The Radavist

This Saturday, May 12th, Grant Petersen of Bridgestone and Rivendell fame will be at Velo Cult. Show up, have a beer and discuss how a touring bike should be loaded and the benefits of 650b. Oh Portland, you’re so rad.

This week I’m doing a little something special for Reader’s Rides. First up is a super straight forward bike check of Honor Forte’s Velo Orange Polyvalent touring bike. I met Honor at the Philly Bike Expo where he was riding a yellow RB-1. Since then, he’s put together a rather unique Polyvalent build:

“I wanted to send you my new build since I haven’t seen many of them built up this way on the web. It’s a Velo Orange Polyvalent touring setup. I’ve spent a few years reading over Rivendell literature and have always been attracted to the way they approach what a bicycle should be used for, so I wanted to build something that would be at home on city streets, fire trails, bike camping trips, long tours, etc. An everything bike. I already had a 650B wheelset and a full touring parts group I was moving around between frames, but they’ve all found their home and best fit on this frame. It truly is a multipurpose bike. Something interesting I decided to try out though was the new VO Integrated Decaleur with the Ostrich handlebar bag.

It’s great. You’ll see in the pictures that the decaleur is bolted through the leather of the bag, and attaches directly to the rack, low to the wheel instead of high up on the bar. Combined with the low-trail fork, the bike handles as if nothing’s on it even with a full heavy load in the bag; I find that I can lean back on a long ride with no hands on the bar and it still glides straight as an arrow with no wobble. Last thing worth noting is my rear fender-line method, just because I havent seen this done elsewhere. I wanted the fender close enough to the tire to maintain consistent fender spacing, but need to move it forward when taking the rear wheel out (horizontal dropouts). My solution was to cut a thin strip of a used intertube, weave it around the fender and chainstay, and tie it off with a knot on the non-drive side chainstay. It’s a small detail but it solved a big problem for me.”

If you’re into this kinda stuff, check out a full parts list below.

Photo by Steven Nereo

Before Kyle had his carbon roadie or his Rivendell, he rode a hella hyphy Concept. How’s that for some Save the Track Bike campaign fodder? Now who’s got the photo of Kyle wrecking this bike? Thanks to TOLA for the photo.

Also, remember this gem? West Coast style!

Dan commutes on a rather rare bird. For those of you who weren’t aware, Grant Peterson, of Rivendell, used to design bicycles for Bridgestone. His most famous models were the RB-1 and XO-1 frame. In 1993, the XO-1s sported a burnt orange color and could fit either 26″ or 700c wheels. They became the essential touring bikes of choice for many and have accumulated a rather cult-like following. Dan’s Bridgestone is a 1991 and was the only XO-1 to ever come with standard calipers, not cantis and it was designed for 26″ wheels, not 650b or 700c. This was also the only year that the XO-1 came in a purple or “tusk” paint color.

Bottom line is, Dan’s got an awesome commuter and you can check out more photos below.

Touring bikes come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the more die-hard tourers will ride 26″ wheels because of their availability when traveling to remote lands. Others swear by the Rivendell 650b size and still others stick to 700c. Sean from Rawland Cycles recently hit me up to tell me that they moved to Austin. Their bicycles are some of the gnarliest production touring bikes I’ve seen. That thing just looks like it’d be a blast to thrash some off-road trails on!

Check out more photos and info at the Rawland blog!

Now, this is probably the last bike I’d buy from Rivendell. The Bombadil is kind of a quirky city bike and the guy riding it did have a cute girlfriend who rode a Bridgestone track bike. Easily the cutest couple I saw on my Saturday ride.

I’m in the throws of packing and prepping for Interbike, so if you wanna see more photos, head over to my Flickr!

Hot damn! Marty and the crew at Geekhouse are just killing it with the Woodville bikes. Like Rivendell for the new generation, the Boston-based builders will not stop! Just wait till you see what’s in store for this year’s NAHBS. Hint hint. Check out more photos right here at the Geekhouse Flickr!

I’ll never put cork on this bike. It’s either bike ribbon or cloth tape for me and I usually lean to the latter more for comfort and daily use. Typically Tressostar, Velox or Cat Eye are your choices. All are perfectly fine bar tapes but once and a while, the new kid on the block deserves some credit. In comes Newbaum’s Cotton Cloth Bar Tape.

Check out the rest of the review below.

Just bought a grail of a bike from a friend on Friday. Full Shimano 600 with original barcon shifters.

Bridgestone’s RB-1 is a highly sought after bike. Grant Petersen of Rivendell cycles designed bikes for Bridgestone in the 80’s. The RB-1s and XO’s are some of the nicest frames to come out of the Bridgestone name before Bridgestone Japan canceled the domestic branch.

I think I may put some mustache bars on it and keep the 28c tires.

Edit: I threw an extra Cinelli 1a stem on it with some Cinelli Priest bars… just need some bar tape now!