Rivendell magic?

Yeah, I guess paint scratches and worn parts are more important to people than I thought. Funny- the first tiny paint ding i got on my Rivendell was very upsetting to me. Now, several dings later, it's no big deal to me and I feel like it's just part of riding and loving your bike. :rolleyes: When DH and I went to NYC a few months ago, we enjoyed looking at all the messenger bikes chained up everywhere- they were literally works of art in progress with all their mismatched replaced parts, various paint and rust layers chipping and showing through, duct tape...their scars were so extreme that each bike became a thing of beauty. :)

I try and do touch up on my bikes so the dings don't show as much . I HATE them.


and i don't think it was the paint dings. If the wheels are both out of true, this bike
has been used HARD, so what else is wrong?

Mimi, out of true wheels can simply be poorly built wheels.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Mimi, out of true wheels can simply be poorly built wheels.

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And can't a wheel get out of true just by the spokes not being tensioned evenly? One of mine somehow got out of true after several thousand miles, and they trued it again by retensioning the spokes.

Well, that's poorly built IMHO.

Sometimes wheels need the spokes re-tensioned but a well built wheel can go years and years without that.

It was relisted and sold immediately for $800 on buy it now.

On the "Rivendellizing" ... I think that may partly stem from the fact that Rivendell is often a good (meaning less expensive) source for some of the items that people tend to associate with older touring bikes as well as Rivendell bikes, but of course it is also a lot of hype and marketing. Rivendells are gorgeous but the marketing spiel on this page turned me off to the point where I don't think I'd ever buy one. I would have no problem if that description of the Quickbeam focused on how pretty the bike is, how well-made it is, how clever all the options are ... but instead it is based on a whole lot of flat-out misinformation designed to make dumb people think that the only way to get those options is to buy a $1,400 bike from Rivendell.

Most people who convert old bikes into single-speeds aren't converting old track bikes (those mostly get made into fixies); they are converting old lugged-steel touring bikes. Both of mine can take 700 x 40 tires with a fender. He's right about the quick-release wheels, sort of; I have track wheels and they do require a wrench, but I take the quick-release skewers off my town bikes anyway to make it tougher for thieves. My husband has quick-release hubs on his single speeds. We have all the handle bar options and comfortable geometry and everything we want, and not one of those bikes cost more than $350, full built up with very similar components to what is available on the Quickbeam. Except we don't have two chainrings because we don't need them, and while I did consider putting a flip-flop rear wheel with two possible speeds onto one of mine, I decided I'd rather have a second bike ... so I have one that's low-geared and outfitted for town errands, and one that's higher-geared and stripped down, and they are both gorgeous and the total cost for two with all new components (including Brooks saddles) is still about a third of the cost of one new Quickbeam that comes without a saddle.

Which, again, is not to denigrate the Quickbeam; it's a beautiful bike and I'm glad somebody makes it and I think it's awesome that there are people willing to buy it and support its production. I just hate the fact that the marketing of that bike is based on the suggestion that you can't possibly get those options anywhere else, because Rivendell invented every good idea in the history of cycling.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

I went to the handmade Bike Show. Sometime in the next 1-2 years, I'll be replacing my Litespeed Tuscany.

I love the ride of Ti but I'm completely turned off by the bead blast finish that seems to be the new trend.

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So what are you going to do with your Litespeed?? Are you going to keep that as your TT bike?

That's waaaay too far ahead to be thinking.

I haven't even figured out lunch yet.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Well, that's poorly built IMHO.

Sometimes wheels need the spokes re-tensioned but a well built wheel can go years and years without that.

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I'm sure they "can". But I rode almost 2800 miles on my bike before the back wheel went slightly out of true, touching the brake pad a bit, and actually that only happened after I had broken a spoke after a rough ride and had it replaced. Perhaps the LBS guy didn't retension all the spokes properly when he replaced the spoke, because shortly after that was when I noticed my raer brake touching the rim on rotation. About a quarter of those 2800 miles were over very rough gravel and stone roads, with a lot of ditches, potholes, and dirt roads in between (even over a few tractor-rutted cow pastures!). To say my wheels were poorly built is perhaps a bit extreme in my opinion. But hey, to each their own.

I've ridden that many miles on hardtail mountain bikes without the wheels needing to be touched. Sometimes it just happens or the builder had a bad day. It's always good to keep checking wheels and spokes for problems.

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Originally Posted by xeney

It was relisted and sold immediately for $800 on buy it now.
....Rivendells are gorgeous but the marketing spiel on this page turned me off to the point where I don't think I'd ever buy one. I would have no problem if that description of the Quickbeam focused on how pretty the bike is, how well-made it is, how clever all the options are ... but instead it is based on a whole lot of flat-out misinformation designed to make dumb people think that the only way to get those options is to buy a $1,400 bike from Rivendell.

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OK, so I read that page. I read mostly stuff saying how well-made and well-designed it is, how clever all the options are. But nowhere did I read that the only way to get those options is to buy a $1,400 bike from Rivendell.

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Originally Posted by xeney

Most people who convert old bikes into single-speeds aren't converting old track bikes (those mostly get made into fixies); they are converting old lugged-steel touring bikes. Both of mine can take 700 x 40 tires with a fender. ...We have all the handle bar options and comfortable geometry and everything we want, and not one of those bikes cost more than $350, full built up with very similar components to what is available on the Quickbeam....they are both gorgeous and the total cost for two with all new components (including Brooks saddles) is still about a third of the cost of one new Quickbeam that comes without a saddle.
Which, again, is not to denigrate the Quickbeam; it's a beautiful bike and I'm glad somebody makes it and I think it's awesome that there are people willing to buy it and support its production. I just hate the fact that the marketing of that bike is based on the suggestion that you can't possibly get those options anywhere else, because Rivendell invented every good idea in the history of cycling.

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There are LOTS of people who got old lugged steel touring bikes cheap and put new parts on them with the result that they have great lugged touring bikes for way less money than a new Rivendell. I love that people are doing that. Used to be just a few years ago you could find these frames on Ebay and in garage sales for like $20. Not so much anymore- it's getting harder and harder to find people selling them cheap. Ebay has allowed any clueless garage bike seller to get way more than what they might have gotten in their local garage sale. Now there are savvy buyers oozing out of every Ebay pore just watching for old lugged frames. Yes, one can get REALLY lucky and find just the right size lugged frame cheap somewhere...but it's getting harder. Parts cost more nowadays as well. Many people don't have the patience or the savvy to find the right frame, much less know how to go about getting it rebuilt. Good for you and your partner that you both saved a lot of money by rebuilding old frames, it's great that you were able to do that. Hopefully more people will be getting into rebuilding the wonderful old touring bikes now gathering dust in garages and basements.

But when you say "I just hate the fact that the marketing of that bike is based on the suggestion that you can't possibly get those options anywhere else, because Rivendell invented every good idea in the history of cycling."
Well you seem set on this idea and I feel you are reading that into everything you read about Rivendells. NOWHERE do I see it suggested that they invented all these things, or that you can't get a particular option anywhere else except from them. Instead they continually talk about how they use well thought out designs and concepts taken from traditional bikes, so why do you keep saying that they imply that they invented everything?? :confused: :confused: I just don't see their marketing website hype as being much different from any other lugged steel builder website I have read and looked at. They ALL extoll the virtues of their own bikes and how unique they are, how wonderfully designed they are, how well made, why you should get THEIR bike or frame, etc. etc. I see much the same marketing hype on all the sites I look at, so why pick so avidly on Rivendell?

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

I've ridden that many miles on hardtail mountain bikes without the wheels needing to be touched. Sometimes it just happens or the builder had a bad day. It's always good to keep checking wheels and spokes for problems.

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I don't feel it's logical to compare the two situations using a mountain bike as an example.
Yes it's good to keep checking wheels and spokes, I do that. But I don't conclude that my wheel was "poorly built" based on the events I described.

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I see much the same marketing hype on all the sites I look at, so why pick so avidly on Rivendell?

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Because this is a thread about Rivendell? Because the first five paragraphs of that page I linked to is, in fact, a bunch of misinformation about the "typical" singlespeed?

I think it's great that you love your bike and you love the company that built it, Lisa. But you are not correct about how difficult it is to find an old bike that's affordable and the right size. They're all over the place; I know because I frequent forums devoted to old bikes, and I've bought a lot of them. You don't get why I am picking on Rivendell; I don't get why Rivendell (which I'm sure builds great bikes, I've never heard of anyone who was unhappy with their Rivendell) is immune from criticism. I'm on the mailing list for the Riv. Reader and Grant says all kinds of silly things. I think the Quickbeam page is a prime example of some of his sillier pronouncements. He can build great bikes and still not be right one hundred percent of the time.

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Originally Posted by xeney

You don't get why I am picking on Rivendell; I don't get why Rivendell (which I'm sure builds great bikes, I've never heard of anyone who was unhappy with their Rivendell) is immune from criticism. I'm on the mailing list for the Riv. Reader and Grant says all kinds of silly things. I think the Quickbeam page is a prime example of some of his sillier pronouncements. He can build great bikes and still not be right one hundred percent of the time.

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I agree that Grant is not 100% correct on things. Not even close. Perhaps you confuse me with one of those young worshipping Riv apprentice monks in training. I have my own criticisms about Rivendell and how they are run. I think they totally miss the boat on quite a few things, and some things about what they do p*ss me off. So there! :p Maybe we are not so far apart in our thinking as one might think after all. Maybe we just dislike different things!

P.S. I DO love my bike. I don't "love" the company that built it. I like them, but I'm not slavishly devoted to them. I feel they do way more good than bad. I AM happy to have my very well made wonderful bike which I hope to ride and enjoy for many years and many thousands of miles. I feel it's certainly up to the task.

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Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

I don't feel it's logical to compare the two situations using a mountain bike as an example.
Yes it's good to keep checking wheels and spokes, I do that. But I don't conclude that my wheel was "poorly built" based on the events I described.

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OK, fine. How about a set of road wheels that my 200 lb hubby rode first and then I took over. Ridden over hill and dale. Never needed to be re-trued, tensioned, whatever . . . in 20+ years. You like this comparison better? You want the entire list of wheels we've ridden far more than 2,800 miles that haven't needed help? And unsuspended wheels on a bike that is crashed and slammed into rocks and ledges repeatedly are a pretty good example.