Bridgestone RB-1 1993
10-30-11, 09:08 PM
#28
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https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...0_20000_400934
I got them last year with that 10% coupon. It was an excellent value. They came in just under 1500g.
I got them last year with that 10% coupon. It was an excellent value. They came in just under 1500g.
10-31-11, 07:12 PM
#30
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Love it.
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11-02-11, 09:52 AM
#33
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11-02-11, 09:56 AM
#34
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Size 53cm Bridgestone RB-1
-I researched and think its the 1993 year that was supposed to have 8sp brifters.
- has the braze ons for fenders
- New Old Stock condition
Sadly I couldn't/wouldn't try riding it for the first time today - sleet storms galore.
First things first: Sincere thanks to Frank at Bell's Bike Shop in Philadelphia, PA. He sold me the frame and even built it up in about 1hrs time. The guy is a PRO.
I decided to put my SRAM and all modern parts on it. Too much work to find the old school specific groupset and (now inferior) brifters - if its going to be different - might as well go full fledged modern.
-I researched and think its the 1993 year that was supposed to have 8sp brifters.
- has the braze ons for fenders
- New Old Stock condition
Sadly I couldn't/wouldn't try riding it for the first time today - sleet storms galore.
First things first: Sincere thanks to Frank at Bell's Bike Shop in Philadelphia, PA. He sold me the frame and even built it up in about 1hrs time. The guy is a PRO.
I decided to put my SRAM and all modern parts on it. Too much work to find the old school specific groupset and (now inferior) brifters - if its going to be different - might as well go full fledged modern.
11-02-11, 10:12 AM
#35
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Thread Starter
That frame is a beaut...I was glad it's too small for me. Frank was running it with Campy 11sp Athena. Congrats!!! Nice to see Frank found a good home for it. I also know how much he paid for it, and you did very well. This was not a profit flip for him. I was actually amazed it lasted as long as it did in our market.
The owner of Bell's [Steve] was there and he was really cool. They had this huge puppy akita that was wicked friendly. After the build they pointed us towards Reading Terminal for lunch. Also the shop had some bike porn in the flesh - a decked out Time Ulteam w/ Di2 and a colnago master x-light.
when I saw a pic of frank's set-up with campy I was tempted just to go all campy with it because the campy stuff (especially the silver chorus group) works so well with vintage frames.
I may eventually still go that route, but SRAM for now.
11-02-11, 10:29 AM
#36
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I'm a Campy guy, so I'm biased.
Steve is a cool dude...did he have his titanium Colnago there? That thing is gorgeous!
Also - did you notice the Raleigh Professional with the flat bar build? Some customer abandoned it and I haven't been able to convince them to sell it to me <yet>. He's also got a stash (I think 3) white Brooks tokyos.
Steve is a cool dude...did he have his titanium Colnago there? That thing is gorgeous!
Also - did you notice the Raleigh Professional with the flat bar build? Some customer abandoned it and I haven't been able to convince them to sell it to me <yet>. He's also got a stash (I think 3) white Brooks tokyos.
11-02-11, 11:05 AM
#37
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I miss the frame already... Shame that it was a tad too long for me. I hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it! One of my favorite frames of all time...
11-02-11, 11:21 AM
#38
Banned
Nineties, when I got the frame, red , white band on the seat-tube, a 56.
not sure exact year of production. clues welcome.
It got a mix of older components, I stripped off the AlAn i had before..
25.0 to 27.0 seat tube shim let me keep using the same seatpost.
not sure exact year of production. clues welcome.
It got a mix of older components, I stripped off the AlAn i had before..
25.0 to 27.0 seat tube shim let me keep using the same seatpost.
11-02-11, 12:07 PM
#39
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Whazzat mean? They were mass-produced - 1,000 per year in the early 90's, if memory serves. They were done well, but they did not get the hyper-attention to detail that top-tier production frames (e.g., De Rosas) or custom frames get. That said, their geometry was (and remains) superb, their ride quallity was (and remains) excellent, and there is no doubt, at least in my mind, that they were the best-bang-for-the-buck of their time. I had a 1992 in red, and I loved it. I'd still have it and ride it if the frame hadn't cracked and gone to Bicycle Heaven.
So while I am an RB-1 fan, and I think the OP has a great bike that he will enjoy for many years, I can't agree that it is atop-tier one - just a really, really good purchase.
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11-02-11, 12:17 PM
#40
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I'll betcha De Rosa was making close to 1,000 a year by then and Colnago likely 3,000+.
11-02-11, 12:30 PM
#41
incazzare.
Beautiful bike, very tastefully modernized. The only thing I'd change is the saddle, but otherwise, awesome.
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11-02-11, 01:47 PM
#42
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Agree with all of this except the "top-tier" comment. RB-1s were not top-tier, although they rode like they were.
Whazzat mean? They were mass-produced - 1,000 per year in the early 90's, if memory serves. They were done well, but they did not get the hyper-attention to detail that top-tier production frames (e.g., De Rosas) or custom frames get. That said, their geometry was (and remains) superb, their ride quallity was (and remains) excellent, and there is no doubt, at least in my mind, that they were the best-bang-for-the-buck of their time. I had a 1992 in red, and I loved it. I'd still have it and ride it if the frame hadn't cracked and gone to Bicycle Heaven.
So while I am an RB-1 fan, and I think the OP has a great bike that he will enjoy for many years, I can't agree that it is atop-tier one - just a really, really good purchase.
Whazzat mean? They were mass-produced - 1,000 per year in the early 90's, if memory serves. They were done well, but they did not get the hyper-attention to detail that top-tier production frames (e.g., De Rosas) or custom frames get. That said, their geometry was (and remains) superb, their ride quallity was (and remains) excellent, and there is no doubt, at least in my mind, that they were the best-bang-for-the-buck of their time. I had a 1992 in red, and I loved it. I'd still have it and ride it if the frame hadn't cracked and gone to Bicycle Heaven.
So while I am an RB-1 fan, and I think the OP has a great bike that he will enjoy for many years, I can't agree that it is atop-tier one - just a really, really good purchase.
Last edited by time bandit; 11-02-11 at 01:50 PM.
11-02-11, 07:10 PM
#43
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Also, keep in mind that a this time, Bridgestone's annual production was about 1,000 RB-1s, plus about 1,000 XO-1s, plus a bunch of RB-2s, RB-Ts, XO-2s, MB-1s through MB-5s, some number of CBs, and maybe others I am forgetting about. Assuming you are correct about De Rosa's numbers, he was cranking out 1,000 frames per yer, while Bridgestone was producing somewhere between 5 and 10 times as many, of which 1,000 were RB-1s.
This is not a slam at Bridgestone - their offerings were carefully thought out and intelligently spec'd, even if not always commercially successful. This is also not saying that anyone who produced fewer frames bikes than Bridgestone automatically made better stuff - we all know things don't necessarily work that way.
I think RB-1s deserve all kinds of praise for what they were: the best riding frame/bike at its price point, and noticeably better than most selling for 50% more. I just think that calling it a top-tier frame is gilding a perfectly good lily.
Thank you . . . I think.
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11-02-11, 07:58 PM
#44
In the right lane
That's a nice, clean looking build. I especially like the fact that cables aren't overpowering the look of the bike, although I might have tried to reduce the cable housing on the front a bit.
One thing I like about areo brake levers and DT shifters.
One thing I like about areo brake levers and DT shifters.
11-25-11, 03:26 PM
#46
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Some updates:
New "modern proportion" handlebars. Fortunately Ritchey has a "classic" line of accessories/parts out now thats polished silver but made to modern bike measurement standards.
-flat transition into brifters/brake hoods. Shorter reach and shallower drops. It actually shorted the reach from my previous bars by almost 2.5cm.
ritchey classic cockpit (stem and handlebars).
I'm running a 10mm silver 1" spacer that can accept a bell from Velo Orange. I'm deciding on which bell I want on there.
I made a new chain slap guard out of black 3M reflective tape.
also trying out a new saddle: Selle An-Atomica.
New "modern proportion" handlebars. Fortunately Ritchey has a "classic" line of accessories/parts out now thats polished silver but made to modern bike measurement standards.
-flat transition into brifters/brake hoods. Shorter reach and shallower drops. It actually shorted the reach from my previous bars by almost 2.5cm.
ritchey classic cockpit (stem and handlebars).
I'm running a 10mm silver 1" spacer that can accept a bell from Velo Orange. I'm deciding on which bell I want on there.
I made a new chain slap guard out of black 3M reflective tape.
also trying out a new saddle: Selle An-Atomica.
Last edited by runningDoc; 11-27-11 at 07:25 PM.
01-02-12, 03:35 AM
#47
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I recently added fenders, 25c GP4000 with reflective sidewalls (not pictured) and a bell to make this bike commuter friendly!
Planet bike cascadia 35mm fenders. Sheldon Fender Nuts. Japanese Universal Sound Bell.
The weird part of the 1993 RB-1 frames is that they came with fender mounts, but no chainstay bridge.
Thanks to a interweb search there were multiple similar solutions that helped me greatly:
Installing fenders on a road bike not designed for them (from BOSTON TETRO WHEELMEN)
and this guy's flickr series which actually provides a solution for this exact 1993 RB-1 frame:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimg/47...n/photostream/
(i used a planet bike blinky mounting bracket- modified one (hacksawed until flat and drilled hole) is on the left)
sheldon fender nuts are a godsend... a quick tip though: you need 6mm bolts (i used an spare bontrager stem that had 6mm bolts at first - then got a pair at a hardware shop later).
after installation of the sheldon fender nuts and mounting solution for the chainstay its very easy and quick to install/uninstall the fenders (probably less than 5min with a bike stand).
velo orange 1" headspacer/bell mount in silver:
Now I can do those "light snow" or rainy day rides easily with fenders, 25c wheels, and lights:
Planet bike cascadia 35mm fenders. Sheldon Fender Nuts. Japanese Universal Sound Bell.
The weird part of the 1993 RB-1 frames is that they came with fender mounts, but no chainstay bridge.
Thanks to a interweb search there were multiple similar solutions that helped me greatly:
Installing fenders on a road bike not designed for them (from BOSTON TETRO WHEELMEN)
and this guy's flickr series which actually provides a solution for this exact 1993 RB-1 frame:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimg/47...n/photostream/
(i used a planet bike blinky mounting bracket- modified one (hacksawed until flat and drilled hole) is on the left)
sheldon fender nuts are a godsend... a quick tip though: you need 6mm bolts (i used an spare bontrager stem that had 6mm bolts at first - then got a pair at a hardware shop later).
after installation of the sheldon fender nuts and mounting solution for the chainstay its very easy and quick to install/uninstall the fenders (probably less than 5min with a bike stand).
velo orange 1" headspacer/bell mount in silver:
Now I can do those "light snow" or rainy day rides easily with fenders, 25c wheels, and lights:
01-02-12, 08:21 AM
#48
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^^^Thanks guys!
Well I know that the groupset + all other parts comes in at around 5100g (11.3-ish pounds)
The reported weight of the frame is 4.2lbs (for a 56cm mine might be a tad lighter) and the fork is reportedly 2lbs... plus the seatpost is heavier (thompson masterpiece 27.2) and the threaded-threadless stem adaptor is added weight too... it feels like 18ish pounds by my estimate.
long story short - I'll weight it officially tomorrow...
but there's always the chance that I'll swap to a weight weenie-ish seatpost.
but then again whats the point of going weight weenie on this build right? I might just put a brooks saddle on it and stop caring about weight.
damn I'm itching to ride this thing. I wonder if the sleet will be melted by tomorrow.
Well I know that the groupset + all other parts comes in at around 5100g (11.3-ish pounds)
The reported weight of the frame is 4.2lbs (for a 56cm mine might be a tad lighter) and the fork is reportedly 2lbs... plus the seatpost is heavier (thompson masterpiece 27.2) and the threaded-threadless stem adaptor is added weight too... it feels like 18ish pounds by my estimate.
long story short - I'll weight it officially tomorrow...
but there's always the chance that I'll swap to a weight weenie-ish seatpost.
but then again whats the point of going weight weenie on this build right? I might just put a brooks saddle on it and stop caring about weight.
damn I'm itching to ride this thing. I wonder if the sleet will be melted by tomorrow.
01-02-12, 08:51 AM
#49
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Runningdoc - AWESOME...I really like what you did with it. Racy light tourer.
01-02-12, 09:35 AM
#50
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Really nice bike, one of the few steel frames that I see that suit a modern groupset.
IN my opinion, it would probably look way better with a quill stem though, less bulk around that area and would probably look better
IN my opinion, it would probably look way better with a quill stem though, less bulk around that area and would probably look better