Ultra Variety Pack: anagramers, theft, HHH, Rosco Bebe bike, other

The jumping photo is me in 6th grade at a track meet, 1966. In those days 6th graders had track meets...and other sportsy games, with other schools. Do they do that now? My dad took the photo with a Voigtlander Bessa and Kodachrome 64, which is what he always used.

The other photo up there is a guy stealing a bike, or trying to, or trying to steal something in the bike. Copper wire? It's an electric vehicle, so I'm clueless. He uses a U-lock as a hammer. Will shot it, with Pentax ME Super.   Presumably he made a citizen's arrest then, and his photo became exhibit A. Do Citizen's Arrest cases ever get tried and get juries?

I crammed too much in this, and it's long. Skip around, skip over. I thought I'd already posted the first half, then realized I hadn't, and so tacked on the Halloween content half at that point, and it just got long. OK...

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In an early Rivendell Reader we had the official instructions for making a Citizen's Arrest. It's really quite simple; as simple as it is rare and risky, in fact. Have any of you successfully conducted a bona fide Citizen's Arrest? Write me, tell me the story, maybe I'll post it here. All details.   I wonder what the world record is for making Citzen's Arrests. Is the apostrophe correct? That is a great quiz show question: Is there an apostrophe in Citzen...s Arrest. Assuming there is, there could be a sentence with two:

The Citizen's Arrest's effect on the self-esteem of the individual who properly executes it, is inestimable.

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Here's what we have coming down the bicycle pike:

Homers early-November. They're "on the water" as I type this.                      (tm)

ROSCO BEBE, the bike we designed to be the ne plus ultra (as they used to say in the '60s) of baby-carrying bikes. Fifty of them, priced like dirt (by our standards) because they're designed around CLEM SMITH JR forks that were 2mm off-spec, so we got a deal on them, and are doing this. We don't know the price. We'll try to put together full bike kits, but all u-rilly-need that you can't find at the Five & Dime are some 55 or 58cm Bosco bars. Still, we'll try to source some parts that'll let you pedal bebe in fine, safe, budget style. A cheap single-ring crank with chainring guard...no front der or shifter...leave off the olde Brooks saddle...get the Clem pedals, the SunRace V-brake levers, some "less-than-Deore" V-brakes...Altus rear derailer.

We don't have enough interest yet to go ahead with this. Maybe when we get our samples in and build them up and ride them around with real live babies in 'em, that'll generate more interest. We have 12 so far. We need 25 FIRMS. contact

will@rivbike

It's a frame designed around the kind of baby carrier that mounts behind the handlebar. It's a good place for a baby. I used one of these when Katie was tiny. It was cramped and awkward as all get-out, but she preferred it to rear carriers.

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CHEVIOTS, only 55, 60...sage and the new RBW blue. You've seen it on the Roadini, and we'll have a Boots in it, and ... we're splattering that color around.

SILVER2 shifter. This is the longest ongoingly frustrating but ultimately super worth it project we've ever had, I believe. By mid-November we will have round 2 sample, and a mounting plate for it. I know it's the wrong epoch for this kind of shifter, but if you're reading this, you're wrong for this epoch anyway, and it may be a good fit for you. Shifting isn't just shifting anymore. We're passed that. Shifting is a philosophical shout to a world that doesn't care what you do, as it shouldn't, but like doing so many things that offer idiot-proof perfection or, oppositely, guarantee an endless combination of satisfaction and frustration in which you hope to minimize the frustration and then, ideally, not even harp on or think about the satisfaction, but sometimes for some people or sometimes for anybody it's slightly satisfying to successfully perform a simple task (shifting) that somebody else might not be able to, right off the bat, and as well.  Is any of that insane? Insane or not, we all here still, tho to varying degrees, like non-automatic shifters, and Silver and incoming Silver2's are the best of them.

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Our worst-selling handlebar is the Albastache. Drop-bar people don't take it seriously, and non-drop bar people think it's too much like a drop bar. I think it's the bar to ride for anybody who's not ready to go full-Albatross or Billie or Bosco; who has a drop-bar road bike but isn't thrilled with it...but it all depends on the shifters. Albastache bars aren't designed for brifters. The're perfect for bar-end shifters. There is little chance that you won't like them 10x more than your drop bars, as long as you ride bar-end shifters, which are always a good idea with any bar.

Here's a 57cm Roadini set up with Albastache. This is the dreamiest a road bike FOR ME can be:

This has been a demo bike. I've been saying I'm going to buy it for a while. The bars:

MOST road bikes would benefit from these bars. It is really, really hard to not love them.

----- Here's my own HHH:

 We might do another small batch of them. We don't ship complete bikes, so you'll have to engage your LBS to do the assembly. It works out. Whole bikes--frame and all the parts from us--run about $4,000. You can buy just the frame, HS, and eccentric from us. Whatever--if you think you want one, let Will know by November 5. Don't just "get on the list" for fun. Contact him if you're like...90 percent, because we can't afford to do this without some strong indication. We can't stick our neck out recklessly, and this would be that...without your assurance. Ultimately, we'd ask you to buy the frame for $1850 and wait half a year or so for it to come in.

The HHH is the best-riding, easiest, most stable, fun, versatile tandem you'll ever ride. I could not be any better. We are extremely proud of it.

will@rivbike.com.

 and here's a LINK.

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