Your Riv's Next Upgades / Parts Swaps

[Jay]

When building up a bike sometimes you make do with what you have on hand already, or is readily available, or affordable.  Though in the back of your mind you've already identified a replacement.

I'm curious as to what parts on your current builds have you slotted for eventual replacement at some time in the future?  What will you be replacing it with?  Any dream parts in there, or just more functional or comfortable choices?

On my Roadini I'm really happy with the touch-points: saddle and seat post, bars and tape, pedals; one of my wheel sets (with the 43mm tires); the cages; brake levers, callipers, and DT shifters. The chain and cassette are fine--and I want to stick with 11sp--but the crank and derailleurs are on my list of upgrades/swaps (partially for aesthetics...would like silver, partially for function as I would like a bit more great range on the low end).  I would also like to replace the second wheel set that I use with 30mm tires for road-only rides (to something lighter/faster).  I would also change the housing (aesthetics, maybe green or grey), and the saddle bag.

[Bill Lindsay]

The only thing I have going right now that is close to that is tires.  I've got way WAY too many tires, and I refuse to sell used tires, and I refuse to throw away tires that have any life at all left in them.  -BUT- I love it when I use up a tire and am able to discard it.  I call that weird combination of neuroses "Minimalist Pack Rat". Anyway, part of my drive to reduce my huge inventory is to get rid of the worst tires, which means I'm trying to ride my worst tires the most.  Like the 650B Crust I rode today has a pair of Fatty Rumpkins on it.  I'd rather run Babyshoe Pass tires on that bike, but I'm not allowing that until I wear out some other tires.  Tires these days last forever, though.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Nicholas A]

With my Joe Appaloosa I'm satisfied with it at the moment, nothing I would change on it at this time.

My Homer, though I've only ridden about 50mi on it so far, I know I need to change from downtube to bar-ends so I'm doing that. The way I have it set up the DT shifters are just too damn far away.

[DavidP]

I'm in the planning/collecting stage of some fairly inconsequential part swaps on my Platypus.

V-brakes -> Cantis: For over 10 years I've had a set of Paul Touring Cantis on an old Univega Alpina MTB, which has some non-standard (or extinct standard) brake posts with the pin holes outboard of the posts. Since you can't really find brakes for this configuration any more the simplest solution is a brake that doesn't use the pin holes (the brake tension spring is internal) and that's where the Pauls came in. Last year I realized that Diacompe 988 cantis use a similar tensioning mechanism and can be had for $30 a wheel, and now have finally swapped them on to the Univega (they work great) freeing up the Pauls for the Platypus. Just waiting on brake cable hangers and deciding on levers.

The Diacompe MX2 v-brakes being replaced are great brakes, so apart from getting some Paul parts on the Platypus this change is really about the rack.

Mark's Rack -> Nitto 32f: I've had no issues with the double strutted Mark's Rack but the combination of a good deal on a 32f, the thought of switching the Platy to cantis, and a possible use for the Mark's Rack on another bike brought this one about. It'll go on with the Touring Cantis.

-Dave (suffering from summer "bike brain")

[Eric Daume]

Or you could ride the good tires now and enjoy life. With any luck, the sidewalls on the Fatty Rumpkins might degrade into an unridable state by the time you get down to them. 

Eric

Who deals with excess tires by selling them on bikes. 

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[tio ryan]

Lovin' this discussion. For me, only 1 of my bikes currently has a dynamo light setup, and it's not my Platypus. In an ideal world, all of my bikes (Rivs especially) would have generators.

Since I lack wheel building experience, it feels like purchasing multiple dynamo setups would be wasteful and more of a financial burden than the hassle of swapping rechargeable lights — especially since I can only ride one bike at a time. For now, I keep my eyes open for any "deals". 

-tio "searchin' for the light" ryan 

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[David Ross]

I am running non tubeless compatible wheels on my Gus. I thought it would be ok but with the type of riding I do, tubes are a real liability. I’m going to have a set of Velocity wheels built up so I no longer get punctures from the thorns we have up here in the northeast. 

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[Jay]

Nicholas - fortunately my DT shifters are not a long reach down, in particular when I'm in the drops (I often am on this bike, as they're comfy).  But the water bottles are another story, I have to stretch to get down there!

Tio - I've never had dynamo setups but they look really practical if you ride a lot in the dark / low light.  I don't very often, so a dynamo hasn't interested me so far.  Happy hunting for yours!

[Patrick Moore]

Apparently rim or sidewall dynamos are getting better. I've been intrigued but not enough to switch from hub dynamos.

https://www.cyclingabout.com/rim-dynamos-can-now-generate-more-power-than-hub-dynamos/

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/so-it-turns-out-rim-dynamos-dont-suck-anymore

https://www.dutchbikebits.com/axa-hr-traction-dynamo

I used a cheap, very old Union or Sanyo bottle and it wasn't at all as bad as Bart Simpson made it out to be; rather like riding up a very slight grade or into a slight headwind. And the Sanyo bb dynamo had less drag. The best bottle I used was an at-the-time very expensive 12 volt system that gave a halogen beam as bright as modern LED beams and that had surprisingly little drag. I wish I'd kept that one but I sold it with the Herse it was mounted on.

https://youtu.be/9MAkl8tEsnA

As to upgrades on the Riv (copy), better cable routing for the rightside trigger shifter for the IGH, new bar tape, and a slight adjustment of bar tilt and brake lever height.

[Hoch in ut]

Appaloosa - looking to swap out the Sunrace shifter. The ratcheting mech doesn’t offer fine enough shifts for the RD. I’ll be going to Microshift or use Simplex as soon as I can acquire a thumbie mount. 

[Mackenzy Albright]

I've really tried  to not obsess with "boutique" parts on my clementine after many (imo) over the top parts collecting/builds. (I just love high end vintage parts) I found with my Clementine running V-brakes (avid SL's) I could not for the life of me find a nice V-brake lever with a low profile clamp and the bolt out of the way and the barrel adjuster that protrudes limiting lever angle on swept back bars. I bought a cheap set of litepro levers from from Ali-express but feel a bit flimsy but work for now. Eventually I'd like to swap them out for Pauls as it seems they're one of the few quality brake levers that fit my preferences. 

[RichS]

The Tange adjustable bottom bracket Riv sells was too much tempatation for me. Wanted to install it on my Hillborne. Love the look, the feel and I like to experiment so this was right up my alley. Unfortunately the 118 spindle was a little too wide. No way to get a replacement spindle from Riv or other sources I've checked. I will likely put this up for sale and buy another one but with a shorter spindle. 

Best,

Rich in ATL

[Jason Fuller]

My Hillborne is running Velocity A23 rims, on the second rear and the front is nearing end-of-life, and I'd like to switch to Pacenti Brevet's because they're just so darn good looking.  That's about it for 'permanent' changes; I do like to switch between drops and albatross and also fenders + slicks vs. knobbies on the Hillborne but those are more seasonal in nature. 

The Bombadil is similarly dialed in; I do bounce around with what bar I want to run and have a similar tire issue to Bill - I have four pairs for the Bombadil I think, so even if I put a few thousand km on it per year I'm set for a bunch of years. I'm glad to be at this stage where the bikes are totally where I want them to be, but I also get fidgety... it's nice to have something to look forward to!  

[Steve]

It's reassuring, after perusing this thread, that I am not alone in obsessing over and  tinkering with my bike builds. 

Is it just an engaging avocation --- or a hard core addiction?  

No matter, it results in comfortable, good looking bikes that keep me in the saddle and moving.