Classic & Vintage - I just saw a very nice bike.

I Rambouillet by Rivenendell.
Someone who looked to be homeless brought it to the shop to get some air in the tires, which he commented where not in the best condition.
There were bum bars on it and the bar tape was unraveling.
It was basically like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rivendell-Rambouillet-road-bike-60cm-large_W0QQitemZ250104944731QQihZ015QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now I'm regretting not offering him $100 for it.

I would have given $100, and another cleaned/refurbed bike. That might have done it. I'm still eyeing a Powercam EX Custom I see from time to time parked outside the local thrift store. Forged drops, converted to full 600, etc etc.... Dirty, but a nice ride. Did he know his bike was special?,,,,BD

I would have given $100, and another cleaned/refurbed bike. That might have done it. I'm still eyeing a Powercam EX Custom I see from time to time parked outside the local thrift store. Forged drops, converted to full 600, etc etc.... Dirty, but a nice ride. Did he know his bike was special?,,,,BD
Probably not, if he did he'd have sold it and bought a mountain bike.
If I see him again I'll offer a bike trade in addition to cash.

If he was a "bum" or homeless you have a good chance of finding him. People in that situation dont roam far as a rule and are out side a lot. Keep an eye out and ask around. Ask about the guy on the beat up whatever color bike and let it be known the bike shop guy has a deal for him. If the bike is worth $1500 give the pour guy at least 10% and something in good riding condition.

It could have been stolen. Maybe not by the homeless guy himself but you never know.

It could have been stolen. Maybe not by the homeless guy himself but you never know.
Well I looked online and couldn't find any reports of stolen bikes matching the description.

If he was a "bum" or homeless you have a good chance of finding him. People in that situation dont roam far as a rule and are out side a lot. Keep an eye out and ask around. Ask about the guy on the beat up whatever color bike and let it be known the bike shop guy has a deal for him. If the bike is worth $1500 give the pour guy at least 10% and something in good riding condition.
Well it isn't the traditional bike shop.
It's like a bike co-op, as a rule we don't buy or trade bicycle, so I would be the one making the deal.

By what chain of improbable events would a homeless guy come into possession of a Rivendell that didn't involve something hinky somewhere along the line? Some homeless and marginal types around here ride old roadies; mid-level rides they probably snagged at a thift store, but I've never seen anything approaching that kind of bike at any thrift I know of.

I think Occalt's Razor applies here.

I agree, homeless guys in our town sometimes will have an 80s fuji or Centurion but that's about as good as it gets. Don

By what chain of improbable events would a homeless guy come into possession of a Rivendell that didn't involve something hinky somewhere along the line? Some homeless and marginal types around here ride old roadies; mid-level rides they probably snagged at a thift store, but I've never seen anything approaching that kind of bike at any thrift I know of.

I think Occalt's Razor applies here.

Occam's razor (also spelled Ockham's razor)
Well it seems like he's been riding it for a while, long enough to warrant angling the bars, and to wear out the tires and bar-tape.

It's a pretty safe bet he's not riding it in the same neighborhood it originally resided in.

Or that it was a 'catch of the day' and did at one time reside in a thrift shop...

I saw a bum looking guy on a hand made custom bike. It had no rear brake, front shifter or bar tape and was generally busted looking. I offered to buy it or trade for something all fixed up but he didn't want to. He claimed to have known the builder personally and had been riding the bike for 20 years.

It's hard to say. It's entirely possible that he's owned it for many years. A Rambouillet is something that would get reported to the police for certain if it had been stolen. I suspect that he may have actually purchased it, and has just used it a lot.

The fair thing would be to ask if he'd like to sell/trade, give a decent amount of cash, and his choice of replacement bike.

East Hill

ockham's razor; some dummy put it in the trash because it was dirty. Some people have too much money and just dont care. I got a 1950's rolex at a yardsale one time for $1 because the band was broken.

I never thought of it that way. How many of these guys are out there riding bikes they may have bought
when their lives were better. It may be the one thing of value they have left. Maybe it was at a thrift store, but maybe not.,,,,BD

I Rambouillet by Rivenendell.
Someone who looked to be homeless brought it to the shop to get some air in the tires, which he commented where not in the best condition.
There were bum bars on it and the bar tape was unraveling.
It was basically like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rivendell-Rambouillet-road-bike-60cm-large_W0QQitemZ250104944731QQihZ015QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now I'm regretting not offering him $100 for it.

Dude your query may say more about you than it says about said "homeless guy". I mean, frankly I'm surprised that some of the more politically correct brethren haven't already pounced.

Over in the road forum they might almost accuse this of being a "shill" whatever that means.

People are pretty sincere here (in C&V and Bike Forums in general) and respectful of one another, and most questions are responded to in a concrete, on the surface reply.

Now I know what you're thinking: I'm going to bash the elitism of the OP to make such stereotypic conclusions about the "homeless guy", with his "bum bars". I think the reader is bright enought to draw their own conclusions about another's elitism so I'll leave that to Sheldon Brown or a homeless advocate other than myself.

There were a few other red flags of greed that, (I'm sure I'm not the only one) crossed my mind.

The idea that you would track the clueless idiot down and give him 10% of your perceived value of his little peice of heaven is a bit presumptuous don't you think?

Then there's the little question of "what makes something valuable?" I would think that here in the Classic and Vintage forum (of all places) the aesthetic of Rivendell re-gurgitated mass produced old school technology that we're going to charge the ignorant consumer some ungodly arbitrary mark-up on: would give the reader much more nausea than the ignorant "homeless" guy comments.

Before I loose my cool and my mini-rant escalates any further, I would encourage the OP to leave the alleged "homeless guy" and his amalgam, marketing strategy ploy on wheels out of his radar. Maybe the guy fell on hard times because like you, his ignorant consumerism brought him down to earth, and now he's left with a nifty little tarnished transportation paradigm.

Happy Sunday.

Sorry for the Sunday morning, church lady ethics lecture, but I couldn't resist. :)

Snippage

Sorry for the Sunday morning, church lady ethics lecture, but I couldn't resist. :)

So you are saying he should have offered more? :)

Smiley face aside...I think your judgmental sermon has no place on this public forum.

And really now, you call the "homeless guy" a clueless idiot. And then you take the high road on ignorant homeless comments?

I think, if you should see the guy again, you should ask him if he wants to sell it, youll be helping him out with some cash, and youll not be leaving him without transportation, whats the problem with that? Its not like you trying to steal it away from him? If he doesnt want to sell it then no harm done, if he does then your good, I stop people all the time, homeless or not, and ask if they would like to sell/trade the bike their riding, never had anyone come down on me for it, as a matter of fact they are usually flattered that I like their bike so much that I would stop them and ask if it was for sale, homeless people, no matter what anyone might think, are just people, if you treat them as such, you shouldnt have a problem talking to him about a possible trade with cash involved, if you should decide to "cheat him" or tell him the true value of the bike (which he may already know) is up to you, youll be the one that pays for it in the end, but its up to you, Id ask him if I were to see him again:)

So you are saying he should have offered more? :)

Smiley face aside...I think your judgmental sermon has no place on this public forum.

And really now, you call the "homeless guy" a clueless idiot. And then you take the high road on ingnorant homeless comments?

I just got back inside from pulling some weeds, to cool off and let some of the ideas simmer. I never said I'm not judgemental, I'm a human being just like homeless people are. I just think it odd that you would say my comments have no place on this public forum, when a lot of people, I'm sure were having similar thoughts. I suppose you're right though, this thread, to me is a prickly one. Probably belongs in politics and religion, you're right - far too controversial for the nuts and bolts of C&V. The thing is, I'm a regular contributor here, with a lot of experience in this area and to dis me, while not conceding that the crux of the original post is a bit too thorny...

now I think somebody, maybe one of the moderators could take that one up. I'm just asking for a little leeway on this. Check my other posts before ditching me OK?

We had a thread similar to this just a few months ago. I don't think anyone means any disrespect to anyone who is homeless. I know I certainly don't. I am friendly to everyone I meet along the road/path/trail when I'm out on my bike, and it's not important to me whether or not they may be homeless. It's true, I don't work at a bike shop, or at a bike co-op, as mastershake 916 does, so I may never experience this (and due to my height, I doubt I'll ever find anyone who just happens to be riding that 48 cm DeRosa!), but if I were in the same position as mastershake916, I would do as I stated earlier: I'd ask if he'd like to sell/trade, offer a respectable amount of cash, and let him take his choice of transportation. But, this is how it would have started:

Me: "Wow, that's a nice bike! A Rivendell Rambouillet...look at those beautiful lugs..."
Rambouillet man: "Yes, I got this years ago...
or
Rambouillet man: "It is? I got this a few years ago at SA...is it worth anything?

One thing would lead to another, and how someone seemingly homeless had acquired a Rambouillet would come out. It wouldn't be because I was burning with desire to get a great bike. I would simply be interested in the person's story, because that's me. It could turn out that the person knows all Rambouillets. It could turn out that the person picked it up as a 'catch of the day', as wethepeople suggests. It could indeed be stolen.

We don't know the entire conversation mastershake916 had with the man who brought in the bike. It could be that mastershake916 told the gentleman with the bike all about Rivendell, and Rambouillet. Perhaps not. Mastershake 916 is also a frequent contributor though, and I like to try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, because I've learned that most of the people here are really nice people who would almost give you the shirts off their backs...'just because'.

And I would say, having looked at your posts, that you are also one of the really nice people too :) .

East Hill

Dude your query may say more about you than it says about said "homeless guy". I mean, frankly I'm surprised that some of the more politically correct brethren haven't already pounced.

Over in the road forum they might almost accuse this of being a "shill" whatever that means.

People are pretty sincere here (in C&V and Bike Forums in general) and respectful of one another, and most questions are responded to in a concrete, on the surface reply.

Now I know what you're thinking: I'm going to bash the elitism of the OP to make such stereotypic conclusions about the "homeless guy", with his "bum bars". I think the reader is bright enought to draw their own conclusions about another's elitism so I'll leave that to Sheldon Brown or a homeless advocate other than myself.

There were a few other red flags of greed that, (I'm sure I'm not the only one) crossed my mind.

The idea that you would track the clueless idiot down and give him 10% of your perceived value of his little peice of heaven is a bit presumptuous don't you think?

Then there's the little question of "what makes something valuable?" I would think that here in the Classic and Vintage forum (of all places) the aesthetic of Rivendell re-gurgitated mass produced old school technology that we're going to charge the ignorant consumer some ungodly arbitrary mark-up on: would give the reader much more nausea than the ignorant "homeless" guy comments.

Before I loose my cool and my mini-rant escalates any further, I would encourage the OP to leave the alleged "homeless guy" and his amalgam, marketing strategy ploy on wheels out of his radar. Maybe the guy fell on hard times because like you, his ignorant consumerism brought him down to earth, and now he's left with a nifty little tarnished transportation paradigm.

Happy Sunday.

Sorry for the Sunday morning, church lady ethics lecture, but I couldn't resist. :)
It just looked like a nice bike and since it was my size, in addition to the fact that it you're going to be riding around a lot like he was, a more upright bike would probably suit him better.
I wasn't out to take advantage of him or anything, when I said that I regret not offering him $100 for it that was when I was not fully aware of it's value, I'd probably give him more now if that situation were to happen now.
But anyways, good job at making me feel like a horrible person.

It just looked like a nice bike and since it was my size, in addition to the fact that it you're going to be riding around a lot like he was, a more upright bike would probably suit him better.
I wasn't out to take advantage of him or anything, when I said that I regret not offering him $100 for it that was when I was not fully aware of it's value, I'd probably give him more now if that situation were to happen now.
But anyways, good job at making me feel like a horrible person.Don't feel horrible. If I saw a chrome Cinelli at a garage sale for $20, I'd just hand them the $20 and see if they'd throw in that old Silca frame pump with it.

I just got back inside from pulling some weeds, to cool off and let some of the ideas simmer. I never said I'm not judgemental, I'm a human being just like homeless people are. I just think it odd that you would say my comments have no place on this public forum, when a lot of people, I'm sure were having similar thoughts. I suppose you're right though, this thread, to me is a prickly one. Probably belongs in politics and religion, you're right - far too controversial for the nuts and bolts of C&V. The thing is, I'm a regular contributor here, with a lot of experience in this area and to dis me, while not conceding that the crux of the original post is a bit too thorny...

now I think somebody, maybe one of the moderators could take that one up. I'm just asking for a little leeway on this. Check my other posts before ditching me OK?
Well you're the only one that has shown any dismay to this thread, to the contrary people have been that have taken offense to how you have judged my character without even knowing me.
I presented it in a rational manner while you've spoke through your emotions.
You never considered the fact that he might like a bike that requires less maintenance and has a more upright riding position and some money, but of coarse I wouldn't be forcing the sale upon him.

Don't feel horrible. If I saw a chrome Cinelli at a garage sale for $20, I'd just hand them the $20 and see if they'd throw in that old Silca frame pump with it.
Thanks, part of it was to say that he was attempting to do so.


We had a thread similar to this just a few months ago. I don't think anyone means any disrespect to anyone who is homeless. I know I certainly don't. I am friendly to everyone I meet along the road/path/trail when I'm out on my bike, and it's not important to me whether or not they may be homeless. It's true, I don't work at a bike shop, or at a bike co-op, as mastershake 916 does, so I may never experience this (and due to my height, I doubt I'll ever find anyone who just happens to be riding that 48 cm DeRosa!), but if I were in the same position as mastershake916, I would do as I stated earlier: I'd ask if he'd like to sell/trade, offer a respectable amount of cash, and let him take his choice of transportation. But, this is how it would have started:

Me: "Wow, that's a nice bike! A Rivendell Rambouillet...look at those beautiful lugs..."
Rambouillet man: "Yes, I got this years ago...
or
Rambouillet man: "It is? I got this a few years ago at SA...is it worth anything?

One thing would lead to another, and how someone seemingly homeless had acquired a Rambouillet would come out. It wouldn't be because I was burning with desire to get a great bike. I would simply be interested in the person's story, because that's me. It could turn out that the person knows all Rambouillets. It could turn out that the person picked it up as a 'catch of the day', as wethepeople suggests. It could indeed be stolen.

We don't know the entire conversation mastershake916 had with the man who brought in the bike. It could be that mastershake916 told the gentleman with the bike all about Rivendell, and Rambouillet. Perhaps not. Mastershake 916 is also a frequent contributor though, and I like to try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, because I've learned that most of the people here are really nice people who would almost give you the shirts off their backs...'just because'.

And I would say, having looked at your posts, that you are also one of the really nice people too :) .

East Hill
Thank you very much. :o


Okay, now that I've explained myself (not with the two quotes above, which is thanking people) let's just forget it, masi may have just seen my post in a different way than everyone else, and hopefully after hearing what I have to say feels differently.

Thanks, part of it was to say that he was attempting to do so.


Thank you very much. :o


Okay, now that I've explained myself (not with the two quotes above, which is thanking people) let's just forget it, masi may have just seen my post in a different way than everyone else, and hopefully after hearing what I have to say feels differently.


Ill let it go after I say this, find the guy, make an offer, I truly hope he says,"Sure!Why not!" :) Good luck! I truly hope you get the bike! ;)

Say you have someone come into your shop riding a road bike that's 3 sizes too big for them, with clipless pedals and street shoes, asking, "Hey I tried to put air in these tires but the pump at the gas station wouldn't work can you fix it?"

Then the former owner of said bike comes in an hour later looking for it and the only thing you can do is describe the gentlemen who brought it in, and wish him the best of luck.

Or the guy who brought in a beat up full suspension Next with an Ultegra short cage rear derailleur bolted onto it who says "I pulled this off my other bike because the one on here was bent can you make it work?"

You tend to take a certain view of these situations after stuff like that happens a dozen times a year. Sure, it might really be their bike, plenty of people of little means happen to ride some very nice bikes, but there's no way to be sure either way.

In either case I wouldn't make an offer. In one situation you'd be getting quite a bargain. In another situation you'd be helping someone offload a stolen bike. Only one of these is acceptable to me, and it's not worth the risk that it could be the other.

This thread is worth nothing without you getting rejected by a "homeless person" who was merely the victim of bad fortune. I work at a shop and have always hoped some hapless person would walk into the shop with a killer bike. In fact, this has happened a couple times. Once with a Bruce Gordon and once with a character-laden Waterford ridden by the one and only Million Mile Freddy (joking here, as the bike was custom made for his 200 lbs and 90 lbs of gear--amazing really). I wasn't about to reach for the stash, but it certainly piques my interest more to see an uncharacteristic bike under some weathered legs. Oh well, the bike might be appreciated more by me, but that ends up sounding ridiculous if that person has ridden that bike many more miles than I've ridden all my bikes total. If it is indeed an uninformed person with a nice ride, I have too many bikes anyway and wouldn't be able to sit with that purchase on my conscience.

Just think of it this way. Your purportedly homeless fellow is soaking up the bumps on your potentially pot hole riddled streets with his low bottom bracket and Peterson-approved high bar position. Even though he can't afford a chiropractor, at least he's doing himself a service, something an inexpensive but maldesigned mountain bike wouldn't do!

It just looked like a nice bike and since it was my size, in addition to the fact that it you're going to be riding around a lot like he was, a more upright bike would probably suit him better.
I wasn't out to take advantage of him or anything, when I said that I regret not offering him $100 for it that was when I was not fully aware of it's value, I'd probably give him more now if that situation were to happen now.
But anyways, good job at making me feel like a horrible person.

Sorry mastershake.You're not a horrible person. I hope I'm not either, but sometimes I act like one, often without warning. I must have broken out the venom yesterday :o . My daughter had her first communion yesterday, and before church, my 3 mugs of coffee were sending me into a zone. Lately I've been disecting things I read, but sometimes my imagination fills in the voids and before you know it I'm entertaining conspiracy theories! My other thread that I was writing on dealt with Uniglide freehub bodies, pretty lame stuff.

There is a guy in my area that has a pretty pearlescent orange Rivendell Ramboullet that I rode with last year. He bought it from Peter White cycles I believe. He did pay quite a bit for the complete bike, something like 2600$ if I recall correctly. This guy had 135mm XTR mountain hubs on his which I thought was pretty cool. The high rise headset spacers, or slightly elevated head lug on those bikes are kind of unique. It looks like if it was in your size, one of these would be really comfortable. Why do people turn handlebars up like that anyway?

I'm a psych RN at the biggest urban hospital in Dayton, OH and the area homeless shelter is right over there as well. There are a lot of homeless in Dayton, that's for sure. We deal with them a lot on the psych floor too. If they say they are suicidal, the sometimes get admitted for a while. We give out good meals, snacks and accommodations. We're pretty decent to them really.

I think what is being missed here is that this is not an 'old' bike. The Rambouillet was only introduced a few years ago, and is a very expensive bike, and to get one, you have to order it from Rivendell direct, or through a very few dealers.

It is NOT the kind of bike that is likely to end up on the trash heap or in a thrift store by legitimate means. Maybe in 15 years when an owner may have died and his kids or whatever don't know what the bike is, but this bike can't be more than 2 years old (the blue color only came out recently - the earlier ones were orange).

So, aside from the remote possibility that an apparently homeless guy bought a $2,500 bike, it would seem pretty clear that it is stolen, especially considering that a 2 year old boutique bike is being ridden with unravelling tape and flipped up handlebars.

I don't think i'm a bad person for suggesting this. It's simply a rational conclusion. No, it's not impossible that this person is a.) a non-homeless person who just dresses and acts like a homeless person for whatever reason, or b.) a homeless person who is also a bike aficionado and somehow bought himself a new Rivendell but can't be bothered to maintain it, but seriously, that's a bit of a stretch.

If some apparently homeless guy pulled up into a Jiffy Lube in a Ferarri Enzo with mismatched wheels and an interior filled with trash, you would suspect something. Only stolen cars are a lot more obvious to normal people than stolen bikes, so the situation is inconceivable, but to a bike guy, it should be just as obvious.

What this means, however, is that if you offer him $100 (or $500, or $1000) for it, you are probably buying stolen property. The more ethical thing to do would be to check the serial number, and contact Grant Peterson or one of the Rivendell owners groups to see if it belongs to somebody. There are only a few hundred Rambouillets produced each year, so the chances of finding the original owner are not too slim. I think it would also be ethical to see if you can hook the homeless guy up with a different bike that would serve him just as well, presuming that he was not the one that stole the Rivendell.

An interesting point. It could have been a custom painted Rambouillet, but the owner would know that!

East Hill

stolen bike, we should start a thread. here in cv we buy sell trade bikes that are 10 20 30 40 years old . How do any of us know for sure the the bike we just got wasnt stolen at some point in its life?How many years and how many owners does it take for it to stop being a stolen bike? Why do some of my bikes have locks on them? Forgot the combo lost the key or was it stolen? My local bike shop has no problem cutting locks off for me. lets sick the police on the homeless guy because we dont think he should have a bike that nice. Then we can feel lawful when we buy it at the police auction for 1/2 of 1% of its ebay value.What ever hapened to inocent until proven guilty?

I always find these threads entertaing. There is so much verbal hand wringing as to what the "right" course of action is. Most folks would assume the bike was stolen but it is possible that it is not. The OP did not "trick" the current owner out of the bike or do anything other than voice his opinion. Seems to me that most decent people ( like most people in c&v forum in my experience) would do what was suggetsed previously:

1. Offer to trade/ buy the bike. (yes or no is the outcome)
2. Through Rivendell, try to track down the owner. ( find the owner or not is the outcome)
3. Either reunite the bike with its owner and be re-imbursed for you trouble or end up with a nice bike for cheap.

Why all the hubub? Why all of the societal dynamics? ( I just made that up!) To the OP I would make an offer the next time you saw him and see what he says. Keep us posted and FWIW I think your suspicion is correct.

An interesting thread. Not to add fuel to the fire, but here in NYC it's sometimes virtually impossible to distinguish between the very rich and the homeless. Sometimes you need to look closely at their hair, skin, and general appearance of health (or lack thereof) to know for sure. There are plenty of rich eccentrics here (as there probably are in other urban areas), who could care less about what they look like to other people: if money's not an object, why give a #$%^ being the general rule of thumb. I would maybe look twice at a homeless looking person riding a bike here, and then make one of two conclusions:

1) stolen bike
2) a person rich enough not to care about their appearance, riding his or her Rambouillet.

So maybe what we have here is a case of judging the book by its cover, so to speak, with an clear lack of actual facts to support the "homeless" claim.

An interesting thread. Not to add fuel to the fire, but here in NYC it's sometimes virtually impossible to distinguish between the very rich and the homeless. Sometimes you need to look closely at their hair, skin, and general appearance of health (or lack thereof) to know for sure. There are plenty of rich eccentrics here (as there probably are in other urban areas), who could care less about what they look like to other people: if money's not an object, why give a #$%^ being the general rule of thumb. I would maybe look twice at a homeless looking person riding a bike here, and then make one of two conclusions:

1) stolen bike
2) a person rich enough not to care about their appearance, riding his or her Rambouillet.

So maybe what we have here is a case of judging the book by its cover, so to speak, with an clear lack of actual facts to support the "homeless" claim.

Heh.. You can usually tell on closer inspection.

As for the 'but how do we know that any used bike is not stolen?' post above, the poster should have thought things through a little more. There is no point in presuming guilt when there is nothing suspicious, but when a situation looks overwhelmingly like a stolen bike situation, then it's worth considering the possibility.

Two guys on the same expensive, newish, bike.. One looks 'normal' and the bike is in good shape. The other looks homeless and the bike is falling apart. Either bike _could_ be stolen, but it's neither unreasonable nor prejudicial to suspect the latter a lot more than the former.

An interesting thread. Not to add fuel to the fire, but here in NYC it's sometimes virtually impossible to distinguish between the very rich and the homeless.

Ain't that the truth!! Well - sometimes except for the smell...... :eek:

I was just talking with a friend of mine yesterday on a very similar subject. Your observations are as true here in CA as they are in NY, as we observed just yesterday while watching scraggly-appearing folks jump into expensive cars and drive off.

I even opined out loud that were I to suddenly come into a few million dollars, I'd still dress like and look like a bum. It is who I am. :D

Two guys on the same expensive, newish, bike.. One looks 'normal' and the bike is in good shape. The other looks homeless and the bike is falling apart. Either bike _could_ be stolen, but it's neither unreasonable nor prejudicial to suspect the latter a lot more than the former.
yes it is

Sorry mastershake.You're not a horrible person. I hope I'm not either, but sometimes I act like one, often without warning. I must have broken out the venom yesterday :o . My daughter had her first communion yesterday, and before church, my 3 mugs of coffee were sending me into a zone. Lately I've been disecting things I read, but sometimes my imagination fills in the voids and before you know it I'm entertaining conspiracy theories! My other thread that I was writing on dealt with Uniglide freehub bodies, pretty lame stuff.

There is a guy in my area that has a pretty pearlescent orange Rivendell Ramboullet that I rode with last year. He bought it from Peter White cycles I believe. He did pay quite a bit for the complete bike, something like 2600$ if I recall correctly. This guy had 135mm XTR mountain hubs on his which I thought was pretty cool. The high rise headset spacers, or slightly elevated head lug on those bikes are kind of unique. It looks like if it was in your size, one of these would be really comfortable. Why do people turn handlebars up like that anyway?

I'm a psych RN at the biggest urban hospital in Dayton, OH and the area homeless shelter is right over there as well. There are a lot of homeless in Dayton, that's for sure. We deal with them a lot on the psych floor too. If they say they are suicidal, the sometimes get admitted for a while. We give out good meals, snacks and accommodations. We're pretty decent to them really.
Okay cool, glad it's all straightened out.


Also, if it is stolen, I'd try my hardest to find the original owner are return it.

Rule of thumb.... If your bike is worth more than $200, DO NOT trust it to a bike lock or even let it out of your sight for a second. I'm pretty sure there's a similar (looks to be homeless) guy riding a 2-3 year old Cannondale around the area where I work. The guy/girl/whomever walked into a busy auto shop, and rode off on it.,,,,BD

I was under the impression that this was a vintage bike. Now I believe it is stolen like a few others here.

Kind of off topic, but I think it's cool that our downtown Salvation Army supplies all the guys "in the program" with a bike. I don't know if they sell it to them, loan it to them, or donate it to them. But there is a whole fleet parked out front with big mailbox type stickers on them. I'm sure getting some exercise while going back and forth to the job and the shelter helps them overcome their issues.... Don't recall seeing any Rivendells in the bikerack however.
John

I have actually heard of grants (as in free money) given to people who repair and provide clunkers to the homeless population. If you can have a bike for free, you are less likely to steal one.

I think the grants were given by the Dept of Transportation. There was an article in the Phoenix paper last fall about a fellow that got one. He employs homeless to fix them. I believe he was getting what amounted to $5000+/bike (yes $5k). He promised to provide so many bikes and got a grant for $X. He is providing jobs and has overhead, but it came out to basically $5k/bike. Got to love government involvement.

Now I have to go explore federal grants ;-)

I have actually heard of grants (as in free money) given to people who repair and provide clunkers to the homeless population. If you can have a bike for free, you are less likely to steal one.

I think the grants were given by the Dept of Transportation. There was an article in the Phoenix paper last fall about a fellow that got one. He employs homeless to fix them. I believe he was getting what amounted to $5000+/bike (yes $5k). He promised to provide so many bikes and got a grant for $X. He is providing jobs and has overhead, but it came out to basically $5k/bike. Got to love government involvement.

Now I have to go explore federal grants ;-)
Wow, seems excessive.
My bike kitchen has got to look into it through.

I believe he was getting what amounted to $5000+/bike (yes $5k). He promised to provide so many bikes and got a grant for $X. He is providing jobs and has overhead, but it came out to basically $5k/bike. Got to love government involvement.


Well there ya go, Rivendells for the homeless!;)

Two guys on the same expensive, newish, bike.. One looks 'normal' and the bike is in good shape. The other looks homeless and the bike is falling apart. Either bike _could_ be stolen, but it's neither unreasonable nor prejudicial to suspect the latter a lot more than the former.

yes it is

Yes it is...I've had someone yell bike thief at me before because I was riding home from the thrift store on a nice bike with clipless pedals, wearing falling apart moccasins and ghost riding a clunker.

I Rambouillet by Rivenendell.
Someone who looked to be homeless brought it to the shop to get some air in the tires, which he commented where not in the best condition.
There were bum bars on it and the bar tape was unraveling.
It was basically like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rivendell-Rambouillet-road-bike-60cm-large_W0QQitemZ250104944731QQihZ015QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now I'm regretting not offering him $100 for it.


What a rip. Rivendell's a factory built. It's all marketed like it's vintage and has some special old-world aura. They aren't even custom and those frames are priced higher than many custom frames.

as we observed just yesterday while watching scraggly-appearing folks jump into expensive cars and drive off.


No, you never can tell.

I used to love driving my beaten-to-crap 86 Mitsubishi pickup while I wore my Rolex watch. Nice study in contrasts, huh? Me in work clothes and the truck in its pure primered beauty.

I can't say what I would do in the same situation. Bike lust? Sure. Would I think about how it could be hot? Absolutely. Throw those two ingredients and let them wrestle around in the brain for a while.

I saw a tweaker riding what appeared to be a Raleigh Pro by the beach one day. He was riding it on a bare rear rim. I did go and look for it again, but don't know if I actually would have offered him cash for it. Would have been sweet getting a classic cheap, to be sure. Would have sucked wondering if it was stolen.

Yes it is...I've had someone yell bike thief at me before because I was riding home from the thrift store on a nice bike with clipless pedals, wearing falling apart moccasins and ghost riding a clunker.


Enron.

Enron?

Enron?

Thieves in suits. And they stole more than a Rivendell.

EDIT: Read braingel's post...my quote dropped some of his quotes. My comment is a +1 on tolfan's comment.

Ahh, okay.,,,,BD