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!)
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| Now this is what you want to see opening a bike box! :) NITTO |
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| 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. |
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| Free at last! |
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| 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... |
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| Just a bit mudded up... Trek 650B in the background. |
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| Plenty of hi-vis tape on the bike, and a bit of downtube mud |
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| 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.... :) |
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.
ReplyDeleteOkay now I see that the dirt is from a shakedown ride. That makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteThanks 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' !
ReplyDeleteI'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?!? :)
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!
Delete:) 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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