except one company is wildly successful and (usually) pushing cutting edge products. the other doesn't seem to want to change, at all, ever, and just ran the most recent of several GoFundMe-style rescue-the-company campaigns.

He could re-introduce frames in the mold of MB-1 in 27.5 version and the XO series in 700 and 650-B versions (two of my favorite frames from back when) then market his own products like Velo Orange and be done with it instead of retailing Nitto and Dia Combe at prices higher than can be found elsewhere. He was ahead of his time then stayed there though most of my bikes have followed along his thoughts in comfort, practically and aesthetics and why I'm riding a BMC Monster Cross at present though I recently purchased a Soma Stanyan,new version that goes back to quill stems but allow tires up to 35mm slicks/file tread.

One company has more free cash on hand than any other company in the history of humankind.

The other has to ask for donations by Monday to keep the doors open to avoid a cash flow crisis.

They're....not the same.

It's amazing & awesome to see how many pitched in & helped out Riv.

But personally I never want to see a mention of their finances again. This include payroll, exchange rates, cash flow, etc.

Sometimes it's difficult to try and be funny over the Internet.

Good for Riv, I hope the best for them and their fervent base :D

Hope they can make it work. I fear this is a case where a lump sum of smart money might be better medicine than a no strings attached handout. The former would come with oversight, new ideas, and force some tough but necessary changes, but the latter doesn't force anything to change.

There was a guy selling chainrings at a really low price. My buddy and I bought a 130bcd 46t triplizer and a 74bcd 30t chainring for like $20 plus shipping. It was a good deal, but I didn't realize that the seller was pledging all the money to Riv?! So he contributed $600 towards their cause.

Will it help? Definitely. Will they continue to do this, probably. Riv really needs to bring in their accountant and figure out not only their inventory, but direction of what they want to do. I didn't realize they now have 13 employees?! That seem like a lot - too much?!

Also, they make some strange looking bikes that apparently has a following. But the double top tube thing or bikes with no top tube look cheap and don't seem like serious bikes.

Good Luck To Riv!

Amen. :beer:

Perhaps they should reclassify as a non-profit charity (the Church of Rivendell) and go from there. :eek:

Just hang around somewhere people ride new bikes built to act like they are 40 to 50 year old bikes,

Riv products are very niche. I don't know why one would expect to see them all the time. A lot of companies are successful selling products that I have never seen.

I got this and the original bailout email asking to buy the $10 “bonds” (which inspired zero confidence in them as a viable company).

My only thought is, if they’re struggling in THIS economy......yikes. Hope that recession cycle is further off than not. Best of luck to them.

Would be much more willing to provide him with a gift certificate for the services of my accountant. Every few now and again we have to revisit how money works, it's never a fun conversation.

As an idle curiosity, I too am curious as to how $215k in gift certificates for life gets carried around on the books? It's a liability that will float around year after year, can you really spend it or does it have to be set aside and restricted and when do you eventually get taxed on it? How does it affect your credit with vendors? The California Dept of Revenue audit should be interesting as it will definitely be a line item that draws attention

Good luck to Ross and I hope he learns/adjusts as Rivendell/Bridgestone has quite a history in the biz and is better with the market

For the record, the MB-0 was a POS, irregardless of wheel size don't attempt that again. The the MB-1 and MB-2 were much better bikes as far as spec and construction. The MB-0 was made of tubing that was way too thin/flexy and came with pin holes in the welds...stock, it's probably the reason Ross hates go fast bikes to this day. Also had a bunch of weird mavic parts that were proprietary as far as crank lengths and stuff like that. It took me several tries to get an MB-0 that was sufficient to actually ride. MB-1 and MB-2 were the way to go

i live and bike commute in san francisco and i see at least 1-2 rivendells daily. i have seen them all over the bay area, especially the east bay and walnut creek.

but I understand not seeing them in the south bay. I haven't spent much time in and around San Jose but I can't imagine it's as big a following as in SF or the east bay. That being said I've seen a few in Los Gatos.

I hope they survive.

Yeah, and Grant is over across the street bashing companies who do business the military...