Hunqapiller

It’s been more than two years since I bought a new bike. (Well, that’s if you don’t include the triple tandem I purchased last year—but that was for the family!)

That might not seem like a very long time to some people; and even for me, it’s a fast turnaround since, the only reason—well, the main reason—I bought my most recent one, the Tournesol, was to replace one that was stolen, the Rambouillet; before that it had been almost five years since my preceding bicycle purchase—(unless you count the 10 dollars I spent on picking up the Trek 420 at a garage sale).

But when I started up the trailer business, I knew I wanted to have a “company car,” a bike that was really optimized for hauling and so when Rivendell announced their new model, the Hunqapiller (a Wooly Mammoth bicycle), I knew I had to have it even though another discretionary bike purchase runs somewhat counter to my aspirations to be less of a consumer, a goal that I seem to be much better at when it comes to not spending thirty bucks on a new pair of jeans than spending more than forty times that much on a new bike frame.

I put down my cash for it last spring and have been waiting patiently (more or less) ever since; originally, I was supposed to get the frame in late June, but it just showed up about two weeks ago.

I built it up mostly from stuff I had lying around in my parts bin, although I did splurge on a new set of wheels from 2020 Cycle. I finally put to use an old Ritchy Logic triple crank that I originally bought for another bike and I took most of the cockpit off the 420 bike, the rest of which I sold to a friend.

It’s a total balloon-tire ride, cushy and stable, just right for pulling a trailer.