rivendell bikes?

[mike]

has anyone seen one in the flesh?  Am lusting after a lugged touring bike and theirs do look rather lovely. 

Mercians are very nice too, but Rivendells are a bit rarer  

[scott]

There are Rivendells and Rivendells--customs made in the US, production models mostly made in Japan, and the Bleriot, made in Taiwan.

The only one I've seen in person is the Quickbeam singlespeed. They are by all accounts all very nice bikes, but from over here many Mercians look more desirable.

[border-rider]

Shedloads on PBP - more common than Mercians

But wot Scott said: some are terminally beautiful, some much more mundane

If you want rare, desirable British steel then go for Robin Mather.  I almost went for one when I got the MC and if I'd wanted steel I would have

Rollo has one - seen in the flesh it is just wondrous.

[Rollo]

My Mather's spent most of the last three months tucked up in the garage, but it'll be out on the road again soon when I get my arse into gear.
A small connection between it and Rivendell is that I've got Nitto Noodle bars on it which were originally designed by and made for Rivendell.

[scott]

The one I wanted most, not counting the customs, was the "canti-rom", short for being the cantilever version of the Romulus.

I wanted a Heron Wayfarer more than any production Rivendell, but Heron ceased production, and my ship didn't come in in time.

[Chris N]

I'd like a Quickbeam, but really only for the track ends - though the complete bike is (was?) very good value. I guess that one of Robin Mather's bikes would do, at a pinch.

[scott]

Every time I see a Quickbeam, all I can think is "can I please have one of those without the 120mm spacing and with a derailleur  hanger?" 

[Chris N]

Or a Canti-rom?

I really like Grant's ideas about frame sizing - high handlebars and a short-ish top tube seem to suit me just fine.

[scott]

I'm OK with high bars and low bottom brackets. Short top tubes aren't as good in my case, as I am a knuckledragger, but long stems are available.

[innesh]

My Dave Yates is flam. orange with a white head tube.  I saw a bike on the Rivendell site which I think was a colour they called 'pumpkin'.  I knew there and then that was the colour for my new frame.

I sort of buy into a lot of the Rivendell ethos, sizing etc., but there are good builders in the UK who could easily match them IMO.

[mark]

I've seen a few, they're very nice bikes. They like to use smaller wheels (26", 650B) for smaller frames and larger (700C) wheels for larger frames, which makes a lot of sense to me although I wish 650B tires and rims were a little more widely available. I've been very happy with my own Riv tourer for the last few years. Very comfy for long rides and it's served me well on the loaded tours I've done. I ended up adding a chain peg on the seat stay, a fender boss on the chainstay bridge and a vertical fender boss on the seatstay bridge when I had the bike repainted, hopefully Grant Peterson has started including those items on newer bikes (mine was delivered in 2001).

The various canvas bags that Rivendell offers (Baggins, Nigel Smythe) are very, very nicely made and well thought out.

[Nick H.]

I've incorporated lots of Rivendell thiking into my Dave Yates.  The late Sheldon was also a fan: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/rambouillet.html

This site is useful too: http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/josephtouring.html.

I reckon it's best to get a UK builder to give you exactly what you want. Dave Yates couldn't be more cooperative and flexible.  I've ended up with a bit of a Rambouillet copy but with more features and more versatility.

[Gus]

There are quite a few good U.S builders now , check out Curt Goodrich just to mention one.
Richard Sachs have some of them listed here 

Gus

[scott]

Oddly enough, Curt Goodrich has been the main builder for custom Rivendells for some time now.

[donpedro]

I would put it like a chap in my club:
"Only Rivendell's are Rivendell's. The rest are Bleriot, Atlantis etc!" 
Think he should know:

http://www.jolop.net/



Lots of equaly good builders in the UK so why not care for a local artisan?

[mike]

Lots of equaly good builders in the UK so why not care for a local artisan?

I think you (and others) are right they look lovely but they're not the only people who can build lovely. I'll investigate with Robin Mather and then work out from there!

[Tom B]

Resurrection:  Rescuing Rivendell Bicycle Works
How, and why, the cycling community saved one of its own

[mark]

This is actually the second time (that I know of) that Grant Peterson has gone public with this sort of appeal.

[rogerzilla]

That looks careless, to channel Oscar Wilde.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

This is actually the second time (that I know of) that Grant Peterson has gone public with this sort of appeal.

Yes.

[DuncanM]

Wait, is there a current appeal?  The article linked to yesterday was from 2018.

[mark]

No, 2018 was the second appeal. Sorry if my post wasn't clear.

[Nick H.]

Why can't they make a profit? Too much competition from Compass/René Herse?

[mark]

Why can't they make a profit? Too much competition from Compass/René Herse?

Too much competition from the entire bicycle industry. Their bikes appeal to a fairly small subset of the bicycling public, and the prices mean that not everyone in that subset can afford them. A lot of their other offerings (Nitto components, the various canvas bike bags) fall into the same category. Some of the stuff they've offered over the years has become more widely available from various larger online businesses at lower prices that a smaller operation couldn't match without going broke. Larger operations can offer free shipping at a lower price point than Riv (and other small online operations)can, simply because of the scale of their operations.

[Jethro]

I would suggest you visit the Bespoked bike show in Harrogate next April/May and see the beauties that will be on display there.  You may be surprised!