RB-1 Bridgestone catch of the day
#1
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RB-1 Bridgestone catch of the day
I'm pretty excited about this find. was traveling out of town and thought I'd check the local craigslist. I saw this advertised and it turns out the seller was interested in trading for a bike that was maybe a bit more "pedestrian" and so he would feel comfortable parking at coffee shops and the like. So, we worked out a deal on parts of (I kept a the crank on my bike and we swapped brakes and wheels between the two) a rebuilt (improved..actually a very nice bike) Bianchi Strada LX (and a little cash) for this - a 1991 RB-1. The RB-1 is sporting a full (save for hubs that are random at the moment + a DA headset + Cinelli stem/bar) Shimano 600 groupset and is in great shape. Hopefully he is as happy with the trade as I am. Here's what I ended up with. Nice wheels will be coming soon I hope.
Nice bike? I'm happy.
Nice bike? I'm happy.
#4
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Nice! I've always wanted an RB-1. And that looks really clean. Does it ride as nice as I dream they do? My first decent bike was a pretty minty Bridgestone Sport Touring 300. I've always regretted selling it.
#5
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Great deal, sounds you are both happy with it. Looks to be in fantastic shape.
FWIW, I have an original RB-1 front wheel (600 hub to Ritchey Vantage rim) and original Ritchey Force (Nitto) stem if you're planning to get it back to original spec. They came on an RB-1 I picked up this winter but the frame is pretty dinged up so I'm planning to powder coat it and make it into a single speed for my son. I'm not sure of the year but it's a tri-color groupset with the white/yellow color scheme.
FWIW, I have an original RB-1 front wheel (600 hub to Ritchey Vantage rim) and original Ritchey Force (Nitto) stem if you're planning to get it back to original spec. They came on an RB-1 I picked up this winter but the frame is pretty dinged up so I'm planning to powder coat it and make it into a single speed for my son. I'm not sure of the year but it's a tri-color groupset with the white/yellow color scheme.
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You certainly won't in Seattle. They usually get so much attention that the buyer backs out and puts it up on ebay. I've only seen 5 sell here in the last few years and they were gone within 10 minutes of posting.
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Well, the seller of this one edited his ad (I saw it one day & the next day I went to it and he'd edited it) to increase the price. I figured what the heck, I'll shoot him an email and we'll talk. It turns out he was a very reasonable guy, but what happened is he called the guy (a family friend...maybe it was a gift, who knows?) he got it from and the guy told him how the value had gone through the roof on the bikes and he'd buy it for $500 if he were in the same town. For me, I had built up a very nice, respectable Bianchi (one that in truth probably would get far more coffee shop compliments than the RB-1 would) with the best of pieces left from flip bike projects. So, including the $ I gave him, it did not cost me very much at all, but market-wise it's quite possible I could have pimped the Bianchi for almost as much as one of us would have been willing to pay for the RB-1...maybe...but, anyway, this all shows why flipping, trading & just talking to folks and enjoying the hobby makes it all work out.
I may be interested in the wheel. not sure what I'm gonna do there...was thinking of building some nice Open Pros on 600 hubs actually. I have no interest in being 'correct' to the extent of running tubulars. One of the bummers for the seller was that he had a shop swap out the wheels and had ended up with really crappy wheels with a 6 speed freewheel so he was friction shifting and had lost or given the shop the original wheels. He said that later he realized that hadn't been such a great idea but by then it was too late.
I've only put a few miles on it so far, but yes, it rides wonderfully. I'm sure that will only improve once it has some nice wheels on it. I will be very interested to see how it compares to my Univega Gran Premio, Grandis Speciale and Bertoni Professionale....potentially equally wonderful framesets, tubing and design, but with less name recognition due to the bike building career that may have launched the RB-1 into a high spinning value orbit. I'm not saying or implying anything negative about the RB-1...I'm simply very curious. I already know it feels wonderful and I already know it's a very thoughtfully and well-made machine.
I may be interested in the wheel. not sure what I'm gonna do there...was thinking of building some nice Open Pros on 600 hubs actually. I have no interest in being 'correct' to the extent of running tubulars. One of the bummers for the seller was that he had a shop swap out the wheels and had ended up with really crappy wheels with a 6 speed freewheel so he was friction shifting and had lost or given the shop the original wheels. He said that later he realized that hadn't been such a great idea but by then it was too late.
I've only put a few miles on it so far, but yes, it rides wonderfully. I'm sure that will only improve once it has some nice wheels on it. I will be very interested to see how it compares to my Univega Gran Premio, Grandis Speciale and Bertoni Professionale....potentially equally wonderful framesets, tubing and design, but with less name recognition due to the bike building career that may have launched the RB-1 into a high spinning value orbit. I'm not saying or implying anything negative about the RB-1...I'm simply very curious. I already know it feels wonderful and I already know it's a very thoughtfully and well-made machine.
#9
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I realize this. I watch very closely and know the market. There have been 3 that have sold in the past 2 months for <$300 though. 2 were in my size that I was 2nd on the list for.
#10
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I just looked through the catalogs and mine is a 92 model. The catalog says the 91 models came with Wolber GTX rims (I might have one of those too...). Anywho, these parts are just hanging in my basement and probably won't get used for some time. I've been thinking that while they are pretty nice parts they would be of most use to someone with an old RB-1 so that's why I mentioned them. The rear rim has already been swapped for an OpenPro and I'll certainly make use of that wheel but the front with the Ritchey Vantage rim will have to hang for a while until it finds a home.
Did the RB-1's of this era come with tubulars? From the catalog scans out there it's hard to tell but I get the impression that they came with clinchers.
Did the RB-1's of this era come with tubulars? From the catalog scans out there it's hard to tell but I get the impression that they came with clinchers.
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hmmm...good question....I assumed they did come with tubulars because this one did have tubulars. However, the seller got it from the original owner who was a racer and it's quite possible it was changed to tubulars due to the technology of the time in tires. I'll shoot you a message about the wheel.
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The joy with Rb-1's is that people often switched out components since they are not show-room bikes. Even some Rb-1s came with different front and rear hubs laced to Wolber rims. From all the ones I've seen, they came with clinchers.
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I think that the April 1st sale was a hoax.
Are you using notify.me ?
It texts my iphone usually within 15 minutes of a post.
Just type in your craigslist or ebay search like normal and copy and paste that url into notify.me and then select text or email notification.
If you tell me what size you are looking for I will help you get one. I'm on craigslist all the time.
Are you using notify.me ?
It texts my iphone usually within 15 minutes of a post.
Just type in your craigslist or ebay search like normal and copy and paste that url into notify.me and then select text or email notification.
If you tell me what size you are looking for I will help you get one. I'm on craigslist all the time.
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Nice! I have an RB-2 I built up with 600 parts (kind of an RB1.5) and it rides pretty nice.
seat angle has been adjusted..
seat angle has been adjusted..
Last edited by toytech; 06-03-11 at 09:19 AM. Reason: added picture
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Do the RB-1/7 and RB-1/8 have different rear spacings? Or are they both 130mm with the 7 speed shimmed out? Or a transitional 128mm?
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There's a whole lot of pretty in here!
My city/errand/camping bike is an 1990 RB-2. But as it's turned into a bit of a Frankenbike over the past couple of years (and it's definitely showing its city bike treatment), it would look out of place in such fine company. But I still love it.
My city/errand/camping bike is an 1990 RB-2. But as it's turned into a bit of a Frankenbike over the past couple of years (and it's definitely showing its city bike treatment), it would look out of place in such fine company. But I still love it.
#21
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Welcome to the club! Here is mine (well, my wife's -but I ride it too!):
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https://rowdml.tripod.com/panmass
https://rowdml.tripod.com/panmass
#22
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Rb-1
Here's mine. Pics and and the story, here.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-RT?highlight=
Also. I picked up another recently, a 1992 model that is undergoing an extensive restoration/slight customization. I'll display that in a few months.
J
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-RT?highlight=
Also. I picked up another recently, a 1992 model that is undergoing an extensive restoration/slight customization. I'll display that in a few months.
J
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