1991 Bridgestone RB-T
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This frame was a bit damaged when I bought it. The left, rear cantilever brake boss was bent. So, I got a pretty good deal on the frame. I've been looking for a "go fast" bike for a while now. Yep, an RB-T: that's "go fast" for me. I was actually looking for a Surly Cross Check, which has similar geometery, but like many other Bridgestones in my life, this one just sort of found me. For $35, the local framebuilder (Hairy Gary) removed and re-brazed a new brake boss on there for me. He did a great job. He even painted it, which I wasn't expecting. One would never know that the boss has been replaced. I was able to build it up without spending much, as I had a bunch of parts laying around. In fact, the only thing I had to go and buy was a brake cable. Everything else was in the basement. The drive train is mostly mountain bike stuff. I don't like the tires, but they are the only fat 700's I had. The tires mounted on there now are Ritchey Trail Mix tires. They're marked 40mm, but they look to be about 36mm. I bough some rims on e-bay about 5 months ago and the seller was just super nice; he threw in the tires for free. Anyway, they are way more than I need. At some point I think I'll put Schwalbe Marathons on there. I rode Alex Wetmore's Heron last week and he the 38mm (real = 34mm) Marathons mounted on that bike, and I really like them... but I have to admit, I am having some fun with these fat knobbies on the local trails.  At this point, I've only put about 50 miles on the bike, but I really like it. I think I will hold off on putting fenders on this bike until the end of the summer. I just like how svelte it looks without the fenders. Plus, the old SKS fenders I have for it are silver; maybe I'll run into some black ones this summer. I think it would look a bit more wicked with black fenders. And I don't have any wicked bikes... Sept 05 - -UPDATE: Here's a picture that shows the bike a few months older. I'm running Schwable Marathons 700x35, and I LOVE them. I had the 38mm on there, but they were just a tad big. No room for wobble as they say. As for fenders, I went with Kent's approach and used the coroplast. I love this bike. I ride it more than any other by a long shot. Dec 05 - -UPDATE: Here's a picture that shows the bike after a ride in the snow. Shod with Nokian studded tires. Works great. Still ride this bike all the time. Love it. June 06 - -UPDATE: I found a 92 that had been re-painted. I built it up for my buddy Don with some super sweet parts that I've been waiting to use. It's a fun bike. Here are some pics --
Nov 07 - -UPDATE: I always come back to this bike. It's the best ever.
Here are the components/notes:
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