Help me understand Bridgestone RB-1

[chakatrain]

...for the thoughts. The more I learn about bikes the more I seem to want to learn. Much appreciate all the knowledge and opinion sharing here.

[chakatrain]

...I don't think I am going to pick up the SF Bay Area listed RB-1 @$750. I'm leaning instead to putting that money towards a Rivendell, given that the ride quality should be a leap forward.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by chakatrain

...I don't think I am going to pick up the SF Bay Area listed RB-1 @$750. I'm leaning instead to putting that money towards a Rivendell, given that the ride quality should be a leap forward.

Hang on there bro. Nobody said the 'ride quality' of a Rivendell is a leap forward. The BUILD quality and craftsmanship is a HUGE leap forward, but the RIDE quality is just different - not better or worse. The RB-1 was, as mentioned, a classic road racing bike. Any race you could win, you win on an RB-1. None of the current spec Rivendells are even remotely close to being racing bikes. They're at various points on the sport touring - rough stuff - expedition touring spectrum, but Grant's not into racing bikes these days. Except for a limited edition cyclocross bike, but that's yet another different animal.

About the only thing a current Riv has in common with an RB-1 is the material and joining method. Yeah, they share a designer in name and DNA, but his design philosophy is at such a different point in its evolution that the fact that Grant designed it isn't really even a similarity.

If what you're looking for in ride quality is along the lines of what Riv is offering, nobody else does it better. Hell, almost nobody else does it at all. But if you're looking for a bike with ride characteristics similar to an RB-1, there are a lot of good places to look, but Rivendell isn't one of them.

-Ray

[palincss]

Originally Posted by Ray

Hang on there bro. Nobody said the 'ride quality' of a Rivendell is a leap forward. The BUILD quality and craftsmanship is a HUGE leap forward, but the RIDE quality is just different - not better or worse. The RB-1 was, as mentioned, a classic road racing bike. Any race you could win, you win on an RB-1. None of the current spec Rivendells are even remotely close to being racing bikes. They're at various points on the sport touring - rough stuff - expedition touring spectrum, but Grant's not into racing bikes these days. Except for a limited edition cyclocross bike, but that's yet another different animal.

Ray, are you saying you can no longer get a custom Riv, CPG-built, with "racy lines" or racing geometry? Sure, the production frames are not racing bikes. ButI have trouble believing you can't get it custom, just as I have difficulty believing CPG couldn't build one that was absolutely first class in every respect.

[Serotta PETE]

CPG can build any "iteration" that you would like. One of the classiest bikes I saw was at DBRK's in AUGUST> (I do not know if you can get it thru Riven BUT you can get it via CPG or David. or Richard or Tom or......... A CDA!!!

Go to his web site and take a look,


PETE

[Ray]

Originally Posted by palincss

Ray, are you saying you can no longer get a custom Riv, CPG-built, with "racy lines" or racing geometry? Sure, the production frames are not racing bikes. ButI have trouble believing you can't get it custom, just as I have difficulty believing CPG couldn't build one that was absolutely first class in every respect.

Curt can certainly build a great racing frame and Grant is obviously fully capable of designing one. But his preferences these days seem to run in such a different direction that I wonder whether he would. He pretty much says in the catalog that any bike that says Rivendell on the downtube is gonna have certain design features that make it a Rivendell. Like longer chainstays, shorter front-centers, tall head tubes, low bottom brackets, etc. Features that make it a fundamentally different animal. If you want a racing bike, there are probably a number of better places to go. Like direct to Curt. Or to Serotta or Sachs or Spectrum or....

This is not a dis on Rivendell at all - I love their stuff. God knows I've bought enough Grant-designed bikes to have a feel for them and to have done my share to support them over the years. But Grant's not looking for the racing-bike market and if that's what the OP is interested in, I'd steer him in a different direction. If what he wants is a Riv-like ride, there's no place better to get it.

-Ray

[michael white]

Looks like someone here needs to win a race on a Rivendell, preferably with bags and bell . . . You know, just to keep things interesting . . .

[nervexpro55]

Originally Posted by chakatrain

So...I've read some reviews about the Bridgestone RB-1; it
seems like the frame has a lot of fans. What's so special about it? I've been really enjoying reading about bike craftmanship and history lately and realize how many holes of ignorance exist in what I call my knowledge. Would be mighty grateful for a fan of this frame to share the love.

this thread in the classifieds forum got me thinking about this.

I have owned my 92 rb1 for sometime now, and must say it is a very nice riding bike. Here is a link to some pics from wool jersey site,
http://209.190.31.210/gallery/v/Jimmy_Katynski/
Also ck out some of my other rides.
Jimmy K

[chakatrain]

Originally Posted by Ray

Hang on there bro. Nobody said the 'ride quality' of a Rivendell is a leap forward. The BUILD quality and craftsmanship is a HUGE leap forward, but the RIDE quality is just different - not better or worse. The RB-1 was, as mentioned, a classic road racing bike. Any race you could win, you win on an RB-1.

Ray, thanks for the clarification. I did, indeed, confuse build quality and ride quality in my mind.

Learning about all things cycling is beginning to remind me of what someone once told me about the guitar: Easy to learn enough to have fun, practically impossible to master.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

For as long as I've been building I've always had what I called the "RB-1 test". Whatever was done with a design it had to pass the RB-1 test. If it wasn't better in some quantifiable way than an RB-1 then why bother.........back to the drawing board.

I felt it was true back then and to a great degree still feel the same way..........that a good athlete only needs an RB-1 to win a road race. If the rider has good legs and an RB-1 then that's all they need. Any more than that is gravy.

Dave

An oracle. Listen.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by chakatrain

Ray, thanks for the clarification. I did, indeed, confuse build quality and ride quality in my mind.

Learning about all things cycling is beginning to remind me of what someone once told me about the guitar: Easy to learn enough to have fun, practically impossible to master.

If you're just getting into it and either don't plan to race or just don't really know what you want yet, you really ought to consider one of Riv's bikes. They're great versatile bikes that you can do just about everything on. Once you've ridden a while you may decide to add another bike with different characteristics, but I've put a LOT of very happy miles on a couple of Rivs and would recommend them to almost anyone. But if you specifically want a race bike, you should understand that the RB-1 was one and the current Rivs aren't.

-Ray

[John H.]

Actually, they were not that good-Good geometry and that is about it. They were good frames compared to some of the crap that was coming out of Taiwan at the time and also compared to steel bikes made by many framebuilders of the time.
They were heavy as s**t, even heavier as they got bigger. My brothers 57.5 weighed about 1 lb. more than my 56- the tubing was gas pipe and got much heavier as the frames got bigger. (At least they were thinking of the heavier rider). Finish was not do good- paint was pretty dull- maybe that was by design. Headset. They rammed in some OE tange headset to the frames that almost always ovalized the headtube. If you tried to put an aftermarket headset you better secure it with some JB weld. You could watch the logos on the headset migrate to a different spot as the cups moved because they did not fit right.

[H1449-6]

For me it's nostalgia. I worked in a Bridgestone shop (Cross Country Cycle in Columbus, Ohio for those who remember it; now defunct) and had a 1993 RB-1/7 (bar end shifters) which fit my then much more flexible frame perfectly. I think it weighed pretty close to 24 lbs ready to ride. Those were the days when I was reasonably fit.

I sold that bike when I was seduced by the Cannondale 2.8 frame. Probably my worst cycling-related decision ever. Either that or getting rid of my paint-sample Kona Explosif with old XTR and the AMP fork.

Oh well.

If anyone has a 62 cm red 1993 RB-1 in excellent, stock condition, I'd pay top dollar for it.