Why I Aspire

[Bob]

Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
subject of this group. As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_25340wt_1256

This is what my bicycles look like after moderate use.

Cheers,
Bob

[Bill M.]

I've been riding my Riv Road since 1995. It still looks good from a
distance, but it has never been repainted and has more chips and
scratches in the paint than I can count. If that's all that keeps you
from owning the bike you really want (i.e finances are not a barrier)
then get over the fear of cosmetic damage. Life's too short.

Bill

On Nov 13, 10:53 pm, Bob <linthi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
> subject of this group.  As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
> aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:
>

> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_...

[Bruce Herbitter]

You can convert the TREK to 650B and put fatter rubber on it of course. Like Bill, my '95 Road was pretty chipped and dinged. I took the plunge and shipped it off to Airglow Painting back in June. I will say that they are WAY behind on the quoted delivery schedule (6 - 7 weeks, from 6/16). The last email I had at the end of October showed that the frame had only just been bead blasted. The original brazing work was very clean looking. At some point, it will come back with a better than new paint job which will cost far less than an equivalent new frame would.  I run it as a 650B, btw.

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[newenglandbike]

Good bikes look better with age

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsargent/3371199870/in/faves-43029278@N07/#/photos/robsargent/3371199870/in/faves-43029278@N07/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectvelo/4428254190/in/faves-43029278@N07/#/photos/collectvelo/4428254190/in/faves-43029278@N07/lightbox/


Not saying a repaint now and then isn't warranted, but a good patina can be like a badge of honor on a bike.

[Tim McNamara]

Time for some individual philosophy: it's a bike not a holy relic. Way too many people buy a nice custom bike, the bike of their dreams, and then don't ride it. To me few things in cycling are sadder than a 10 year old custom bike that still has the original tires, no dirt on it and unblemished paint. Be a bike rider, not a bike polisher.

Beausage. Learn it. Live it. ;-)

[Steve Palincsar]

At the same time, there's no need to be an absolute slob about it,
either. You can ride many tens of thousands of miles and not accumulate
dents and scratches, and there aren't many people who will buy a nice
custom and use it as a beater.

[benzzoy]

On Nov 14, 7:21 am, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
>
> Time for some individual philosophy:  it's a bike not a holy relic.  Way too many people buy a nice custom bike, the bike
> of their dreams, and then don't ride it.  To me few things in cycling are sadder than a 10 year old custom bike that still
> has the original tires, no dirt on it and unblemished paint.  Be a bike rider, not a bike polisher.
>
> Beausage.  Learn it.  Live it.  ;-)

I got through it easy.

The first day I got my custom frame/fork back home (safe in its box),
my kid's toy fell on the fork and chipped a bit of paint off the
crown. Then, after two rides, I stupidly downshifted the front and
upshifted the rear at the same time, resulting in...yup, chainsuck.
After these episodes, I was free to just enjoy riding the thing and
not worry too much about paint chips and such.

I'm still not to the stage where Grant is at though, and think his
bikes could use a bit of TLC.

[cyclotourist]

I bought a new to me Rivendell custom, and clumsily smacked the top tube with a floor pump as I lifted it over the bike.

D'oh!

It helps me keep things in perspective...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclotourist/2361652997/

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Cheers,
David
Redlands, CA

[Bill Gibson]

I learned a good lesson on my Reynolds 531 db frame, made by Falcon, branded Merkyx, a long time ago, parking it on a good steel pole. I dropped it while locking it to the pole, right in the middle, in the thin part of the db top tube, and put a nice little ding in it. I rode it until the left fork blade cracked at the fork crown, crossing a railroad track thousands of miles/km later. I might still be riding it, sometimes, if local framebuilders existed where I was at the time. (Now, they do!) But the paint, a nice Molteni International Orange, easily touched up with a rattle can, was dinged, too. I learned how to park it, and that top tubes don't carry that much stress, and that steel is a very good material for a bike. And, so far, my Rivendell has no top tube dings. Ride On!

Bill Gibson
Tempe, Arizona, USA

[Tim McNamara]

On Nov 14, 2011, at 9:32 PM, cyclotourist wrote:

> I bought a new to me Rivendell custom, and clumsily smacked the top tube with a floor pump as I lifted it over the bike.
>
> D'oh!
>
> It helps me keep things in perspective...
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclotourist/2361652997/

Nice mitering and brazing in the inner BB shell shot. Almost looks like they got in there with a flex hone or something. Beautiful workmanship. Pretty color, too- really brings out the lugs. The built-up shot looks like a canti LongLow. Very nice!

Tim

[rob markwardt]

I'm in the ride it, don't sweat the scratches camp...BUT...that Trek
could use a serious makeover. An hour with some steel wool, goof off,
and matching (or close) touch up paint and that bike would look fine.
It looks like somebody let a 6 year with finger paint cover up the
chips.

On Nov 13, 10:53 pm, Bob <linthi...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
> subject of this group.  As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
> aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:
>

> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_...

[rob markwardt]

Bob, Just reread your origianl post and my response. If that is your
bike and you did the touch up paint then you did a marvelous job...but
I think there is room for improvement.

Rob

> > Bob- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Bob]

Actually, I think you've summarized my own bike-ownership philosophy
nicely. I ride a bike every day, for transportation (no car), so it's
a tool. While I appreciate purdy lugs and nice paint jobs, it would
probably be wasteful for me personally, because I would take that
expensive frame and make it inexpensive reeeal quick-like.

Bob

On Nov 14, 3:21 pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
> On Nov 14, 2011, at 12:53 AM, Bob wrote:
>
> > Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
> > subject of this group.  As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
> > aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:
>

> >http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_...

[Bob]

Received. I keep a tube/brush thingy of automobile touch-up paint
next to whatever bikes "parking spot" in our living room, and just
slather it on when I see bare metal. I really should get my
eyeglasses prescription checked. I had a mind to someday get it
blasted and repainted, but it really is time to let someone else enjoy
it, someone who doesn't care as much as I do about full, wide
mudguards and big fatties.

I see the auction is getting hundreds of hits, but no bids. Probably
asking too much to start.

Cheers,
Bob

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

For practical purposes, nobody NEEDS an expensive bike. I've often thought I could collect a small number of old Schwinn Travelers or the like - a couple to ride, and others for parts - and keep my bicycling expenses to near-zero. On the other hand, there is plenty of middle ground between the Schwinn-pile and the $3000+ Riv. For me, the happy middle-point is somewhere in the Surly line-up. The bikes are nice and well-designed, but don't generally evoke the reverent worship that a lot of people seem to feel for Rivs.

[Peter Pesce]

I'm in that camp, Jim. My Sam is my "nice" bike, LHT is my commuter.
I think it's great that between Surly, Soma and a few others the world is full of really good $400 bike frames....

[Zack]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately as my Sam begins to show some dings and scratches -

I take awesome care of it, and pay attention when I set it up against things, etc etc, but it's a bike, and i love riding it, and it has some scratches on it, and i even love the scratches! 

I got the Sam because the bike can do anything that i would want to ride a bike for, would seem silly to get all worked up about keeping it pristine and not ride it.  I never thought i would feel that way until having spent some time riding it.

I don't currently have a beater, just the sam.  I am going to build it up to ride it in the winter (here in VT) instead of getting a beater as a winter bike.  It's too much fun to ride to think of riding something else.

[Joe S]

Before I bought my Atlantis, I had narrowed the field to 2-3 bikes. I
wanted a bike for my daily commute to replace my sturdy Giant hybrid,
but also to use it for touring. The only negative that I could come
up with for the Atlantis was that it was such a beautiful bike, it
would be a shame for it to have to take the beating of a daily
commute. After all, I had used the Giant for 5-6 years and it was
quite beaten up.

I am so happy that I overcame this thought because it gives me
pleasure every day to ride it. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing,
but it is a pleasure to ride. I want to ride it because it is a
beautiful bike. Yes, it does show the kind of normal wear you would
expect from commuting and touring, but, to conjure up a phrase from my
service days, it's growing "salty", i.e., nicely aged and weathered
and most importantly, enjoyed. To reiterate the thought: a bike is
for riding. If the $$ isn't a barrier, do it!

On Nov 14, 10:21 am, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
> On Nov 14, 2011, at 12:53 AM, Bob wrote:
>
> > Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
> > subject of this group.  As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
> > aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:
>

> >http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_...

[Andrew Johnson]

I added a nice dose of beausage to my Quickbeam yesterday, and right in front of another Riv-rider, too. The small rack on the front makes the wheel flop over more easily, and the bike tipped over until the top tube hit the stucco... ouch! A nice bruise, up high, visible... but I can live with it, this is a City Bike commuter. Nothing a dab of nail polish won't help.

- Andrew, Berkeley

[Philip Williamson]

I know where my Quickbeam has marks, and how I put them there. Same
for the Bontrager. The painful ones are the ones that happened in the
garage because I was careless, not the chips and dings of use. I care,
but the idea of bagging my bikes in UV plastic so they're collector's
items... makes me itch. I already PAID my money, now let me enjoy it!
In 40 years, I can sandblast both bikes and paint them black.
I relate it to comic books, since I think they're a fantastic art form
(with about the same gold to dross ratio as movies, thank you very
much). I've saved comic books I love, but I've never "collected." I
would rather have the experience of reading or riding for 40 years
than the money I could sell the unread or unridden for later.

Philip

On Nov 13, 10:53 pm, Bob <linthi...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Someday I will own one of the lovely-lugged bicycles that are the
> subject of this group.  As I've mentioned, the thing that keeps me
> aspiring is the thought of doing this to such a nice bike:
>

> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170728473966#ht_...

[dougP]

I bought my Atlantis because it's a touring bike. I'd already done
enough traveling to know it wasn't going to be possible to keep it
pristine. Between packing & re-assembling, AMTRAK, FedEx, airlines,
etc., a travel bike will get scratched (at the very least). The
Atlantis color is pretty good at not showing scratches, & I've got
plenty (the annual "touch-up task" is due). It just comes with using
a bike for it's intended purpose.

dougP

On Nov 16, 1:00 am, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Daniel M]

I bought my Hillborne to be my "weekend" bike, well aware of Grant's
words that it would quickly become my everyday bike. Too true. Two
summers ago, I had the chance to ride from the Bay Area up to the
Oregon/Washington border and back, and my Ultimate Touring Bike (Thorn
with Rohloff hub) was still in the works, so I threw a large Wald
basket on the front of the Hillborne and set off. A few times on the
trip, the loaded basket swung around and gouged out a large scrape in
the paint on the down tube - down to the bare metal. At first it
bothered me quite a bit that I could let such a thing happen, but
eventually I realized that this is part of what makes it MY bike, and
not someone else's - every time I see that scrape I think of the joy
of that trip. I wouldn't give up that month in the saddle for
anything, and certainly not to undo the scratch. At a later point in
time, a car trunk rack scraped off part of the seat tube label.
Again, not a problem.

A few times a year I give the bike a thorough cleaning, and I finally
used a sanding block on that scrape to chase the rust away, dabbed all
the chips I could find with clear nail polish, and wrapped the area of
the scrape with a ring of reflective tape so now if and when the
basket spins around it hits tape instead of paint.

Bottom line: I ride my Hillborne almost every day. The Ultimate
Touring Bike eventually materialized, and I now use it for loaded
tours, big shopping trips, and rainy weather. Otherwise it's the
Hillborne. It's still beautiful and I still get unsolicited
compliments on it. And when I'm RIDING it, the last thing I notice is
the chips. What I notice is the comfortable riding position, the
comfort and security of the huge tires, and my overall bliss at using
this wonderful invention called the bicycle.

Sure, you can ride a beater every day and save a nice bike for the
weekends, but why not be in love with the bike that you put the most
miles on? Getting over your fear of chips scrapes allows you to get
the most out of your bike. As long as you keep the rust at bay, no
harm done. I call it abeausage.

Daniel M
Berkeley, CA

[Bob]

Yup, as you can tell from my auction bike (see initial post), I use my
machines. They get most of their wear from my leaning them up and
locking them against things, usually in haste.

You can also tell that I must be greedy, because I've no bids with
three days to go. But she does have to go.

Cheers from North Yorkshire, England,
Bob