When Bradley came to me to build him a bike, I quickly learned of his affection for Bridgestone bicycles. I share his enthusiasm as I worked in a shop in the 90s that was a Bridgestone dealer. It was then that I learned who Grant Petersen was and the kind of influence one person can have on a community of like minded cyclists. His love of the lugged steel bicycle is abundantly apparent in his current company, Rivendell. There is a story about the lugs that I used on this bike for Bradley. They were originally carved by Richard Sachs to be used on a Bridgestone but then found their way onto the first incarnation of the Rivendell Road Standard 20 years ago. They are fairly ornate but I still altered the curves slightly to match the Pacenti fork crown.
Another thing I learned about Bradley is how he loves Rhode Island. He’s familiar with the state so much that he knew of the small village where I now build my bikes called Pawtuxet. To commemorate the switch from building in Providence to Pawtuxet Village (which happened about a year ago), I had the headbadge updated. Some of my favorite badges have the location of where the bike was built and I wanted mine to show that as well. Bradley’s bike is the first to have this badge and I’m pretty sure he’s psyched about that.
The bike itself is currently setup as a fendered road bike with 700x32c tires but could also be used with cyclocross tires on rough terrain with the fenders removed. Bradley has plans to explore some of the less traveled New England roads with this bike and it’s up for the challenge. The fenders and Nitto Olympiade handlebars were anodized black to be consistent with the black SRAM Rival components. The stem is custom fillet brazed and painted to match with an integrated compression cap. A big range cassette will help him climb some of the steeper hills he encounters. There are some shiny bits throughout the build that can catch the eye but all in all, it’s an understated bike from a distance.
See the full slideshow of pictures.
Bradley’s bike inspirations
May 10, 2014
When Bradley came to me to build him a bike, I quickly learned of his affection for Bridgestone bicycles. I share his enthusiasm as I worked in a shop in the 90s that was a Bridgestone dealer. It was then that I learned who Grant Petersen was and the kind of influence one person can have on a community of like minded cyclists. His love of the lugged steel bicycle is abundantly apparent in his current company, Rivendell. There is a story about the lugs that I used on this bike for Bradley. They were originally carved by Richard Sachs to be used on a Bridgestone but then found their way onto the first incarnation of the Rivendell Road Standard 20 years ago. They are fairly ornate but I still altered the curves slightly to match the Pacenti fork crown.
Another thing I learned about Bradley is how he loves Rhode Island. He’s familiar with the state so much that he knew of the small village where I now build my bikes called Pawtuxet. To commemorate the switch from building in Providence to Pawtuxet Village (which happened about a year ago), I had the headbadge updated. Some of my favorite badges have the location of where the bike was built and I wanted mine to show that as well. Bradley’s bike is the first to have this badge and I’m pretty sure he’s psyched about that.
The bike itself is currently setup as a fendered road bike with 700x32c tires but could also be used with cyclocross tires on rough terrain with the fenders removed. Bradley has plans to explore some of the less traveled New England roads with this bike and it’s up for the challenge. The fenders and Nitto Olympiade handlebars were anodized black to be consistent with the black SRAM Rival components. The stem is custom fillet brazed and painted to match with an integrated compression cap. A big range cassette will help him climb some of the steeper hills he encounters. There are some shiny bits throughout the build that can catch the eye but all in all, it’s an understated bike from a distance.