Rivendell saved for now...

[belopsky]

Originally Posted by bfd

I was wrong, Riv does advertise a bike with modern parts - looks like Sram Force:



Riv advertises it as their "fastest" bike too!

In contrast, the Roadini, a tig-welded frameset doesn't seem to work, even as a 1x!



Good Luck!

i think if the Roadini was set up like the roadeo it’d look nicer

This looks like a nice sport tourer? It’s pretty stout but from all accounts I’ve seen does ride nice

[raygunner]

[QUOTE=belopsky;2476461]Riv once told me it’s a waste of their time to pack and ship small orders to me.

How did they convey this? Did they write "waste of our time" on the box in marker?

I just purchased a small item from them and received a pleasant confirmation email.

[ashwa64]

gransfors bruk axes are badass and the world is better with riv in existence, imo

[belopsky]

[QUOTE=raygunner;2476579]

Originally Posted by belopsky

Riv once told me it’s a waste of their time to pack and ship small orders to me.

How did they convey this? Did they write "waste of our time" on the box in marker?

I just purchased a small item from them and received a pleasant confirmation email.

No, it was the conversation that followed. I can’t find the emails or the conversation, maybe it was on RBW list that I left.

The short of it I placed a small order, it was shipped via ups surepost that took longer than usps first class would. I didn’t like that they used surepost and charged me $9 for it. Blamed me for not contacting them and asking for usps (it wasn’t an option on their site).

Fully transparently, told me that the time it takes to ship a $10 order is sometimes more than a $200 and they’re not making money when they do that.

That’s kind of the short of it.

Overall I get it and it’s water under the bridge, but I don’t shop there anymore. The brass ferrules I wanted long ago I found elsewhere in a big container (wheels industries, I think?) and I’ve yet to run out.


To be more on topic: I appreciate rivbikes offerings of some parts that are unique or hard to find. I’ve owned a few of their bikes over the years, pre ordered the frank jones last year.

Their old bikes appealed to me, their new do not. Grant wrote a pretty out there post about mountain bikes recently.

Rivbike- not for me, anymore. Wish them the best

[raygunner]

Firstly, I really want a custom fat tire road bike from them. It's gotta be orange.

Secondly, there are bunches of good business related advice in the preceding pages of this thread. I wish them the best.

Third, while I enjoy their brand and their idiosyncrasies i did not like seeing the canniblization of the Atlantis and Homer to meld with the rest of their MIT line-up.

[raygunner]

[QUOTE=belopsky;2476599]

Originally Posted by raygunner

No, it was the conversation that followed. I can’t find the emails or the conversation, maybe it was on RBW list that I left.

The short of it I placed a small order, it was shipped via ups surepost that took longer than usps first class would. I didn’t like that they used surepost and charged me $9 for it. Blamed me for not contacting them and asking for usps (it wasn’t an option on their site).

Fully transparently, told me that the time it takes to ship a $10 order is sometimes more than a $200 and they’re not making money when they do that.

Rivbike- not for me, anymore. Wish them the best

Their shipping dept is a actually the one thing that's super great. They're really fast and everything is extremely well packed. Yeah, shipping costs money but it's nothing to get sore about.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by belopsky

I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.

Bob Jackson has sold me everything I’ve wanted and the only thing they didn’t want to do is build me a custom bike because they don’t do custom frames anymore.

Sorry, I didn't understand that about Bob Jackson.

Riv said that to you for a reason, that's all; and they have a side to that interaction that is not posted here.

[gdw]

Originally Posted by ashwa64

gransfors bruks axes are badass and the world is better with riv in existence, imo

Grant jumped the shark many years ago. Urban lumbersexuals have moved on to other trendy toys and encouraging Rivendell cult members to make fires while bike packing/camping is kinda irresponsible especially when you live in a state that has major fires every year.

[Burnette]

So much baggage and backwards business think from Rivi, I wonder, besides the begging, what their survival strategy is going forward?

The bicycle market is volatile and if you're stuck in a hole I don't see how you will be able to react when necessary. How long can they live off of being quirky?

[eddief]

seems as if Velo Orange took most of what Riv was doing and bested Riv in nearly every way. A wider open cult without the overt dogma and way more entrprenureship. Riv bikes seem to be prettier but that may be the only distinguishing factor.

[peanutgallery]

The next step for Riv is...wait for it...artisanal firewood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBb9O-aW4zI

Originally Posted by Burnette

So much baggage and backwards business think from Rivi, I wonder, besides the begging, what their survival strategy is going forward?

The bicycle market is volatile and if you're stuck in a hole I don't see how you will be able to react when necessary. How long can they live off of being quirky?

[bfd]

Originally Posted by belopsky

i think if the Roadini was set up like the roadeo it’d look nicer

This looks like a nice sport tourer? It’s pretty stout but from all accounts I’ve seen does ride nice

There you go. But it is interesting that Grant/Riv doesn't seem to want to advertise their bikes in this manner. Instead, I think they put out the Roadeo (which appears to be discontinued?!) and Roadini (which is basically tig-welded with an unappealing seat tube lug) as something to fill their lineup as they push their upright/pull back bar philosophy. With things like double top tube and other weird styles and then their need to ask for money, it is obvious things aren't working.

Bottom line, I use to be a subscriber and interested in Riv. I do like their custom Rivendell. But at $3500 for a frameset, there are many other custom framesets I would prefer. Further, now the only time I hear about them is in threads like this. Not good.

Good Luck!

[NHAero]

For $3,500 you could have a full custom Dave Anderson frame/fork with options, from a builder working at the peak of the current art. Dave Kirk's prices are modestly higher. Two of the best builers anywhere. I imagine there are other fine builders with pricing below $3,500 for a full custom. So what's the reason again for a custom Riv?

[bfd]

Originally Posted by NHAero

For $3,500 you could have a full custom Dave Anderson frame/fork with options, from a builder working at the peak of the current art. Dave Kirk's prices are modestly higher. Two of the best builers anywhere. I imagine there are other fine builders with pricing below $3,500 for a full custom. So what's the reason again for a custom Riv?

Good question. There's a lot of excellent builders who charge that much, if not less! Heck, even Rivendell's builder, Mark Nobilette, charges less with his lugged framesets starting at around $2800!

So what do you get? Well, if you listen to the Rivendell-tifosi, you can only get a frameset designed by Grant Petersen himself. Remember, although it is called a "custom," this frame has to meet with Grant's approval. So not only does he choose the geometry specifically for your body shape and riding style, e.g., think Japanese sports touring bike from the late 80s, he also specifies the "look." That means no flames, neon paint jobs or anything that doesn't meet his standards. Is that enough to justify the $3500 price tag? To the tifosi, yes!

Of course, YMMV!

Good Luck!

[zmalwo]

$215,000 is a pretty big number, at least they could have offered some shares of their company to certain big donors. bailing out a private business by donation just seems wrong.