New Bike Day!

New Bike day.

It's new bike month over here. With the Viner now complete, we of course needed to find Elias a bike. And what a bike we found. An internet-friend of mattio's (and member of the inimitable fixed.gr forum) was selling a well-used but very nice Bridgestone RB-1. The RB-1 has a bit of a cult / cultish following, as it was designed by the maestro of Rivendell cycles, Grant Peterson. It was also a mass produced hand-built steel racing frame, in an era when racing bikes were aluminum or boutique steel (much like the viner, whose frame dates from the same era), sporting an eclectic mix of componentry. If the hype is to be believed, the RB-1 has a multitude of amateur race wins under its belt (chain?). It's a good frame of good steel, with classic racing geometry. And Elias now owns one. We spent the day cleaning it, setting it up, fiddling with shifters (always fun) and then taking a loop around prospect park. E is in love with it, and those kinds of new bike days always make me happy.

What also makes me happy is the Viner. Having gotten used to (and ridden some long and hard rides on) old fluted cranks, quill stems and 1970's frame technology, everything about the Viner just seems... solid. Stiffer. The cranks are more responsive. The bike turns on a dime. The handlebars will duke it out stroke for stroke with the bottom bracket shell in a sprint. The whole vehicle feels more like a coherent machine and less like a fast amalgam of parts. I love the Raleigh dearly, and will still ride it lots, will most likely race it again too. But the Viner is just a whole different animal.

So three beautiful bike now grace our apartment. We're fast running out of room.