The Popular Girl: Test Riding the Rivendell Betty Foy

Afterlast week's review of the Rivendell Sam Hillborne, it seemed appropriate to follow up with a test ride report of the Betty Foy. I have ridden her a couple of times before, but never had my camera with me until now. Harris Cyclery has just built up a new floor model in my size - so I took the opportunity to take some pictures and put my impressions into words.While the pictures reflect how this particular bicycle was built up, keep in mind that itis fully customisable: You can change everything from the saddle and grips, to the handlebars and pedals, to the type of components that are on the bike.



Rivendell released the Betty Foy in Spring , in conjunction with the diamond frame Sam Hillborne model. Inasmuch as a hand-built, niche-market bicycle can "sell like hotcakes" I believe the Betty does. She is charming, comfortable, and tough - and the ladies love her for that. The price of the frame alone is $1,000 and a fully built up bike starts at $2,200 or so, depending on the options. To see how this bicycle compares price-wise to other lady's frames in its class, please visit my new Semi-Custom Options page (now linked in the upper left-hand corner).



In terms of construction, the Rivendell Betty Foy is a version of the mixte frame: What starts out as a sloped single top tube splits into two stays at the seat tube and continues (at a slightly different angle than the slope of the main top tube) all the way back to the rear dropouts. The frame is lugged, with custom-made lugs in the shape of hearts and elaborate filigreed designs.



There are many cute and feminine touches, such as the downtube decal featuring tiny red apples



and the filled-in curly-cues on the fork crown.Some of the lugs are also filled in with red, complementing the robbin's egg-blue of the frame.



The Betty Foy frame is available in several sizes (47cm, 52cm, 58cm and 62cm), with the middle two built for 650B wheels, the largest built for 700C wheels, and the smallest for 26" wheels. There is enough clearance for 40mm tires plus fenders.



The frame is made for derailleur gearing, and is typically built up with three gears in the front and eight in the rear. There are eyelets and braze-ons for fenders and racks.



Rivendell states that the Betty frame was designed to be built up with Nitto Albatross handlebars - which are wide and swept back, similar to (but wider than) the handlebars you would find on a vintage 3-speed. I have also seen her built up with drop bars, but the upright set-up is more typical.This floor model was fitted with black rubber grips and "thumbie" shifters, though some prefer cork grips and bar-end shifters.



One thing to note about the Betty Foy, is the unusual sizing: The frame sizes recommended by Rivendell seem larger than what a person would normally ride. For example, I am 5'7" and normally ride a 52-54cm road bike or mixte, yet it is recommended that I ride a 58cm Betty Foy. Having tried both the 52cm and the 58cm frames, I can confirm that the recommendation is accurate. The 52cm Betty Foy felt much too small for me, whereas the 58cm version felt just right. I could have raised the saddle by another inch from the position in which it is shown above, but did not feel like going back inside the shop once I started riding the bike.



I rode the Betty Foy on the roads near Harris Cyclery (actual test ride not pictured), both this time and the previous times I've tried her. It is difficult to compare her to other bicycles on the market, because in a way she is unique. If you are accustomed to road bikes and vintage mixtes, you will find the Betty to be considerably more upright, stable, and comfortable. Sheis more relaxed than a typical mixte and has a long wheelbase - so that there is no toe overlap with the front tire when turning at slow speeds.I also find the step-over height to be lower than on other mixtes I've tried, which is convenient.



If you are accustomed to Dutch-style city bikes,you will find the Betty Foy a faster and sportier ride, but still within your comfort zone. The posture is slightly leaned forward, but still more or less upright. The derailleur gearing may take some getting used to if you have only dealt with internally geared hubs before, but you will appreciate how easy it makes cycling uphill.



In my view, the Betty Foy's greatest asset is her versatility. If you combine the feeling of a vintage 3-speed with that of a derailleur-geared touring bike, she handles like a union of the two: a fast, comfortable bicycle that feels safe and pleasant to ride. I can imagine riding her around the city for transportation, as well as 20 miles over some hills to the next town over. The ride is soft over bumps and potholes (not as soft as on my Sam Hillborne with 42mm tires, but I would need to ride Betty with equally wide tires to compare). Maneuverability in traffic is good, but the handling is not aggressive. I did not ride her on any serious hills, but with the derailleur gearing, the light frame, and the somewhat leaned-forward posture, I imagine it should hardly be a problem. She is what Rivendell says she is: an "all around" bike. If you plan to have only one bicycle for both urban commuting and long distance cycling, this seems like the closest thing on the market to that ideal.



The question I am inevitably asked at this point, is why I did not get a Betty Foy for myself when I was looking for a mixte, if I think she is so great. My main reason, was that I wanted a specific kind of mixte: one with twin lateral stays and proportions that resembled the original French constructeurs. The Betty Foy is not that kind of bicycle. Additionally, I must admit that I find Betty's femininity overwhelming. All the hearts and the bright colours - it's very American 1950s, whereas I am more of a European 1920s kind of girl. And my final reason is ironic - because it is the reason most people love this bike: I don't like the way some of the lugwork is done. If you look at the seat cluster above (see here for what that is), you will notice that the seat stays are welded directly to the main lug, rather than capped. No other Rivendell bicycle is made that way, and I don't know why this model is the exception. Personally, I would rather have a traditionally lugged seat cluster than hearts and curly-cues.



The same is repeated at the junction of the seat tube and support stays. My preference would be for something likethis to have been done here instead. I recognise how nit-picky and obsessive these quibbles are, but little details like this are important to me and I have my preferences when it comes to the way a frame is put together. It's an excellent frame, just not what I was looking for.



After I posted the above image, it was pointed out to me by a couple of attentive readers that there is a blemish right at the weld junction, next to the big lug. I myself did not notice this until my attention was directed to it - but now that it has, it's only fair that I mention it. Personally, I am not particularly bothered by this blemish (I have seen worse on more expensive frames) and it would not stand in the way of my wanting the bike, if it were not for the other factors. Your views may vary.



These issues aside, the Rivendell Betty Foy is an attractive and well-constructed bicycle. A great deal of thought went into the design, with a special emphasis on versatility - which I feel has been achieved here better than on other bicycles I have owned or tried. And apparently others agree, as the Betty has an excellent record of owner satisfaction. All things considered, I think the Betty Foy's popularity is well deserved.

The 'Thanking Your Bicycle' Give-Away!

Have you thanked your bicycle lately? Just think of all the wonderful things our velocipedian friends have done for us! Surely they deserve a little thanks?To inspire you, I have prepared a little give-away for the Thanksgiving holiday.



As a small "thank you" to my readers, I will be giving away a hand-knitted"cycling hat" - made especially for the recipient, in their size. The hat will be 100% wool - a soft wool that feels nice against your skin, densely knitted to protect against the wind. The shape is as pictured above and also here. It covers the ears, and can either be worn on its own or (and I am 98% sure about this) will fit under a helmet. The pattern will be stripey - using whatever colours spontaneously come to mind out of what I have available. If the recipient is male, I can make "manly coloured" stripes as well. And if you hate a particular colour, you can request that I not include it. The finishing at the top of the hat is as shown in the picture above. Just a simple, fun and (hopefully) useful hat, custom made for you by me.



If you would like to be considered for the "Thanking Your Bicycle Give-Away," here are the guidelines:

Please write a thank you note to your bicycle in the "Remarks" section of this post.

Description of your bicycle and a links to pictures are a bonus, but not required.

If you have multiple bicycles, multiple entries are eligible. One entry per bicycle.

Entries should be posted between the start of Wednesday, November 24th and the end of Friday, November 26th.

International entriesare eligible from all corners of the world with reliably functional postal systems.

Shipping will be taken care of.

Recipient will be announced Sunday, November 28th.

Thank you for reading Lovely Bicycle, and enjoy!

Walk in the Snow

Low cost airlines - cheap or cheeky

There is something to be said for travelling on a low cost airline. Certainly an experience that I haven't had the pleasure of in what must have been a couple of years.









You may be shocked to hear that I was surprised at having to cram my liquids into just one small plastic bag for honestly the first time in a very long time. Usually I have my customary lip balm and hand sanitiser, but this time was required to empty the majority of the contents of my wash bag into my hand luggage to get through security, and all because I had carry on luggage. Where have I been and why have I missed this vital piece of info about travelling with Easy Jet - clearly on another airline!




I have in the past, always left everything in my case and gotten through with security non the wiser. In fact, today I have proved it's a pointless rule as I was pulled aside and asked for my passport? My laptop, which I had failed to bring out for inspection, or the bottle of perfume still stashed in my case for fear of it being confiscated for exceeding the 100ml, were both ignored and instead they chose to 'swab' my ticket and passport - what for, who knows... this is definitely a mystery that remains, having experienced a similar treatment many times before!




I think my fellow traveller was just glad that we hadn't been sectioned for a supposed 'naked scan' as she is convinced we had been last time we flew together. That's another story, as is the strip search encounter ;).




Anyway, as we queued for boarding it was then that the reality about one piece of baggage became apparent. You would think Cat was the serial traveller - well when it comes to this particular low cost airline, it seems she is! I put my hand up to not having a clue about this at all, until now.




However, we were hopeful that I may just be able to get away with it, so I pushed in front to ensure any problems I may cause could be discretely dealt with to one side and not delay the flight. Still bemused that I seriously couldn't carry my hand luggage on board, I was quietly thinking that perhaps paying to take it would be easier.



Expecting to be made a public display, I was disappointed at not even being given an option. Instead the steward requested that I simply put the said bag into my case, without a fuss, so all I could do was admit defeat and attempt to offload my belongings and stuff what was left into my already bulging stash. Unfortunately I hadn't chosen to travel light today... but we got there in the end, despite the 4 pairs of shoes which were taking up all the space ;).



I have since carried out a little research on this one piece of baggage rule and it seems it only applies to certain airports. Following the removal of this requirement in by most other airlines Easy Jet chose to continue this approach. It is in fact an inviolable rule which 'everyone', except me it seems, already knows. However if you have airport shopping, you are in fact allowed this in addition, and therefore I believe this is yet another pointless rule (yes, I am on my soapbox today).



Totally just trying it on to get you to pay more for additional baggage and in my view down right cheeky.



I urge you to take a suitable carrier bag along for any excess carry on bags that you may feel are necessary. that is if you haven't already worked this out for yourself ;).




The good news, and total news to me (as I was actually aware of this particular flaw in their service), is that Easy Jet recently announced that seat allocations will be put in place in the more immediate future. To be honest that isn't really going to make me travel with this low cost airline again any time soon. The better news is that our return flight will be with BA ;)!




Clearly I have a lot to learn about budget airlines. I will know next time to pay the surcharge up front or perhaps stick to the more reasonable airlines, which incidentally have always come up cheaper on at least the last 7 trips I have booked.



You may be glad to hear that we arrived safely in Verona and have spent the afternoon/evening taking in Riva Del Garda on the north of Lake Garda... I promise that normal blog service will resume tomorrow, so check back soon x

Raleigh DL-1: Vintage Dream Come True!

Oh what a happy September 1st! I have a new bicycle!! More accurately, it is a newly-acquired old bicycle. This was completely unplanned, but the opportunity presented itself and I could not pass it up.

This is a Raleigh DL-1 Lady's Tourist - one of the best known original loop-frame bicycles. I got it from a very nice local collector, and I really can't thank him enough. The 22" frame feels tailor made for me. The actual height of the saddle is the same as on my 21" Lady's Sports, because the seat tube on the DL1 is considerably more slack. This bicycle is in great condition. We will replace the tires and brake pads, and she will be ready to roll.

As you can see, it is missing a chaincase - but I already have a lead on a full chaincase that should fit it. I also have a lead on a set of vintage-style rope skirtguards, the kind that connect to holes in the fender. I love the vintage bicycle community.

Here is the 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub. Filthy but so sexy!

And here is the gear shifter. The DL-1 has rod brakes, which I would not want on a commuter. But I am fine with them on a collector bicycle that I only plan to take on quiet rides.

I have no place to store this bicycle, so I am still not sure how I will deal with it logistically! But this really is a vintage dream come true, so I will think of something. You can see how happy we are together, even before the chaincase/tire/skirtguard upgrades!

Wandering Along

Monday, April 4th - - Upon leaving Copper Breaks State Park, I continued northwest in the general direction of Amarillo. My intended destination was Palo Duro State Park, which some claim is the second largest canyon in the United States (the largest being the Grand Canyon).



However, I tired of battling the wind which was coming from the north with gusts of 35-50 mph and turned south after about an hour of driving. Several other factors added to the decision to forgo Palo Duro at this time – my left leg has been giving me some problems making hiking on uneven, rough trails a bit problematic – the wind was not due to let up until later in the day – the overnight temperature was going to drop into the low 30s - and tonight Butler was going up against UConn in the Big Game! So Palo Duro would have to wait for another time.



Just east of Silverton on Texas Highway 256 a rest area at the top of a ridge provided good views of the road just traveled.





This simple wooden cross at the top of the ridge honored “Gran” and “Pop”.





And this is the view that was off to the right... looking north.



Looking northeast.

Yes, I stopped at a motel for the night. And was disappointed by the outcome of the game. Neither team played all that good but Butler played a little worse, dashing the hopes of everyone cheering for the underdog.

Perfect bouldering day

Mega new boulder in Glen Nevis which I’ve given a good clean and opened 6 new problems in the easy to mid grades so far. ten minutes walk from the road, yet in complete solitude. I filmed some of them too and will make a wee video and topo shortly. Now the easy ones are done, time to work on the harder ones. This really was a perfect climbing day, great temperatures, great sights and sounds of nature all around, and great climbing. Bouldering above uneven landings was still feeling more like soloing for me right now though. But I am getting slightly more confident.