[eddief]

Love Riv and quirk and tall headtubes and gorgeous off the rack lugged bikes. And VO does all that (without the lugs) and then designs or sources a huge number of things relevant to the culture. So VO does the culture deeper, wider, better, and with less weirdness. Grant lost me first at double top tubes and has only gone farther afield since. I've owned three Rambouillets and two Bleriots thinking the beauty was the answer. In the end those bikes were not the best for my fast club rides and I can find the same fit in a tall Trek Domane.

I don't think the niche is big enough to succeed in without a laser focus on the audience and making sure you are constantly hitting the mark. Grant is really good at a lot o stuff, including building a small cult. The cult is divided now and Grant's vision is not keen enough to support the operation. Too many niche-y expensive projects with seemingly mediocre ROI.

I for one would be sad to see it end.