Riv Bikes Email tonight

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by raygunner

Their former manager moved to Portland to start Rivelo which sells "Rivendell bikes, Bob Dylan records, American made bags and clothing, and cycling ephemera".

But you're totally right people would flock there. I'm sure the "bike tourism" that Portland receives is not insignificant. And the PNW region seems much more akin to the Riv lifestyle than what the Bay Area currently offers.

I wonder if disc brakes will be featured on future Riv frames...

For fuggles sake, I can literally almost see this shop from my office (obstructed view, but it's that close) and didn't know it existed...

[pavel]

WHO WROTE THIS and when is the public flogging?

Numbers are fascinating, but can be mesmerizing, too. A 56cm horizontal top tube on a frame with a 74-degree seat tube and a standard lug with no build up and a fork with no extra, and a Cinelli stem, and on a bike sides the traditional too-small way, will feel LONGER than a 58cm top tube on one of our bikes. "Reach" isn't the key, either, because reach doesn't account for the headtube and fork and longer quill build up on our bikes.

https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...3cm-homer-blue

[pavel]

oh my god is this real?

all main frame tubes are 28.6mm diameter, which is normal around here for the seat and top tubes, but in Frank’s case, the down tube is that diameter, too. Put a pin in this math: 3 x 28.6mm = 85.8mm. That makes the frame less stiff, but before you get it into your head that it won’t be stiff enough for you, consider that thru the mid-’80s, all professional cyclists on steel frames rode bikes with two 28.6mm tubes and one 25.4 tube, for a total of 82.6mm. Frank is 3.2 percent fatter, and the tubes aren’t as wimpy, so it’s got to be stiff enough for anybody under about 200 pounds. Eric Heiden, remember him? He rode a bike less stiff than this, so you could be as buff as him and still fine on it.

[chwupper]

Originally Posted by raygunner

Their former manager moved to Portland to start Rivelo which sells "Rivendell bikes, Bob Dylan records, American made bags and clothing, and cycling ephemera".

Rivelo sells those motherlovin' hatchets and charcoal soap, but no Italian licorice toothpaste?

[dddd]

Originally Posted by pavel

oh my god is this real?

Sounds like he typo'd or mis-spoke, simply confusing the toptube with the downtube. So I'm assuming that the frame having all three main tubes at 1-1/8" would be sufficiently stiff, as he claimed.

Quite easy to do while typing and thinking at the same time, I know because I've corrected plenty of posts where words got misplaced and might have even reversed the meaning of what I intended to say.
Scary to think of the times when I didn't discover such a typo right away, or at all!

And what he was apparently saying in the other instance about reach was that the higher handlebar simulates a shorter reach dimension in that one's shoulders get pushed up and back either way.
Also, if the headset is positioned at a higher location on their frames, the published "reach" dimension will be smaller due to the headtube sloping rearward, since the height where the reach dimension is made would be higher.

[pavel]

1) grammar, grammar, GRAMMAR.

2) reach calculation takes headtube height into account.

3) I'm no materials engineer but i'm 99.9% sure you cant measure the stiffness of a bike frame by adding up the diameters of the 3 main tubes.

Am I taking crazy pills over here? This whole thing is bonkers to try to read.

[Frankwurst]

Grant is responsible for me buying an Atlantis and convincing me to try the 650b Koolaid, Albatross bars, fatter tires and various other things I am grateful for and still use on all my bikes in one way shape or form. $10? I spend that much or more on a six pack of bear and think nothing of it.

[gdw]

"Am I taking crazy pills over here? This whole thing is bonkers to try to read."

No, you're hijacking the thread. Elrond and the elves are threatening to leave Middle Earth.....er.....Grant and his crew are experiencing financial hardships and need money to stay in business. Stay on topic.

[semdoug]

I might be wrong about this. I like the looks of Riv bikes and that Joe Bell does the painting (is this still accurate?) but the overall Riv concept seems a bit stale and the market is making a correction.

[Corso]

My reply (below) to a similar thread across the hall-where people are more POSITIVE and willing to help than some of the posts I’ve read here. Don’t want to help? Then don’t, but why kick a small company when their down?

C’mon Paceliners, we’re better than that.

---------
I’m on it.

I called Rivendell when they just started, to ask about compatibility of some part (Suntour brake set?) with my RB-2. To my surprise, Grant answered, and we talked for about an hour about opening a small business (I had just done so also), east coast, west coast, trail riding, etc etc. Been a fan ever since.

I too have a BOB change purse, as well as a membership card with a hand written number on the back someplace…

..and I’m still riding my RB-2.

[mtechnica]

I believe it was grant Petersen that came up with the Bridgestone rb1 and rb2, very successful frames for amateur racing that were competitive with more expensive European frames. They were very popular and are still sought after. Also, wasn’t it him that came up with the mb1? A lot of people held those in high regard. And remember bridgestones lineup of touring bikes?

And then... he went and started making very expensive bikes geared towards non-enthusiast type riders. I guess it must have worked for him for a while, but I really can’t understand why would would alienate the exact kind of people that need and want expensive high quality frames. The stuff he talks about doing on his bikes (ride to the park in flip flops with your beer) can just as well be done on a $50 craigslist nishiki.

I have a lot of respect for grant and what he has accomplished but I am of the opinion that this is the end result of the path he chose to take, and it’s hard to feel sympathetic enough to give him $10 when they don’t sell a single frame I have any interest in.

Maybe if he started making bikes for CYCLISTS then cyclists would purchase them.

Of course I’m generalizing and there are exceptions to what I’ve said I’m sure, but that’s just how I see it from where I’m sitting.

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by Corso

..and I’m still riding my RB-2.

Hmm, perhaps because it’s a good bike that was priced well and made sense for a cyclist to purchase and ride.

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by pavel

1) grammar, grammar, GRAMMAR.

2) reach calculation takes headtube height into account.

3) I'm no materials engineer but i'm 99.9% sure you cant measure the stiffness of a bike frame by adding up the diameters of the 3 main tubes.

Am I taking crazy pills over here? This whole thing is bonkers to try to read.

You are not taking crazy pills. All else being equal a larger diameter tube will be harder to bend but adding the diameters is not the way an engineer would attempt to quantify this.

Probably no need to keep harping on the guy though, being as it looks like his business is on the rocks. It’s just too bad because by all accounts he’s a cool guy, but it doesn’t seem like he is interested in changing his point of view to match what is marketable. I wish the best for his employees.

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Probably no need to keep harping on the guy though, being as it looks like his business is on the rocks. It’s just too bad because by all accounts he’s a cool guy, but it doesn’t seem like he is interested in changing his point of view to match what is marketable. I wish the best for his employees.

Grant seems to want to make quirky, unmarketable frames just for the sake of being quirky. Even in small details he tries to be quirky, e.g.:

https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...oducts/cheviot

On quirky downtube decals: Non-drive-side is spelled "Cheviut." The decal is the phonetic Cheviot spelling a) because we’re weird like that and b) so when people stop you on the street and ask if your Chevyoh is like their Bleriot, you can say no no monsieur it’s CHEVIUT. Get the net!

[Dustin]

If you travel back in time to 2002 or so when I first got turned into Riv, they were offering the types of practical bikes (Atlantis, Rambo) that few others were making, pushing things like fat tires so many of us have now embraced. I have a lot of affection for the company, and would love to support them by actually buying some stuff. But every time I get bitten by the nostalgic Riv bug, I go to their website and can’t find a frame that appeals that much to me. The pox of the double top-tube has infected almost every bike. Classics like the Atlantis have gotten crazy expensive with long lead-times, and the resistance to things like disk brakes means I usually turn to something else that will give me a good tubeless rim selection. I want Grant and Co to make it, but wonder what the plan is for putting the house in order and striking a better balance between marching to a different drummer and actually producing the types of bikes avid cyclists want.