Friday, March 21, 2014

New Bike Day!!!


The Saluki has landed!  I'm the proud owner of a 2005 (very purple) Rivendell Saluki.  This all started back on Jan 27th with a post on the RBW Google group listing a 60cm, Canti-brake Saluki with some extra's in the Bay area.  After a fairly lengthy exchange and several best of intentions attempts to pick up the bike in person during a business trip that kept getting postponed and eventually cancelled I picked up the bike at the local FedEx today.  For those keeping score I sold the 64cm Atlantis to fund this indulgence and it actually worked out to be a very nearly even trade (though it took 2 month's and alot of electronic hustling to make it happen).  Well worth the effort as I rolled out of the driveway this evening for a short inaugural spin around the neighborhood.

I have alot of riding planned for the upcoming weekend and hopefully the next wave of bad weather next week is here and gone quickly so I can keep getting out there on the new Saluki.  About the color.... Agapanthus Purple, better known as Lavendar...  it's pretty darn lavender.  It's a stunning bike in person but I'm not completely sold on the color.  There are options to get around that of course but I'm going to live with it a bit and see how it does/doesn't grow on me.

Here is the unboxing, and a couple shots after my ride.  You may notice that I managed to immediately get it dirty on the .5 mile dirt trail near my house.  That is just a small bit of what's to come, this bike will get used! (of course I wiped it down quickly after taking the pictures!)


Now this is what you want to see opening a bike box!  :) NITTO

The seller had the bike professionally packed, I can't really argue with the results but seeing the job they did made me feel pretty good about how I did with the Atlantis.  I guess packing up bikes isn't rocket science.

Free at last!

Both front and rear dropouts had a nice hard plastic stiffner in there to keep the shape.  Only down side was I caught some paint flaking on the rear dropouts when I took them out as they were very tight in the Riv dropouts...

Both front and rear dropouts had a nice hard plastic stiffner in there to keep the shape.  Only down side was I caught some paint flaking on the rear dropouts when I took them out as they were very tight in the Riv dropouts...

Just a bit mudded up... Trek 650B in the background.

Plenty of hi-vis tape on the bike,  and a bit of downtube mud

The Royal Pup... this may be the first bike I name... got to be a female name, and I'm leaning towards Agatha or Aggie... as in Aggie the Agapanthus Purple Saluki.... :)



5 comments:

  1. I was not sure what to expect when you told me about it, but purely from a color standpoint I think this bike is beautiful. Also, I think a smaller frame will definitely fit you better. Would have been nice if the bike had received a good bath before shipping, but if the deal is right those things can be overlooked. Look forward to a full report on how it rides.

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  2. Okay now I see that the dirt is from a shakedown ride. That makes me feel better.

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  3. Thanks for the comments Mary! Yeah the frame hasn't been used much in recent years and the components and the 'nooks and crannies' definitely show that upon inspection. Not a bad thing though, I don't mind a bit of clean up here and there. I'm going to do a full cable, bar tape, brake pad overhaul immediately but I wanted to get her rolling first and make sure the bike fits and so froth. Definitely very much a color that rhymes with 'Urple' !

    I'm thinking Golden Yellow for bar tape and possibly housing.... also toying with a two tone green handlebar with green housing... (cotton, shellacked but of course) What do you think for the contrasting color options given that I'm a rather large man riding a purple bike?!? :)

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    1. Forgot to respond to this, as when I read your comment I was on my iPad... Ed and I actually discussed this, even before reading your comment. We're such nerds! I said honey bar tape (I'm not a cotton shellack person) and saddle, and his thoughts were to do all black as the contrasting color. I think the green you suggest would look good! Whatever you do, you gotta own the purple!

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    2. :) I'm doing my best w/ the purple, I'm liking it more after enjoying the ride so much. I'm thinking darker, OD green like the sackville bags!

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