NBD for my daughter

[Josh C]

Hey all, 

Thought I'd share. I am fortunate to have several Rivs, and my wife has a Platty. I have looked around a bit for a used Clem to get my daughter into a Riv as well. I mostly just like the idea of having our little family Riv rides. We frequently ride to small neighborhood festivals, dinners, friend's houses, and the like. Well, Friday, a used 52cm Clem popped up and was only about a 30-minute drive away. I snapped it up that night, greased the bits, tightened things up, lubed a bit, swapped the saddle, and we were off. It's not in it's finished form but it was ready to roll. We took it out last night for a neighborhood block party with friends. My daughter is jazzed. 

I do have a couple of questions that some of you may be able to answer. I noticed that her Clem doesn't have the cream accent paint on the lugs and fork crown. You know, the cream color in the triangles of the lugs? Do any of you have a Clem without that paint? Not a big deal, just an observation. 

Second, the head badge is missing on this bike. The original owner did not have it and wasn't sure what happened to it. Is this something that Rivendell will sell me? Again, it's not a big deal, but it'd be cool if I could get one for it. If not, I may just replace it with a cool vintage one or something like that. 

Anyway, it's a cool bike, and I'm happy that my whole family can go out with our Rivs. I'll try and post a pic of all of our bikes together this week. For now, here are a couple of quick shots.

 

[Dorothy C]

Perhaps Leah can chime in, but I believe that French blue was an early run color, before they were doing the cream accents on the lugs and fork crown. When I had my 2019 bronze green (since sold) it had the cream on it.

As you have probably noticed, the head badges are attached with adhesive, not screws, so it is not too surprising, if a shame, that hers has gotten lost. In the early days, Riv used to put the headbadges on  with screws, but it was causing problems so they went with the adhesive instead.

Lovely bike, and congratulations from another multiple Riv owner, and my two adult sons also have Rivs I bought them (a 55 Platy and a 52 Clem)

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

It’s true; the early Clems didn’t have the cream fills. We have a 1st edition Clem H in that French blue and no cream fills. I think it was the 2nd run that your bike came from because the first Clementine colors were orange and turquoise. (I think?)

[iamkeith]

Congratulations!  I hope she loves it.

Regarding the headbadge, I'm pretty sure Rivendell HQ will sell you one.  You may even have a choice between bronze or pewter color, since they made both and picked colors at random.  At that time, they came loose in the box, and the owner was supposed to install them themselves. IF they wanted. Or they could monogram it or leave it off to hide the pedigree of the bike as a sort of theft deterrent. Original owner probably lost, forgot  or decided they wanted to use it elsewhere.

More useless Clem trivia:  The first batch was not supposed to have creme highlights on the fork wings OR any lug windows  OR even have decals installed, either. They were supposed to come with a pack of alphanumeric characters that the buyer could use to personalize the name.  The "Clem Smith Jr,: if it was even going to be installed at all, was supposed to be on top of the clear coat.  It didn't happen as planned.  I think Riv just gave up after that miscommunication, and went along with the normal, permanent decal application for future runs.  If the fork wings aren't painted, this might be a 2nd run, as Leah noted.

Given the bike's design intent,  it wouldn't be inapropriate to let your daughter pick her own headbadge!  Some piece of jewelry or sticker or bottlecap or toy or?.  Gently hamner it into a curve and stick it on with heavy-duty, two-sided foam tape...

[Josh C]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I knew it was an earlier run. The bike was sold in May 2017 by a Riv dealer here in Indianapolis, which is no longer in business in the state. Hazel is 13 years old but living downtown she gets around pretty much all over by herself or with a friend; most often on a bike.  She has already ridden it to the block party last night, a friend's house several times, the grocery store (for sleepover trash pizza and snacks), and back and forth numerous times to fulfill her dog sitting/walking obligations that he enrolled in for the weekend. She rides to school most days and all over the city with friends. Next year her school commute will be about 3 miles round trip, and I'm sure her Clem will soak up most of those miles. 

[Josh C]

As for the head badge, I may reach out to Riv and see if I can buy one. I think she'd like that. 

[Josh C]

[Leah Peterson]

Stop it. I’m dead. Killed by an overload of DARLING!

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 13, 2024, at 3:51 PM, Josh C <getjosh...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[GirlGangRider]

Wow! What a beautiful biking family! The independence, the grace, the beauty of riding. Your daughter looks especially stylish with the one pant leg folded up! 

I hope you do get a new head badge soon.

[EGNolan]

I'm glad someone in the Riv family picked that bike up and is putting it to good use. I was tempted at the price it was listed, thankfully it was too small and I didn't pick it up to let it linger in the garage. Hopefully I'll see y'all riding around at some point.

Eric

also in Indpls.

[Josh C]

-GirlGang, thanks for the reply. She is an awesome kid. Also, it selfishly makes me happy to get out with the whole fam on Rivs. 

-Eric, it was a good price at $1000, but it also needed to go to someone who knows their way around a bike, to be honest. It has beausage, scratches, and paint chips,  the headset was loose, the front QR had a smashed bushing and wasn't holding the wheel tight for much longer than about .5 miles, the rack was loose, the brakes needed to be adjusted; things like that. I am no mechanic, that's for sure, but I probably spent 2 hours on it. It was a nice price, but I don't think she gave it away either. It was cool to hear the original owner talk fondly about living closer to the city and riding it to run errands, get groceries, and the like. She moved further out a bit and found pedal assist to be beneficial, so Clem just sat for a bit. What kind of riding do you do Eric? We should get out for a spin. 

[Bikie#4646]

Great story Josh. If Riv cannot furnish a head badge, check with Jen Green in Phila. (Revolution Cycle Jewelry) www.headbadges.com  /   j...@headbadges.com.  She does all kinds of beautiful badges and has made a couple for me. I added one to my 1989 custom Bontrager CX bike, but had to provide proof that I owned one. Keith (Bontrager) provided the bike with a perfectly good decal on the head tube, but I just could not resist tinkering and taped the pewter badge over the decal.. 

Your daughter may get a kick out of picking her own design. (Jen also does custom badges to your design, but no doubt with an upcharge.)

Also, I believe you can find "proper" emblem tape at an auto store or maybe a body shop.

Paul Germain

Midlothian, Va.

[Josh C]

-Paul, 

Thanks for the info. Those head badges look pretty cool, but I'm not sure we will spend that much on one. She will very much use this bike as a tool and may not notice if I even replace the original. We may have to look around for a cool but inexpensive one.