Current Classics Gallery Updates

Cyclotourist's Rivendell Road
One of the more prolific photographers of "ride shots" has got to be Cyclotourist - aka Dave in Redlands.  He's one of the few folks who has actually made me mildly nostalgic for the winding fire roads in the Southland (that's the greater Los Angeles area, for those of you who aren't familiar with the term).  If you haven't run across his images on Flickr, you owe it to yourself to follow his stuff.



He's also managed to put together some very appropriate bicycles - finding some truly pristine examples of early Rivendell models.  Here, he shares his Road model.

The "Road" was made during the first generation of Rivendell models. I'm currently developing a bit better documentation of bicycles from this period.  The Road model arguably became the branch which begat the Rambouillet/Romulus, then the Hilsen.  At the time the Road model came out, finding decent reach brakes was an exercise in NOS patience - the commercial offerings were pretty minimal. But, even so, this bike was spec'd for maximum clearances with the components at hand, and staked out the idea of good clearance, stable and versatile "road" bikes that didn't need to stay on pavement.




New Entries to the Current Classics Gallery -


#839 - David Horne's Mario Vicini
#840 - John Tsataros' Schwinn World Tourist
#841 - Ted Town's Gardin
#842 - Robert Hill's Raleigh Professional
#843 - Cyclotourist's Rivendell Road

Queueing Up

Well now, that was quite an effort for the past couple months. The specifics are immaterial, though I may dig into them a bit more completely on my Cyclofiend Ramblings blog. Suffice to say that we've reached the last control in a long ride, and I've sat and rested a bit. It will take a while before I've worked the kinks out, but I'm easing into a pretty significant backlog of images and submissions to the Galleries.

There are a number of projects on the Cyclofiend.com site which have lain quite dormant over the last year or so, and I've leafed through notes and scribbles, emails and messages which relate to tweaks and revisions. 

Before I delve into all of that, I just wanted to thank those of you who took the time to email or ask if things were going OK.  Thank you too for the donations and support of the site while there was little visible activity. 

I'll roll out a little easy this week, try to set a reasonable pace, and see where it leads me.  Thanks for reading!

Quick, Short Update

I'd mentioned this in passing over on the RBW Owner's Group list which I moderate, and just wanted to clarify the status of this blog, and the Cyclofiend.com site in general.  The galleries on the site have been reasonably dormant this year, and a number of people have taken the time to email to find out the status.

The short answer is "Yes, things will continue in the Galleries and on the site in general".

Unfortunately, work demands have been significant this year (both voice work and day job), culminating in a pretty full month here in January.  After that, it looks like things will be a bit more balanced, which should mean - well, after I get my own mileage back in order - that I can again dig into the backlog of submissions for the galleries.

To be honest, there are over 50 bikes which have been waiting, gathering digital dust on my hard drive, so there are plenty of new bicycles to enjoy.  Hang in there!

If you have been one of the people who's bicycle I haven't yet gotten to - thank you for your patience!  Things should start rolling again in February.

Current Classics - Raleighs and More

Four Of A Kind - Well, four Raleighs out of seven new entries to the Current Classics Gallery - I guess that would make a good poker hand.  It's always funny how these things work out sometimes.  But, the interesting thing is what a variety of models have rolled out of Nottingham. (And if you want more background info on Raleigh - AASHTA - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/history.html)

But, even with all of these Raleighs, it's hard to pass up showcasing a classic Bridgestone MB.


Jim Roselle's Bridgestone MB-5
I've got a soft spot for the MB series - it was the first Bridgestone which ever rolled through my life (a purple MB-3, if you are keeping tracking) and it is still a bicycle model which has a perfect mix of style and performance.

The late 80's/early 90's mtbs are certainly some of the best riding 26" trail bikes.  Responsive and stable, quick and lively.  I'm lucky enough to have an MB-1, and everytime I hit the trails on mine, it reminds me how well realized this series of mountain bikes was.

Jim's photo of his really captures the spirit of far horizons and wonderful trails.

New Entries to the Current Classics Gallery -

#833 - Michael Hensley's Raleigh International
#834 - Jim Roselle's Bridgestone MB-5
#835 - Branko's Raleigh Grand Prix
#836 - Michael Baczkowski's Raleigh Touring
#837 - Dominique Fernandes' Centurion Accordo RS
#838 - John Bunnell's Raleigh Pioneer Trail 2000

Four Current Classics for a Four Day Week

The process of organizing and cleaning up can be a little ugly - found a nested folder on the computer that had a bunch of things which folks had sent in late last year, that "I was gonna get to..." but didn't.   Within that unremarkable digital repository is a goodly chunk of cool bicycles.  I may end up threading them into the newer submissions, or just try to do those sequentially (which may in turn build up the backlog for more recent entries.....) We'll see.

Again for those of you who have sent stuff in and have yet to see it represented, patience please! (And Thanks! - both for the images and descriptions and for the patience!) Hang in there, subscribe to the feed and enjoy these fine bicycles.

Nick Roth's Schwinn Superior

Along with the early Trek bicycles, another set of bicycles which I've always secretly lusted after has been the fillet brazed Schwinns.  This under appreciated segment of Schwinn's lineup seems to be largely unknown to folks.  It first caught my eye when I read about them on Sheldon Brown's site -  in Mark Rother's article posted there.

Now, certainly,  I like lugs.  But, there's something really beautiful about a fillet brazed frameset - a smooth, seamless quality to the work that flatters the elegant simplicity of a bicycle frame. The Schwinns such as Nick's Superior just seemed like really undervalued framesets.

Hopefully (since we presumably ride in the same county) I'll cross paths with this bicycle one day - but in the meantime, enjoy these images of this bicycle.

New Entries to the Current Classics Gallery - 
#829 - Nick Roth's Schwinn Superior
#830 - Gernot Huber's Raleigh Woman's model
#831 - Angus Lemon's Rivendell Atlantis
#832 - Tyler Los-Jones' Miyata 1000

Three for Thursday

I know everyone is hunkered down, trying to get out of town for the big holiday weekend, but if you have a moment in your busy schedule, please enjoy these three fine examples of Current Classics.  A fine example of a Japanese-crafted lugged frame, a venerable Bridgestone design (with it's hallmark of extreme versatility) and a Trek from the classic period of US framebuilding.

It was really hard to pick one to highlight, so I finally just tossed my three-headed dart (or was that a three-headed coin?  Anyway...) and came up with Randy's Trek.

Randy Pugh's Trek 620

Randy has three other bicycles  in the Gallery (Randy's Trek 1500, Trek 600, Trek 660) - all Treks and none made from carbon.   I've mentioned in more than a few posts and online commentary that the early Trek models are one of the bikes I've never had but always wanted to own.  Good, simple, smart builds, with attention to detail that isn't obsessive.  This one is from the "ideal" period and has a lot of the details which really make it prime in my mind: the "marquee" decal design (with the contrasting background wrapping around the tube), the externally routed rear derailleur cable (for a while they put it through the right chainstay), and the excellent clearances and braze-on's. 

A useful and versatile bicycle. Great to see it being enjoyed!


#826 - Vann Hughes' Bianchi Professional
#827 - Matthew Dearing's Bridgestone MB-1
#828 - Randy Pugh's Trek 620

Five Singlespeed Bicycles

I feel like I've shown up at a group ride well after the time agreed upon, only to find that everyone waited rather than just rolled out.  A little shame, a bit of embarrassment.  That sort of thing.  Suffice to say that if you are among those who have patiently waited for new updates, or the few who took the time to send a polite email, I truly appreciate your patience. 

While there have been a number of internal updates and pruning of the underbrush, this is the first Gallery update of the year.  As you might guess, there's a pretty decent backlog of images, and a few submissions from later last year which got stuck on a hard drive for a while. My plan is to hunker down, take small bites and keep chewing. We'll see how that works out.

So... with no further delays.  Here are five singlespeeds for your enjoyment.

Three of the five are Raleigh-labeled, which should not really be a surprise given the length and reach of that particular bicycle crafting dynasty (even more).  In fact, I have a Raleigh in the rafters, though it's most likely destined to becoming a grocery/farmer's market bicycle - might end up as a singlespeed, but I digress.







Philip De Ritis' Gazelle

Philip De Ritis' Gazelle on Cyclofiend.com

Now "Gazelle" is not a brand which you encounter quite so frequently - at least stateside.  It's one of those brand names, like Ibis and Kestrel, which embodies speed and nimbleness.  In my mind, there's something very art deco and 1930's about those names - in the sense of appropriate imagery and dynamic claims.

In addition to some very dramatic images, Peter has built up this frame using a strong "early days of cycling" aesthetic - "scorcher" style handlebar setup, stripped down components and a beautiful polished look to the parts. There's a lot to catch your attention with this bike, and it looks like it would fit in rolling slowly along a promenade or heading for the horizon at high speed kicking up a cloud of dust.

New Entries to the Singlespeed Gallery - 
#325 - Richard Sheets' Raleigh
#326 - Peter Van Dine's Bianchi
#327 - Leon's Retro Raleigh
#328 - Philip De Ritis' Gazelle
#329 -  Scott Taylor's Raleigh Sportif

Crazy for S'luki - Jack Courtney's Rivendell Saluki

Gotta say up front that I have a soft spot for this model in general,  as well as the name and orange bikes in particular...

The Saluki was a really interesting bicycle, coming as it did in the first wave of 650B resurgence. At the time, no one seemed to consider using large volume tires on 700C frames (well, aside from us crazy 'crossers, but even then a 35cm tire was pretty wickedly large.)  In addition to one of the coolest bicycle names every, it had a lot of smart details. First and foremost, it paid attention to how well a bicycle can ride when you use a decent amount of air to cushion the ride and provide an ample footprint on the road and trails.

Between the time this bicycle came out and I had the resources to buy one, Rivendell had brought out the A. Homer Hilsen, which is the geared/coastable bicycle I ended up with.  Of course, since that time, the Saluki became the smaller sized AHH's, which ended the model.  But with every 650B wheelsize Hilsen I see, I know there's a lithe coursing hound underneath, chucking a bit...

Jack Courtney's Rivendell Saluki

Jack's bike is pretty much exactly the way I'd think about my own.  Fenders and racks so you can ramble long and not be phased by weather or distance.  Smart gearing for a variety of terrain.  And, it's orange.
 

Updates to the Current Classics Bicycle Gallery

#805 - Jack Courtney's Rivendell Saluki
#806 - William Spencer's Rivendell Bombadil
#807 - BP Hague's Sekai 2400

Single Speed Gallery Reaches 300 Bicycles!

With today's update, the Single Speed Gallery has notched itself up to 300 entries. A pretty impressive number of one-speeds. A quick shout out to Mike Ferrentino, author of the Grimy Handshake column in BIKE magazine.  It was his article some mumble-mumble years ago back in California Bicyclist which made me actually aware of the focused and self-flagellatory world of single speed mountain biking. Taking gears off your bike? That seemed crazy talk when I first heard of it, and yet it was oddly enticing.  That article was one of the things way back when which gave the weather vane a good and hearty spin away from the normal and accepted practices.

It's been interesting too, to see the number of singlespeeds which would be considered more "road" bike oriented.  As readers of my main blog know, a comfortable and reliable frame designed for good clearances and large tires blurs the distinctions between on or off road, but the trend of this gallery has been more towards drop bar equipped models than a traditional mountain bike setups.

But, enough about trends and theorizing...

Ron Hampel's Rivendell Quickbeam - Gallery Entry #300

Singlespeed Gallery #300

I was really pleased to see this bike come into the queue at #300 (though I was equally chagrined that it wasn't Paul Germain's stunning custom Ellis).  As most folks know, I own a Quickbeam as well, and consider it to be one of the best riding and most versatile bicycles I've ridden.

But Ron's has some unique aspects to it - first of all, it reminded me of some of Grant Petersen's writings about how he sees Rivendell designs in the bigger scheme of things.  He wrote some time ago that he hopes that his bikes stand the test of time, specifically that they will be recognized, sans paint and decals, in the future.  That there are certain hallmarks of design and philosophy which will make people say, "...hey! That's a Rivendell!"

And here, underneath a gorgeous clear powdercoat, is evidence of just that.  The clean and simple lug lines. The good clearances.  The useful braze-ons. Those robust and cleverly angled rear fork ends.  Yep, that's a Quickbeam.

 New Singlespeed Gallery Entries:
#297 - Ana Semijalac's Unis Sprint - 
#298 -  Paul Germain's Ellis
#299 - Evan Wilson's Spicer
#300 - Ron Hampel's Rivendell Quickbeam

Six Pack O' Singlespeeds

Welcome to your Wednesday!

The Singlespeed Gallery seems to run such a wide gamut. It's always interesting to see what people's ingenuity and creativity, combined with a parts pile and a bit of spare time will produce. Obviously, there are purpose-built frames which are near and dear to my heart, but because my first was a project bike, my appreciation is firmly rooted in the DIY approach. And, as I've written before, resurrecting an old, disused frame is always an honorable task.

Plus, I always love to get bicycles submitted from outside the US. It does kind of blow my mind when I consider that someone on the other side of the globe visits the site, gets inspired by what they see, and then renders their own ride.

Which brings us to Nico's "Going Merry" -

Singlespeed Gallery #293

It's always interesting to see a theme evolve on a bike build. Whether the Green Oury
grips triggered the search for the other parts, or some quirk of retail display put them near enough so that the visual harmony was created, I like the cheery chromatic statement against the weather-worn and rust dotted frameset. (I'm also drawn to that crankset, which remains un-branded and alluring...)

The other cool thing is that this bike is enjoying the winter weather in Bologna, Italy. Makes me wish I'd started paying closer attention when bikes arrived from distant regions. Maybe I'll start keeping track now, and backfill the info as I get time.

So, Italy = 1



New additions to the Single Speed Gallery:
Isaac Enloe's Rivendell Quickbeam
Rocky B's Rivendell Quickbeam
Nicola Guglielmi's "Going Merry"
David Vega's Cannondale M600
David Vega's Salsa Cassaroll
Mark Elam's Bianchi Broadway

Prowling The Current Classics Gallery: Nick's Custom Capricorn

Everything "old" becomes new again, I reckon.  It's interesting to consider what catches my attention in bicycle design these days. Longer fenders, clearance for bigger tires, tightly fitting and artfully designed racks (Bruce Gordon seems to to manage both), understated-yet-evocative paint....

The arc to this point stems from Interbike in '97 or so, when GW and I were recovering from walking the aisles and he said something along the lines of "I am so freakin' tired of oversized tubes and toothpaste welds..."

I didn't quite get what he meant - it probably occurred to me that aluminum bikes were boring to him. Titanium was sexy back then, and the good welder laid down a bead that looked like tiny dimes stacked on one another.

Luckily, he had also thrown an early Rivendell Reader at me one day and said, "You need to check this out..."  and he'd made me follow him to the outer edges of the booths to find the Jack Taylor frames. Quiet, lugged and classic, they made little splash at the show where full-suspension mountain bikes were still pretty exotic.

So now, I wonder what impression it would have made on me if this bicycle had been sitting on the forward corner of a booth.

Current Classics Gallery #682

I like to think that something like this Custom Capricorn would have caught my eye back then - though it might have just been the oddity of a large forward-mounted Gilles Berthoud bag. The "pencil" blue would have also been pretty non-standard at the time (still is, mind you, but now it has a historical context for me...).

Nick's Capricorn (posted to the Current Classcs Gallery in 12/09) is one of those bicycles that it's almost impossible to imagine improving. It has all the things you'd want or need, but nothing more.  There are some unique preferences - the Kelly Bike "Take Offs" for example - which make the bike entirely his. 

Whether you were doing serious randonneuring or just wanted to be able to leave the house at dawn for an all-day ride, it would be a fine choice.

Cyclocross Gallery: Paul Germain's Bontrager Cross

To be quite honest, the Cyclocross Gallery really doesn't get a whole lotta love. Which is humorous to me, as way back in dialup days, the whole Cyclofiend.com website, really came into being around things cyclocrossy (cyclocross-ish? cyclocross-esque?... anyway...).

It does point out that however large the cult/tribe/band grows, no matter how many cheering viking-throng photos filter out of Portland, SF or Seattle, it's still a subset of bicycling at large, and an off-seasony, oddish one at that.

Which is fine. Wouldn't have it any other way.

But, it does tend to impact the number of images which folks supply of dedicated CX bikes. Plus there's probably less opportunity, as most cross bikes live short, brutish lives, aging many years in each season, if actually raced.

That does make the cross bike images a bit more special, and when you get a chance to enjoy something as unique as Paul Germain's fillet-brazed Bontrager Cross bike, it is indeed a treat.

Cyclofiend Cross Bike Gallery #57

As Paul points out in the description, a fillet-brazed Bontrager is reasonably rare. (And you know that the Bontrager Cross models are not all that common.) I've never seen one with the nickel treatment on the stays and fork, and the addition of the Steve Potts stem just ties this bike off very nicely.

Three more additions over in the Cross Bike Gallery as well:


Paul Germain's Bontrager Fillet-Brazed Cross
Daniel Cuellar's Scattante XRC Cross
Michael Gibian's Haro Mary XC
Andrew VonSeggen's Salsa A La Carte


- Enjoy!