clasher

I think the explosion of custom US builders might be cutting into the market a bit too, there's lots of awesome framebuilders that can make whatever you want and the prices aren't that far off a Rivendell in some cases... and you can get a nice lugged bike with disc brakes if that's your jam.

Bogester 

Darth Lefty 

I read "Just Ride" about the same time I found Bike Forums and crushed on bikes as a hobby. I was on board then - retro premium mountain bikes and extra-relaxed sport touring bikes, sometimes with high handlebars, and a nice stepthrough. It would have been cool to grab one of the tandems if I'd had the scratch. I don't mind if it's made in Taiwan, I don't think their torch gas or skills are any better or worse than Americans.

I just haven't been able to follow what he's up to since then with the Clem, which just seems ill proportioned (tho improved now with the straightened seat stays), and now especially the kid seat bike. How do you convince people "most bikes are just too short to work well" when in fact those seats are designed to work with Dutch bikes that you can buy right now without waiting for a Riv preorder? How many of his customers will have 1-2yo children, the only age at which the front seat works, at just the right time when the bikes come in? How many new parents have two or three grand to build up the bike? Jeez. Tandems are a tough enough sell without doing this to yourself.

paulb_in_bkln

Maybe incongruous but whatever that lower tube joint is, fillet brazing or welding, it's not like anything I've seen on bikes from Surly, SOMA, VO, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with those other bikes.

TiHabanero

Fillet joints take a lot of time, effort and experience to do correctly. They are a thing of beauty and in my estimation are the essence of a perfectly joined frame.

radroad

For better or for worse, a sloppy tig weld sanded down and painted looks just as nice.

corn on the cog 

And pigs look cute in lipstick.

radroad

You are really desperate.

corn on the cog 

Miss Piggy was my first celebrity crush.

mstateglfr 

I honestly can't figure out what your point is with this post.

you can't possibly think ROC and PRC are the same thing, so why post this?
ROC hasnt held control of China for something like 70 years now.

when a frame is built in Taiwan, it states in was made in Taiwan. It doesn't state 'made in republic of China'.

Kobe 

Rivendell's insistence on double top tubes on their larger sizes is what made me go custom with another builder. IMHO Grant's designs peeked with the Rambouillet and the musa Homer. The Roadini is nice but sizes were limited.

Salamandrine 

Yeah, I think the double top tube thing is a bit much, and I also need large sizes. It'd be ok if it was on a model or two, but almost all the frames have it. That's partly why I went with a custom Mercian road touring frame instead of a Rivendell.

carfreefamily

I bought a custom Rivendell in 2000. I went into my local bike shop armed with Eugene Sloane's book, hoping to find a touring bike a la his Alex Singer. I was so disappointed with what was available. I let them talk me into a hybrid since it seemed my only other two choices were ultra-light racing bikes or full-on mountain bikes. That hybrid was one of the worst bikes I had ever owned, and it lead me to consider the internet for the first time as a source of information. I found Rivendell by looking for builders of classic touring bikes.

The thing is, my Rivendell is not something I need to replace, probably ever. It is sturdy, rides great, is lovely to look at, and does everything. At eighteen years old, it's just getting worn in.

I believe, in general, in what Grant is doing with Rivendell because I believe in making things that are built to last. Our world is too full of throwaway crap. (My computer's browsers keep warning me they are no longer secure, but they won't update themselves because the operating system is too old. It's a MacBook Pro from 2007 or so. What the hey? To me, that is really not that old at all. Now that's a business model.) How do you build a business building things that do not need replacement? Also, if I need some incidentals - say chain lube - I would like to support them, but it doubles the cost to pay for the shipping. I head to my local bike shop or, admittedly, Amazon, if I feel pressed for time. Maybe they should have some sort of subscription model where they ship for free, though of course, that never sounds like a good idea business wise. How do you make money if the item you are shipping costs more to ship than you make from the item? I don't mind his complaining. He really does seem to be trying to do something good and worthwhile, though he may have done better to stick to a higher-end niche with fewer products. He could still carry Carradice instead of doing his own bags for example. But, I'm not a business person, so I don't really know what I'm talking about.

I admit, as well, I have never found a model name appealing since they were banned from using Tolkien characters. A Legolas or a Quickbeam sound nice to me. I'm not so fond of A. Homer Hilsen or Gus Boots Wilson, but that's just me.

bark_eater 

Cough.. cough..

paulb_in_bkln

If I get what you are saying, I think I had a similar experience reading the Bridgestone catalogs at the beginning of the '90s. I was getting restless with the design of new bikes and components. I seem to recall the first electric shifters were appearing right around then. I was appalled and although I never lost interest in bikes and riding, I stopped following new product. Except what Riv was up to. I liked Grant's take on design, and I thought he seemed pretty cool personally, as he revealed a lot of his interests and general opinions in the RR.

radroad

Don't like to say it, but a brand new Riv looks like an old bike pulled out of the junkyard.

This is from someone who has a lot of respect for Grant's writing.

radroad

GP is a control freak. I don't mean that as a criticism. But he has to have final say on everything. He doesn't want to be an employee. he doesn't want to be under someone's umbrella. Gary Fisher, Bontrager, Klein, Lemond, they all "sold out" to Trek. Richard Cunningham's a humble pink bike employee. Tom Ritchey's bikes are being welded somewhere in Asia.

GP is the last of the mohicans I suppose. But he's not going out in a blaze of glory. He's just slowly being ignored, like the rest of the bike industry. He did it his way, and nobody cared. At least not enough to buy his bikes.

GP is a likable, intelligent and principled guy. Unfortunately, bicycles to him are a religion rather than a tool or a business. Let's see if he can adjust to life as someone else's employee. I just can't see him as a three time loser. But I doubt he knows any other way at this point.

BTW, I have a 15 year old Gary Fisher hardtail. Still a fantastic bike.

gugie 

I think I understand exactly what a Rivendell is nowadays.

It's designed to ride on Shell Ridge (near Walnut Creek) wearing street clothes with a hatchet in your front basket. Oh, and if you ride it on College Avenue in Berkeley, hipsters will whistle at you and say "nice bike!"

corn on the cog 

Salamandrine 

I've gotten that from hipsters in the Silverlake area, and I don't even have a hatchet. (LAPD would shoot you) Are there still hipsters on College Avenue? I thought they all moved to Portland or Silverlake/Echo Park? Must still be a handful in Oakland.

corn on the cog 

fender1

Not always.

corn on the cog 

unterhausen

That Homer Hilson is a nice looking bike. I went to look at the Riv bikes the other day to see if they still sold bikes like that. But each model is represented by a head badge on the main frame/bike page. I didn't have enough energy to click through on all of them. Okay, I went back and there is a different page with all their models. One thing I notice is that there aren't any low trail or even mid-trail examples.

Sad to say, every time I hear they have a new bike I go look at it and it looks like a NHABS show bike reject. And by that I mean they have a lot of ornamental details but the proportions are wrong. It doesn't help that so many have double top tubes, which is just silly. It's hard to differentiate yourself nowadays, but wonky designs is not the way to do it.

radroad