love to see it.

 

 

[islaysteve]

Here it is, in all of its STI glory!

[lungimsam]

Very cool. Looks like you have Niftys on there, too.

I like STI for the efficient shifting. But I also like bar-ends for the friction option.

If I got a new Riv, I would be hard pressed to decide which way to go. Both are fun.

 

[islaysteve]

Thanks, I had Nifties on it when I first built it up, but it has Pari-Motos now.  The Nifties definitely looked cool with the checkerboard pattern.  My wife really liked the look.  But I got a great deal on the Pari-Motos and had wanted to try them.  They are so smooth and cushy.   So I'm keeping the Nifties in case my daughter gets a 650b bike someday.   Cheers, Steve