Late May Blahg
That's a fairly easy to read and pleasant watch-face, and the second hand puts all other second hands to shame.
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This has made the rounds before, but it's in the restroom here, so I see it everyday, and it's always worth a glance.
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related to that cartoon:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/billionaire-consequence-free-reality/686588/?gift=9MHQEh59cN6gvYT5IEgs2pJ5LYH47I4NS1KBZP3f6k4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Related to money and V-brakes and business:
The SILVER V-brake is moving along, thanks entirely to the tooling contribution non-scam we had last month.
Tooling costs, for the nosey who deserve to know. Rounded, and they include developments costs that are outside of strictly tooling, and 3-D samples.
V-Brake, $15,000
Front Derailer: $17,000
SILVER4 Crank: $15,000
The V-brake will flop open to accept a really fat and fully inflated tire, and it'll be the only V-brake available that does. It's just easier, less frustrating.
The bike industry HATES front derailers now, but the SILVER front (drawing way below, keep reading and you'll come to it) is the best blend of 1987 style and 2020 style. We know what we want and are getting it.
The S4 crank will come only as a triple (the bicycle industry hates triples), with 41 x 31 x 21 rings, with some other ring options, and a chainguard if you want a double. Will pointed out that the 41 x 31 would be a useful double, and for lots of riding it would be.
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It's not available in the U.S. yet, but if you're traveling to Europe and especially Italy, you can snap up one of these styrofoam and plastic helmets for $517. The most dominant racer in the world wears one, and that should tell you something, right?
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Sad story about a piano player I hadn't heard of, not that I would have. It's an obit.
Alternative to reading the link--before I realized I could send it as a link that wouldn't get blocked because you don't have a subscription, I did it this way:
raised his eyes to my face."
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On my to and from work, one of the several churches I pass has this sign up. It's been up for several months. Have I posted it before? Not sure, but wow.
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Sorry. More bike content coming, immediately.
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I want to know whether or not her descendants read this snipped in the May 1, 2026 NYT. And, kind of, where they are now, and whether or not their descendants are familiar with it. THE THING IS, I was eleven at the time, and in those years it was common to hear kids use the expression, "Sue 'em for false advertising!", and I am guessing this is where it came from.
Also, Attilio Frassinelli's kin--where are they now, too?
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Graham O'Bree is so opposite modern racers who squawk because the Tour de France doesn't allow earbud two-way radio communication at all times with the team manager. In the early Rivendell years I read a biography about him and watched a few movies about him, and I found out that he was broke, so I contacted him by telephone and email (first email), and tried to get something going, something along the lines of us importing some Scottish stuff, cycling-related or not, and he'd make some money that way. He phoned here and left a message, he seemed eager, but the details didn't come through because his accent was too strong for our ears. At that time we had a customer who was an old Scottish cyclist, nicknamed "Scotty," of course, and he was hard enough to understand, but we COULD, and so we got him in here to listen to the recording, and he did, and said, "I can't make out half of what he's saying."
Graham O'Bree had a rough life, tragic, but he had the kind of stuff going on--when he was well--that made you admire him, maybe feel a little sorry for him, GIVE to him, and be glad that you even knew about him. This movie is half and hour long. I doubt the crew here will find time to watch it, but one in twenty of you might.
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JOE BELL, world's best bicycle painter and major influence here...we got him a bike. built by Mark Nobilette. Fancy custom, blab blah, but in general conversation with him it came up that he wasn't loving riding on drops all that much, and they weren't great for his commute to work...so five years ago we sent him a frame, and it's taken him that long to paint it. He puts customers first, and he has a lot of work.
He told me I could put any parts I wanted on it. ME! So, OK...and I put a really good mix of stuff that I like because it just really good and a great value, and it's not the most pricey gucci stuff you might think he'd want or warrant, or that I SHOULD pick for a. man of his stature and status. I picked the grooviest mix I could.
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I forget why I googled the origin of this, but I did:
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A couple of BLAHGs ago I reposted Ted Costantino's obituary of (mutual) friend, Tom Franges. It appeared the bike industry's trade mag, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, and it was the kind of obituary any person would like to have...and on top of that, was written with the precison and detail and even dry humor that you'd have to be comatose or illiterate not to marvel at.
Ted told me the original was longer, but he shortened it to fit. I may have my facts wrong on that,
But at a recent memorial service for Tom, the following was included in a handout, and this is highly recommended reading. First, two photos, then the obit, then a final photo.
Tom was married to Sky, main bicycle designer at Bianchi for their modern golden years...and this is their dog, Otis Nixon. With Tom.
Tom in a couple of cars. Car people may recognize them; I don't. Obit part coming up next.
That's all. Tom, as I've said, was hugely influential to me, completely gave me direction and confidence at a time when I needed it. He was always smart and nice.
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32-inchers: They're FINE, but not for us. I think they're a way for a desperate industry to try generated excitement via newstuff. Riders will be hired to say great things about them. Journalists will love them because they're more to write about. The bigger wheels will change gearing (neither good nor bad)--so you may need two-teeth extra in back to climb that hill. Structurally, the longer fork is a longer lever and imposes higher forces against the frame, especially in a front-end impact. To compensate, down tubes should be made more stout--unless they're already overbuilt. Component and accessory makers will love them because they're a reason or excuse to make new 32-inch wheel accessories. If we go out of business for lack of 32-inch wheels, fine.
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Here's a long link about the world famous Roman Empire, and considering all the work that went into these micromosaics, the least we can do is spend three minutes glancing at them, reading snippets, marveling at the individual square that were 3mm each, and imagining that it wasn't the ruling classes that made these in their spare time.
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My wife, who I try to keep out of everything, but it seems relevant now, was in London with an old college and lifelong chum, and she went to a fishing store near Pall Mall to get me something I can't get in the U.S., and she was there on the morning following the night of this Banksy installation.
Banksy, for those who are late to the party, like I was
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Other art, from another artist. This may be my favorite art in the whole world. It's at least worth four minutes of your time, maybe.
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Here are some development images of the upcoming SILVER4 crank. It's mainly a trail-riding crank, but light enough for road riding, and could work for everything short of RedBull events. Different bolt pattern allows smaller chainrings. Another option. We will then have, in my opinion, three really beautiful, safe, smart cranks. These show changes to initial plans, based a on computer modeling of stresses known "in the trades" as Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Finite, because the analyzer inputs known qualties, like mechanical properties of the aluminum alloy; and the supposed design specifics, and the EXPECTED stresses, based on ISO (int'l standards org.) requirements. Then the program reveals weaker spots, so you can fixem before production. But FEA can never cover all of the stresses, or unexpected ones, and doesn't account for stresses on a part that may have suffered some damage earlier in its life---from riding or flagrant abuse or an accident. There are many cranks that don't get tested, or aren't tested to the stiffest stanards (mtb testing). We always test ours (have them tested), and don't release them until the cranks. pass whatever tests we intend it for.
This is no better or worse than our existing cranks. Its bolt pattern is different; it's an old Shimano patter that allows an inner ring as small as 20, and middle and outer rings as small as 28. We'll offer it in a range of crank lengths, as a 41 x 31 x 21 triple. We'll have chainring guards for double-lovers who want to ride 31 x 21, or even 32 x 22 (we'll also have those rings separately). Should be good. Another nice-looking crank, and it will be thoroughly tested, by brutal machines, and we'll ride the samples as hard as we can commensurate with not being stupid.
Here's the near-final drawing.
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Speaking of bicycle parts, which I always do and am always thinking about, I am genuinely out of my mind happy with our upcoming version of the least NECESSARY component on a bicycle, a component that is tragically underappreciated these days, so much so that most new fancy bikes don't come with one, and the chatterboxes in the local pelotons never jabber about them, at least not in the reverent way they should:
It is modeled after the pre-indexed front derailers, but with design elements that make it work with marginally unusual modern gearing, no compromises. The lever arm is as long as the parallelogram pivots. The cage is separable. It has an integrated clamp. But unlike those derailers, it has a high arch separating the inner and outer cage, so that, for instance, if your chain is on a 36t chainring and a 42t cog or something LIKE that combo, the chain won't rub on the underside of the arch. Also unlike the old fronts, it has a stubby cage that can be lowered to nest well above a small big chainring, and still won't hit the chainstay when you shift to the small ring. I'd have preferred a jailhouse cage for the adjusting screws, so you could see them in action. But we already had a large tooling cost for this, and that would have made it a too-painful cost and would have delayed it for at least ten months, and sometimes even we need to know when to fold them. The 3D sample works great. The real one will be beautiful and great, and basically nobody outside this bubble (you are all in this bubble!) will care. That's enough! It's really fun and works great, well-made, nice-looking, useful.
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In other parts of the world and for a different subset of peoples, other peoples are making interesting cotton fabrics:
This English cotton is so finely woven that it doesn't shink.
Here are some pieces that will be part of a quilt, in the works, various Liberty fabrics:
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And here's a bouquet my 3.5-year old granddaughter picked for me, no help, but I put it in the vase:
Backyard flowers, Heath bud vase. I don't know anybody at Heath, I am just a fan of their plates and stuff.
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I am jazzed about the new reflective triangles, the ones that mount with velcro-lastic onto saddlebag loops or saddlebags. I'll try one out on the way home tonite. They work even in the daytime. You can put them on saddlebags, too. they're BIG for max vis, and if your saddle isn't way above the tire like this one is, they may need a saddlebag or rack or fender to keep them off the tire. No biggie. I used to think triangles were dorky, but I'm past that now and have been for 20 years or so.
If anybody does hit you while your bicycle is sporting this, they won't be able to say they didn't see you. I rarely ride roads without a triangle on my body, saddlebag, or saddle. We asked the make for a bigger one that fit into bag loops, and here it is. The mount is versatile enough for other places. Way more visible, night AND DAY, than any light.
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We're located in a large rectangular sheet-metal building with about sixteen or seventeen 24' x 48' units. We have six of them, #15 thru #20. The other places are car-fixit shops, and we get a lot of walk-by traffic, when car people drop off their cars for repair or a smog check, and walk to the nearby Pho restaurant. Our doors and roll-up doors are often open, and today a car customer guy peeked in and asked Antonio, "What's the oldest bike you have here?"
That's the state of things. Even random people who probably don't ride are so used to seeing modern bicycles that our bikes pop out at them.
Related to that, I've been working on our catalog, not sure how it's going but I know we can't afford to print it, and here's a kind of rant that, in some form, may go into it. It addresses The Differences:
Rivendells have been called classic, retro, and old-school for thirty-one years, going on thirty-two. None are right. Modern classics are copies, retro is backwards, and the school in old-school has always confused me.
Rivendells are not homages to the past; they’re just not much like mainstream modern bikes. We’re resisting the makeover that’s turning bicycle frames into smooth, bland devices with bulging, detail-less monocoque receptacles for baffling invisible magic. These bikes blend with all the other tech around us that we wonder less and less how bicycles actually work. Big trendy brands have turned mountain bikes in nature-dominators and road bikes into personal fitness devices.
Rivendells are what those bicycles aren’t: bicycle-y. Bicycle-y bicycles are transportation and recreation that carry you along quietly with healthy effort that is sometimes grunty and gaspy, but is always, in the end, exhilarating and rejuvenating.
Bicycle-y bikes have features, details, graphics, and mechanisms that used to be common. They have slender tubes with artsy lug and fork crowns. Curved and tapered fork blades. Rim brakes. They’re mechanical, understandable, and serviceable.
Bicycle-y materials and components: Our frames and forks are made of chrome-moly, a steel alloy that’s about 98.5 percent iron, but named for chromium and molybdenum, its two main alloying elements, and is abbreviated as CrMo. CrMo is also used in race car bodies, roll bars, airplane landing gear, hammers, and whenever a super-tough steel is needed. It can be brazed or welded, is highly resistant to fatigue, and tough (not brittle, can’t snap or shatter suddenly, like carbon fiber). CrMo has been used on fine bicycles since the 1930s, and a good CrMo frame will live and be safe eight to ten times long as a carbon fiber frame.
Bicycle-y proportions, fittings, and technology: RIVENDELL frames have round and slender tubes; the forks have curved and tapered blades. The wheels mount and dismount in seconds in C-shaped dropouts and quick-release hubs that hold tight and loosen only when you flip open the lever. They slow and stop with rim brakes. The forks turn on threaded headsets, the quill stems have lots of vertical adjustment, and allow easy handlebar switches. Despite their rareness on modern bicycles, none of these bicycle-y details is functionally outdated or comes in second-place.
Bicycle-y power sources: Rivendells mostly by muscles and gravity. Muscles, so you get stronger legs that’ll stay strong as you age. If your muscles and gearing aren’t enough to haul you up the hill, walk until you can hop back on and pedal with refreshed legs. On the way back down, gravity pays you back.
Bicycle-y components are always mechanical. Mechanical parts that engage your muscles and brain in a way that electricity, electronics, and hydraulics can’t. You can see the connections from lever to cable to derailer, brake arm, and crank. With mechanical shifters are easy to understand and make your bike less of a mystery, less intimidating. Electronic parts are a puzzle you may never understand.
A bicycle-y bicycle’s benefits are sometimes perceived as drawbacks, and these days limit its popularity: You’ll miss shifts more often than you will with electronic shifters (strike one) and you’ll huff and puff more than you will on an eBike (strike two). You can buy your way around both and call it smart shopping, but why become a batter-dependent button-tapper? A mechanical, bicycle-y bicycle requires a pinch of mindfulness and practice, but with that they come alive and make riding more interesting and fun. Bicycle-y bicycles are also topographically sensitive —you can cruise on a flat road, coast like a monkey in high glee on a descent, but you still have to muscle your way up a climb to earn the next descent. It’s a fair trade, even-steven.
Rivendell bicycle-y bicycles are as good we can make them. Barring an act of god, the Rivendell you ride in 2026 will be rolling somebody around in 2066. It has more post-apocalyptic reliability than most bicycles, is recyclable, and there’s no e-waste.
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Here's the only other watch I kind of want, but am not obsessed over, but I really like the face and that it's automatic:
I can't justify the price, I'd feel guilty and stupid, but just visually and for readability and all, I like it.
But here's what I got instead:
It's an ALBA, made in Japan by Seiko, and made to be good and inexpensive, for poor Japanese students. Seiko doesn't sell it in the U.S. It's a quartzy like everything else, but it has a good face and cost $34, free shipping. So there you go.
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We still have a few LUG bandanas, but before the big recent money-crunch we got started on another. Two colors, here's one of them, and we may have them in a month:
A baby angel is a cherub. Plural is either cherubs or cherubim. Cherubim is also a Japanese bicycle brand that used to be steel and lugged, but now are..."fancier." Anyway, we'll have these cherubim bandanas in two colors. The cherubim and bike parts art is by Tim Dixon, the shield and fish and arrangement is by Olivier. If you are a "bandana person," you could do worse than one of these.
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I have to thank you-all who occasionally either cheer us on or patronize us to keep it all going. We have a great crew here, and we're lucky to operate in a bubble that doesn't include a lot of the funny stuff that's out there. Bandanas with cherubim is about as wild as we get.
--G