Well, the seller added a correction to the text, and it is an Austrian Rih, not Dutch: Radsport Industrie Hametl. And this adds to our (at least mine!) knowledge! How great internet is.
Freek Faro Rotterdam Netherlands
2006/3/17, Freek Faro <khun.freek@gmail.com>:
>
> Thanks! Now we're getting somewhere! When I spoke to mr. van der Kaay of
> Rih Amsterdam (BTW, he worked for Rih since he was 16, he's over 60 now!)
,
> he mentioned that he remembered a Vienna bike shop, owner Richard I... H
..
> something, with the Rih name. We're probably talking about the same shop
> here. So that could be the frame on ebay? Not Eastern Europe, but close!
The
> style of the headbadge could be an indication too.
>
> Freek Faro
>
> Rotterdam Netherlands
>
>
> 2006/3/17, ipmerkin@aol.com <ipmerkin@aol.com>:
> >
> > When I was visiting Vienna back in '98, I wandered into a bike shop tha
t
> > was an RIH dealer. They had one that appeared to be a carbon monococqu
e, a
> > few that were lugged steel, and one that was a Vitus 979 with RIH decal
s -
> > frames from at least three different factories. Based on that, I'm not
sure
> > there's an easy way to determine the "legitimacy" of an RIH (at least n
ot in
> > later years).
> >
> > IP Merkin
> > Providence, RI
> >
> > PS - The shop's coolest RIH was a mini frame (like the one that Alberto
> > Masi holds in a promo photo I've seen) for the sole purpose of displayi
ng
> > the new 9-speed Record Group in their shop window. I suppose I should
try
> > to find my trip photos and post 'em somewhere. If I may further digres
s,
> > the shop owner claimed that it was the oldest bicycle shop in Vienna, a
nd
> > the oak parts cabinets lent a little bit of credibility to his claim.
I
> > ended up buying a half dozen RIH caps (with Campagnolo printed on the s
ide)
> > for the crew at my favorite bike shop (Outspokin') in Columbia, SC, whe
re I
> > was living at the time.