I’m pretty retro-grouchy, so keep it basically period-correct and ride the bejeesus out of it, I say. No deep rims or that sort of nonsense. You will have a hard time finding a better-riding frame at any price, just enjoy it for what it is and was.

My RB-1 is pictured here: http://stevetilford.com/2012/06/19/out-in-california/img_2474/. I also rode it on the SPY BWR this year; it rocked in the dirt but not so much on Double Peak.

(Besides the snot on the top tube, you may notice the lack of paint on the rear dropouts. That’s because I broke one and had to braze in a new pair. Still haven’t painted them yet.)

So this is what I’m actually thinking of doing to the RB-1: I like the thought of more gears and modern wheels (think carbon clinchers) so I was thinking NOS Dura-Ace derailleurs with D/T shifters but I want to throw everybody a curve and go with some Simple Retrofriction shifters…

…10sp in friction mode? Yeah, I’m that nuts. Also, these days I really dig the seat pin (and stem) being the same color as the frame. I just got a new set of decals from VeloCal and I think a repaint (in the original color) is in order. I also had some issues bitd with speed wobbles on this bike (but that was when I liked going 95+ kph downhill so it might not be an issue anymore) so I got a Ritchey Carbon Comp fork with a 1″³ steerer that will get painted to match.

Yes yes yes.  Two of my six bikes now have friction shifters, including the rig I commute on, because they work and they are easy to adjust!  Plus, my ultra-slick Rivendell Roadeo has 10-spd DA index downtube shifters (bought new in 2012 – they still make them) paired with 2005-vintage DA derailleurs (when they were still shiny aluminum, none of that ano crap).  This latter is an amazing setup – light, precise, just a great drivetrain to ride.  I’d recommend it for your RB-1.  Wish I still had the MB-3 I owned when I was in college…

I very briefly met Grant when he chased me down on Skyline in the Berkeley hills after a protracted battle in the early 80″²s, whereupon he credited me with being ‘very stimulating’. hahahahahahah. I’d been riding all those fine roads advertised in the ‘Roads to Ride’ topo books he put out with John Kluge, and later, when I realized who he was, rued my subsequent attempts to drop him again.

Obviously, I was in that area too.  There is some awesome bike shop in Berkeley that that I rode to from San Leandro and then I rode around the foothills a lot, out to Sunol, etc. but I wasn’t from the area and didn’t know many people so I rode around solo a lot.  I was only down there for about two months before I went back to Oregon.

the PDX Super Cogal fell apart (so be it, shit happens), but this article has me thinking; what about a Cogal where you have to show up on steel? No more than 9spd. Hmm.

Yes. Sweet yes. Not that my current budgetatus status of n+1=1 for road bikes would allow it but maybe I can retro-fit my Rocky Mountain Blizzard for the occassion – cantis et al.

Not only have I learned some more about Bridgestone’s, though I’m happy to say that with some personal reading education, I did know a fair amount of this about the RB-1s (though not nearly as much as you guys who owned them when they were new), we are also talking about fucking bonkers Lynch movies.

No matter how many times I see Blue Velvet, nor how much older I am than when I first saw it, I’m still shocked.

It was my VMH‘s suggestion.

Keeper.

I always regretted it and about 10 years later bought another one off fleaBay and treated it to some nice new components. The only thing it was missing was the carbon swing arm I’d upgraded on my old one. I kept hunting for one and in ’08 found a bike on eBay with one fitted. As I read the ad I realised it was my old bike, still owned by the guy if sold it to when we were both bike shop techs. I phoned him up and was gutted when he told me it had sold and a guy was picking it up the next evening. I hopefully said “If he doesn’t show, can I have it?”

The buyer never turned up, and she became mine again, and was lavished with care, new bits and new adventures on the trails. I retired her from active duty last year as I was getting concerned about the integrity of the frame, but there’s a good chance of her going on display in the house for posterity. It was my VMH’s suggestion.

I went 10spd friction on the TSX, works great, although the sweep goes 180deg. But its really nice being able to share wheels between all the bikes still.

Personally, I think you should forget all that and just get some 600 STI and TD shifters, and go left-right, the way Pineapple Bob intended…

The VMH’s first steel runs 600 and its still working great. That old 8spd stuff is bulletproof. Also still widely available on eBay.

So this is what I’m actually thinking of doing to the RB-1: I like the thought of more gears and modern wheels (think carbon clinchers) so I was thinking NOS Dura-Ace derailleurs with D/T shifters but I want to throw everybody a curve and go with some Simple Retrofriction shifters…

…10sp in friction mode? Yeah, I’m that nuts. Also, these days I really dig the seat pin (and stem) being the same color as the frame. I just got a new set of decals from VeloCal and I think a repaint (in the original color) is in order. I also had some issues bitd with speed wobbles on this bike (but that was when I liked going 95+ kph downhill so it might not be an issue anymore) so I got a Ritchey Carbon Comp fork with a 1″³ steerer that will get painted to match.

my $0.02 worth, use the Simplex on Euro components, Campagnolo, Galli, Zeus, Mavic, and use Japanese DT shifters with same origin components, Shimano, Suntour

…10sp in friction mode?  Yeah, I’m that nuts.  Also, these days I really dig the seat pin (and stem) being the same color as the frame.  I just got a new set of decals from VeloCal and I think a repaint (in the original color) is in order.  I also had some issues bitd with speed wobbles on this bike (but that was when I liked going 95+ kph downhill so it might not be an issue anymore) so I got a Ritchey Carbon Comp fork with a 1″ steerer that will get painted to match.

@Gianni

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

@Gianni

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

Long story short: Around ’89 or ’90 I was death metal stoner dude that was really into racing BMX and I was working in the BMX department at the Bike Gallery on Sandy in Portland. One day this beautiful California blond pulls up in a gray market AMG’d Mercedes 500SEL with a huge rock on her ring finger looking to get her two kids into BMX racing. I showed her some stuff and then she was on her way. Well, just before closing that night she comes back in and asks me if I want to go to dinner. She was married to some older dude that owned half of Vancouver, WA. I did the whole hiding in the closet naked when he comes home for lunch unexpectedly thing. Anyway, she divorces him and take a big chunk of change with her and we move to Salem. In the meantime God tracks me down and says “It’s time for you to change the direction that your life is going.” so after living the high-life of having a killer babe and condos on the coast of Oregon and all the Volkswagens I ever needed and not working – which in reality was the worse years of my life – I walked into the house one day and grabbed a back pack and stuffed it with some clothes and a Bible, walked down to the highway and the rest is history* as the say.

*I actually ending up marrying her because she told me I was the father of her child which it turns out I was not but that’s another story.

All fucking right! Hiding in the closet naked…you are my hero! Blue Velvet Baby.

Thanks, I’m glad someone was doing that because I sure wasn’t.

A white Concor or Regal would look good, since the cable housings and bar tape are white.  (I’ve got a white Regal on my ’87 Centurion Ironman.)  Ultegra-grade eight speed STIs are still offered by Shimano, though their nomenclature escapes me.

As for when to ride it…it’s perfect for sunny days when you have no intention whatsoever of hammering.  I’ve got carbon and aluminum are for Rule 9 rides, but the steel doesn’t intentionally get wet.

I still hit the Velominati site, just been kind of lurking in the background.  My riding pendulum swings back ‘n’ forth over the years, last few on the low side with not much mileage.  It’ll swing back up again, always does.  My racer son, now 14, also on a bit of hiatus.  I did run/coach a junior high school mountain bike team last spring, which was a fun experience.

Yeah, the mountain bike gig has leaned more towards downhill(ish) pursuits – at least in media coverage.  Even so, XC riding is alive and well.  Test ride a few modern mountain bikes (off road) and you’ll be shocked how well they work everywhere – uphill and downhill – with 5 inches of suspension travel or so.

For me, a hardtail 29er is the way to roll off-road.  80-100 mm travel fork.  Need to pick your lines via old school thinking, yet rides much nicer then older 26″ wheel bikes.  A cool setup, you’d probably dig it.

Congrats on the Velominati site success.  I’m always in awe with number of comments, organized rides, and community connected to this.  Cool stuff…

@Gianni

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

@Gianni

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

Long story short: Around ’89 or ’90 I was death metal stoner dude that was really into racing BMX and I was working in the BMX department at the Bike Gallery on Sandy in Portland. One day this beautiful California blond pulls up in a gray market AMG’d Mercedes 500SEL with a huge rock on her ring finger looking to get her two kids into BMX racing. I showed her some stuff and then she was on her way. Well, just before closing that night she comes back in and asks me if I want to go to dinner. She was married to some older dude that owned half of Vancouver, WA. I did the whole hiding in the closet naked when he comes home for lunch unexpectedly thing. Anyway, she divorces him and take a big chunk of change with her and we move to Salem. In the meantime God tracks me down and says “It’s time for you to change the direction that your life is going.” so after living the high-life of having a killer babe and condos on the coast of Oregon and all the Volkswagens I ever needed and not working – which in reality was the worse years of my life – I walked into the house one day and grabbed a back pack and stuffed it with some clothes and a Bible, walked down to the highway and the rest is history* as the say.

*I actually ending up marrying her because she told me I was the father of her child which it turns out I was not but that’s another story.

Holy shit! What a story! Worst years of your life? Sounds awesome to me!

@brett

@Cyclops Great story ‘clops, and beautiful bike. I’d be keeping it period correct, lots of shiny stuff…

@frank That catalogue is rad! That’s how you do it. Pineapple Bob, Gene O, those guys stick out in my mind from that time. I remember reading an article about Gene O somewhere, telling of his hard partying exploits; someone recalled how they were on the start line for an XC race, a car comes skidding into the carpark, a dishevelled Gene O spills out along with empty beer bottles, puts on his shoes and helmet, just makes it to the line and proceeds to lay waste to the field. Hardass.

That wasn’t an article, mate – that was my best bro @spankles who witnessed it first-hand:

http://www.velominati.com/mountain-biking/project-zero/#comment-39

(your version is even better, though)

Ah, there you go… I think I mashed two stories together, as I’m sure I read in a mag about Gene O partying hard, sleeping for 2 hours, then winning a race with a monumental hangover…

@macmark1

Nice tinkering there mate!

+1

Sweeet!

Maybe I should change the name of Deacon Bikes to Clopsycles.

@clops

(see how that even looks a little bit like a single eye?)

This is probably as good a time as any to spoil what I’m doing to the Nederaap. I’ve always had a massive hardon for the XO-1. With the ‘Aap being too big, its the perfect bike to fill that slot in my heart.

I’m going with this build, I have all the parts but the bars (several local stores carry them, so I’ve just been waiting for the time to grab them and put the whole show together.)

 

I think that actuall sounds pretty cool.  You’ll have the sweetest commuter in Sea-Town.

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

@Gianni

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

Long story short: Around ’89 or ’90 I was death metal stoner dude that was really into racing BMX and I was working in the BMX department at the Bike Gallery on Sandy in Portland.  One day this beautiful California blond pulls up in a gray market AMG’d Mercedes 500SEL with a huge rock on her ring finger looking to get her two kids into BMX racing.  I showed her some stuff and then she was on her way.  Well, just before closing that night she comes back in and asks me if I want to go to dinner.  She was married to some older dude that owned half of Vancouver, WA.  I did the whole hiding in the closet naked when he comes home for lunch unexpectedly thing.  Anyway, she divorces him and take a big chunk of change with her and we move to Salem.  In the meantime God tracks me down and says “It’s time for you to change the direction that your life is going.” so after living the high-life of having a killer babe and condos on the coast of Oregon and all the Volkswagens I ever needed and not working – which in reality was the worse years of my life – I walked into the house one day and grabbed a back pack and stuffed it with some clothes and a Bible, walked down to the highway and the rest is history* as the say.

*I actually ending up marrying her because she told me I was the father of her child which it turns out I was not but that’s another story.

the PDX Super Cogal fell apart (so be it, shit happens), but this article has me thinking; what about a Cogal where you have to show up on steel? No more than 9spd. Hmm.

Great. Another rig to start looking for. Thought I was done rationalizing for a bit, given holding steady @ s-1. Bastid

I’d like to see you go modern with it though but in a way that is true to the Bridgestone spirit, i.e. choose an eclectic bunch of parts that are great functionally but good value.

Either way a follow up article with the finished project would be nice to see.

That era of Bridgestone was super cool and I was sucked in hook, line, and friction shifting. In ’91 I bought a new RB-1, MB-Zip, and MB-3 (for the wife). Yes, it was the year of Bridgestone indeed.

I still own the RB-1 and the MB-3 hangs in the garage. Buried somewhere are piles of Bridgestone catalogs, BOB newsletters, and other assorted Bridgestone stuff – including a mint jersey from that era.

My MB-Zip? Sold it a few years ago and strangely enough, now owned by Frank of Velominati fame.

If interested and/or bored, some additional Words ‘N’ Pics…

http://yoeddy.blogspot.com/2009/05/personal-rides-bridgestone-mb-0.html http://yoeddy.blogspot.com/2009/03/personal-rides-bridgestone-rb-1.html

Damn, its great to see you around these parts again. That Zip lives on, but I’ve strayed from the path and until I have restored it to credibility, I won’t show it around these parts…I’m going to put it all back the way she was, plus four-meter seat pin to get the girl back to how she should be.

I loved the whole theory around no suspension (they already had front/rear suspension by the time they came out with the Zip) but said, “Fuck no, just let the bike be light and bounce around – no suspension will be better than the human body.”

They had a point and still I think its valid. MTBs today seem much more geared towards going fast downhill – back then, it was about getting around and into terrain a road bike couldn’t get you to. Kind of like the Gravel machine’s we’re fucking around with now.

having glued on the sew-ups, ive been taking my steel out on nice days and loving life.  there is something about an 80s frame that elicits a smile, regardless of life’s stresses.  i mean it’s a neon frame on the shiniest of forks and c-record hubs, and if that doesnt make you feel like a gangster nothing will

I still own the RB-1 and the MB-3 hangs in the garage.  Buried somewhere are piles of Bridgestone catalogs, BOB newsletters, and other assorted Bridgestone stuff – including a mint jersey from that era.

My MB-Zip?  Sold it a few years ago and strangely enough, now owned by Frank of Velominati fame.

If interested and/or bored, some additional Words ‘N’ Pics…

http://yoeddy.blogspot.com/2009/05/personal-rides-bridgestone-mb-0.html

http://yoeddy.blogspot.com/2009/03/personal-rides-bridgestone-rb-1.html

And I see on a certain auction site in the US of A….

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bridgestone-XO-1-Fork-Orange-Rivendell-Vintage-Bike-Retro-Bike-RB-1-MB-1-/231044827252?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35cb584874

Which has a nice pic / brochure of what you are doing I think.

Mine has been everything from a race bike to a gravel grinder to a winter bike, etc.  It has seen far more than 9 lives, going from 7 speed to 9 to 10, and back. Old School Suntour to modern Campy.

I have n+n bikes, and have no real need for my RB-1.  It is currently stripped, sitting in dry-dock, but I can’t seem to part with it.

Don’t over think it, just build it and ride it; it will be great regardless, because it is an RB-1.

@frank That catalogue is rad!

The first full page spread (2/40) pretty much says everything you need to know about the base spirit of Mountain Biking, doesn’t it?

Sheeeit…am I the only one who wants to know why Cy was hitchhiking on I-5 with nary a dime to his name?

You only want to know because you weren’t at the first Whidbey Island Cogal. Once you meet him in person, you will stop wondering.

(see how that even looks a little bit like a single eye?)

This is probably as good a time as any to spoil what I’m doing to the Nederaap. I’ve always had a massive hardon for the XO-1. With the ‘Aap being too big, its the perfect bike to fill that slot in my heart.

I’m going with this build, I have all the parts but the bars (several local stores carry them, so I’ve just been waiting for the time to grab them and put the whole show together.)

On another note, I love that Pineapple Bob rode wool jerseys in the 90’s. The dude was the standard example of Velominatus.*

*Pineapple Bob violates Rule 36 because Pineapple Bob does what Pineapple Bob wants.

@brett

@Cyclops Great story ‘clops, and beautiful bike. I’d be keeping it period correct, lots of shiny stuff…

@frank That catalogue is rad! That’s how you do it. Pineapple Bob, Gene O, those guys stick out in my mind from that time. I remember reading an article about Gene O somewhere, telling of his hard partying exploits; someone recalled how they were on the start line for an XC race, a car comes skidding into the carpark, a dishevelled Gene O spills out along with empty beer bottles, puts on his shoes and helmet, just makes it to the line and proceeds to lay waste to the field. Hardass.

That wasn’t an article, mate – that was my best bro @spankles who witnessed it first-hand:

http://www.velominati.com/mountain-biking/project-zero/#comment-39

(your version is even better, though)

I dunno.  The “Otto, step aside” part of the story is fucking brilliant in its own right.

When my TSX was full 10spd Record Ergo, it filled an akward place in the stable; good-weather only, but too heavy and flexy to serve as a real hard training steed, so on the days when weather permitted it during the sumer, the #1 always won the push between the two.

Now that its DT again, it actually sees the road on those days when I want to have fun, or just do an easy day, or just feel like going old school.

Build her back up to how she was when you rode her like the girlfriend you likely didn’t have, like John says.

@Cyclops Great story ‘clops, and beautiful bike. I’d be keeping it period correct, lots of shiny stuff…

@frank That catalogue is rad! That’s how you do it. Pineapple Bob, Gene O, those guys stick out in my mind from that time. I remember reading an article about Gene O somewhere, telling of his hard partying exploits; someone recalled how they were on the start line for an XC race, a car comes skidding into the carpark, a dishevelled Gene O spills out along with empty beer bottles, puts on his shoes and helmet, just makes it to the line and proceeds to lay waste to the field. Hardass.

That wasn’t an article, mate – that was my best bro @spankles who witnessed it first-hand:

http://www.velominati.com/mountain-biking/project-zero/#comment-39

(your version is even better, though)

Beautiful machine; but the best part of the story is your excellent Velominatus Budgetatus qualification!  All that use and enjoyment and you have actually made money – by my calculations you are net positive $336.  Nicely done – chapeau!

Nice tinkering there mate!

@frank That catalogue is rad! That’s how you do it. Pineapple Bob, Gene O, those guys stick out in my mind from that time. I remember reading an article about Gene O somewhere, telling of his hard partying exploits; someone recalled how they were on the start line for an XC race, a car comes skidding into the carpark, a dishevelled Gene O spills out along with empty beer bottles, puts on his shoes and helmet, just makes it to the line and proceeds to lay waste to the field. Hardass.

Great story and beautiful machine.  Even if you do nothing to it, I’m jealous!

[dmalbum: path=”/frank.dutchmonkey.com/personal/Pictures/Bridgestone%20Catalogue%201991/”]

Bridgestone set the bar high as far as being a company made up entirely of Velominati. Their builds were all so carefully thought out and custom, it was an inspiration to look at one in person.

Gene O is still a force in the MN cycling scene, I gather. 

Oh, and the girl in the catalog, Karen Henderson, represented just another in a long list of Cycling cuties on whom I had a chest-busting crush.

I sold it to the brother of a friend and it ended up in Alaska for a while but then he got carbonitis and gave it back to his brother who now has cyclocrosis and needed to sell the RB-1 to buy the necessary medication to ameliorate his affliction.  Ever the Velominatus Budgetatus I bought the RB-1 for $314, sold it for $750 to buy a Santana tandem for $1k, sold the tandem for $1200 and just bought the RB-1 back for $300.

I have recently put my Bontager Race Lite mountain bike from the mid-90s back together using a mis-mash of parts in the workshop.  Its nice, and rides just great but, if I am honest, I think that a full retro rebuild is the only way to do it justice.

Hey, at the end of the day if you have the parts knocking around put them on and experiment – you can always take them off again.

So @cyclops, just how did you find the bike again?