Hello Jim,

Thanks for posting photos of my Quickbeam. I was inspired to take a few updated photos of my Rivendell Romulus as well, which recently inherited the QB's new lighting system when my knees complained that I was riding the QB too much on SF hills. Frankly the Romulus is probably a more practical commuter anyway.

When Rivendell first made the Romulus they had a few unpainted frames at an unbeatable price (including custom-color paint jobs!), which also enabled me to build it with the exact components I wanted. The mix of Campagnolo (shifters/derailleurs) and Shimano (Ultegra hubs, brakes, triple crank, and 13-30 cassette) has worked flawlessly for several years and thousands of miles. The other components are mostly Nitto with a Tubus Fly rack. After a very bad accident several years ago involving clipless pedals swore me off clipless, I recently starting using Shimano M540 pedals on the Romulus, but I still enjoy using clips and straps on the QB.

I had been putting the Berthoud fenders on only during the "rainy" season, but I think I may leave them on for good now because the bike always looked naked without them. The Schmidt (SON) hub with B&M lights is wonderful! ItÕs so nice to not worry about whether I charged the battery or if it will run out should I decide to take a long route home. As pictured (without panniers) it weighs 28 pounds, not bad for a bike with fenders, rack, and generator lighting system but still heavy compared to many of the older Randonneur style bikes you see featured in Jan Heine's wonderful Bicycle Quarterly.

IÕm sure youÕll recognize the photos in the Marin headlands, my favorite commuter route from my home in San Francisco to work in San Francisco.

Keep up the great work and happy riding. Hope to see you on the road sometime.

Brett Gilbert

http://home.earthlink.net/~rivromulus

rivromulus@earthlink.net