Any idea what issue it was in? I have most of the recent ones, but no time to look through them all.

"Let's run drop bars way the deuce up in the sky because that's clearly what they're designed for"

That's my favourite thing I read today. I don't actually quite buy into the cynicism - drop bars offer you a higher position, and a lower one, no matter where those positions are in relation to the seat, but nevertheless, that made me smile.

I've got it. PM me your address and I'll send you a copy.

I'm not sure I would call it "terrible," since he has a fairly well-defined niche market, that seems to be getting bigger, that will gladly spend money on Brooks saddles and lumps of beeswax. If I remember correctly, fixies used to be a relatively "fringe" concept as well...

I was googling this yesterday and I remember it being issue 37, but I could be off on that one. Also, a great way to spend $55 would be the $25 rivendell membership, which gets you the reader for a year, $10 off your first order, and the member (basically normal, but pretty good) parts prices, plus the 4 CDR's of the old readers @$10 each. However, at least according to the site, you only get up to issue 35 or something, so you would miss out on the article in question. But anyway, that's going to be my birthday present to myself this year.

As for running drops up high, yeah, it does kind of work, but the riv guys act like that's the point of drops. Nevermind that drops were invented to get you low. I mean, flop and chops make great bullhorns, but you nobody's claiming that's the point of drops. I also love how they hate flat bars with extensions because they only give you two positions, but then they sell the albatross, which is a two position bar if there ever was one.

Yes and we can also find legions of people who will say track drops are a good ergonomic option for long rides.

A classic drop bar bar places your hand on a curve which focuses pressure on the edges of it. Anatomic drops(or shims) flatten or reverse the curve to spread pressure over the entire hand. The drop part simply is more ergonomic as is top which usually stays more horizontal before the brakes.(no mounting the brakes at a crazy angle that is hard to reach from drops.)

The whole point of a brooks is that it molds to you. That means it is spreading pressure out instead of focusing it on hard regions suited to deal with it. This is the exact opposite of a cutout saddle which seeks to complete remove pressure from sensitive areas and focus it on those better suited to supporting it. since it doesn't mold you may have to try a few different saddles till you find one that fits but the vast majority of riders who want a moderately aggressive position will be better suited by a modern saddle then a brooks.

No, I get what you mean - they are kind of evangelical. Anyway, my point was really that your post gave me a big grin, and I like that!

To keep it a little on-topic, Harris/Sheldon was selling San Joses redone with 8 speed internal hubs for a while. Interesting concept, also interesting was the choice of Sun CR18 rims, which apparently are pretty good eyeletted road/touring rims. Surprising, because you can get them on 36h formulas for $145 shipped from the my favorite wheel guys, bicyclewheels.com. Seems like a really good option for a kind of heavy but f*ck-all burly street wheelset, like a deep V but not blingy and not as likely to get you killed in a crosswind.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/b...os8/index.html
https://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR

Also, I really don't think too many pros are riding traditional bend drop bars, but maybe I never looked.

o i was reading this tthread without even realizing i read that article
i'll see if i can scan it and put it up

in the meantime, they do a quick point comparison of the qb & sj:
-japan lugged v. taiwan tigged
-quill v. threadless
-multi speed v. single speed
-$875 price difference

Grant's conclusion:
"If you can get over the hurdle that the frame isn't lugged, then this is the best value, the most bike for the dollar in the world"

Articles of Faith!

If they were comparing it to geared bike why look at the san jose instead of the volpe or castro valley?

It's multi-speed Vs. single because the quickbeam has two chainrings and two freewheels. They way they are sized, the smaller chainring goes with the bigger cog so you can functionally flip-flop with no brake pad adjustments. The San Jose is just a straight up SS.

here you go

Sky Yaeger is UG-LY!!! Dag, with a name like that I had always figured her for a hottie.

"I am baffled by urban hipsters riding fixed gear track bikes as fashion accessories and finding out they are not as practical or safe as they thought."

Me too, Sky. Me too.

Thanks very much!

Hey that san jose looks good! (note: my conversion looks a heck of a lot like that, down to noodles, esge fenders and gummy scr-5's) The tweed mudflaps may be a bit Rivendell'd out though. I will have to put the SJ on the shortlist if I ever want a fixed tourer. It even has mid fork rack eyelets out front.

I have mixed feelings about Rivendell bikes, but a lot of respect for Grant Petersen -- how many other bike company owners would review, let alone recommend, some other company's bike?

I test rode a San Jose a few weeks ago. They are fun, solid bikes. The only things I didn't like were the pedals, seat, bar tape and brake levers.

Re: lugs, my understanding is that they don't just look pretty, they also have two big practical advantages: they strengthen the joints and make tube repairs easier.

On the other hand, I wonder if Rivendell would ever consider making a non-lugged budget bike similar to the SJ. A lot of people dig Rivendell's design philosphy but could never afford a $1400 bike.

sweet lugs mean the builder spent time and effort. This alone doesn't make a better bike, but I'd bank on a nice lugged bike from any reputable builder over a factory job.

Thanks Coelcanth!

Thats why the made the Bleriot, still not $600 complete, but $750 frame/fork/headset isn't unaffordable.

On the Riv note though, WTF happened to their website?? It used to be classy, now it's trash....

Ditto -- my guess is that they switched to a content management system/e-commerce package that hasn't had it's templates tweaked by a designer/developer so they're left with an "out of the box" look. Boo. Hiss.

I guess I was a day too late.....sorry. I scanned it this morning before logging in. I got a pdf of it if anyone wants it to print out. Hit me with a pm and email address.

I wouldn't necessarily buy this anyway because I have a conversion that's mostly the same thing, but a single-sided rear wheel is an absolute deal-killer, especially on a bike that you might want to take offroad occasionally.

Also, If Grant liked this he should love the Raleigh One-Way, it has a crowned fork. Less BB drop, but it's meant to be ridden fixed. Sloping top tube, but they can deal.

Also, anyone from bianchi talking about hipsters on track bikes = laugh riot. That's like someone from apple dissing iPods as a fashion accessory.

The whole BB drop complaint made me lose a lot of respect for them. If anyone curmudgeony luddites should realize that stand over height(within reason) is a meaningless measurement on a road or cross bike. Giving it an extra cm of drop serves no purpose but to make it worse if the owner decided to put a fixed cog on it.

The only legitimate complaint I see is the lack of a flipflop which is even more absurd since bianchi already has a branded flip flop from the pista they could have slapped on possibly even with a cost savings since they wouldn't have to get a completely new hub.