Rivendell saved for now...

[benb]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I guess I sort of see what you are saying but....if you are "going to the mall" to buy a bike I doubt the $1700.00 Riv is going to do well against the Electra for $1000 less.

I could be wrong.

I've sold a lot of bikes in my life and the average person in this country thinks $
700 for a bike is way too much. I said average consumer not niche cyclist with half a clue. Tough biz on the best of days.

This seems right on the money.

Most people who want a bike like this aren't going to ride it for hours. If you're only riding it for 10 minutes down to Whole Foods you don't care about a lot of the high end stuff, and you're on the saddle for such a small amount of time and pedaling so leisurely that the fit is not as critical. And you're going to lock it up outside.. and worry about it getting stolen.

And it's a lot harder to buy a Riv than it is to walk into your local LBS and walk out and hour later with a sub-$1000 bike that seems to work great for these use cases.

Not very many people want a $3000 lugged townie that's a pain to buy when the local shops are bursting with $500 hybrids that do this job fine.

[jtbadge]

Serious question: who's buying parts from Rivendell except to go with a frame they bought from Rivendell?

Maybe some of the bag and rack stuff? But I cross checked a few parts (brakes, BBs, bars, shifters, etc) against QBP and online retailers and they were all more expensive on Riv, sometimes much (as much as 40-50%) more expensive. Plus, most places have a free shipping threshold, or, ya know, order from your LBS if they don't have what you need in stock.

Phil Wood BBs were slightly cheaper on Riv, and they still have some discontinued stuff, that's cool.

What value are they adding that may not be super obvious, besides the warm fuzzies of supporting GP and friends?

[seanile]

Boo hummus aquinas. Not helpful.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Serious question: who's buying parts from Rivendell except to go with a frame they bought from Rivendell?

?

I have bought a few sets of DT shifters from his site. They are nice and work as advertised. I do not own a Riv frame. Just a datapoint.

[raygunner]

Totally unproductive, let's not engage in personal attacks.

I give Joe credit, he's a big fan of Riv and I'm glad he is here to discuss and I think there's lot of good insight here.

No one wants to see Riv fail, they're a big reason we're at this point in regards to the collective philosophy of how we ride, gravel, fat tires, etc.

Can we get a running list of things they can do to right the ship?

[Joe Remi]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I have bought a few sets of DT shifters from his site. They are nice and work as advertised. I do not own a Riv frame. Just a datapoint.

They're always good for Nitto stuff, I've grabbed a couple quill stems this year. Their bags are nice, I have a couple of those.

I also have some riding pants and shorts, a couple t-shirts, gloves. I believe strongly in the Riv mantra for riding clothes, I despise tight-fitting lycra with padding.

Not currently the owner of a Riv frame, my newest purchase is a barn find '93 Bridgestone XO-1. The seller claimed he rode it 50 miles and put it away in 1994, and it shows.

[colker]

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

Not currently the owner of a Riv frame, my newest purchase is a barn find '93 Bridgestone XO-1. The seller claimed he rode it 50 miles and put it away in 1994, and it shows.

Picshures!

[Joe Remi]

Originally Posted by colker

Picshures!

Ok! I couldn't upload it here, so let's try a Google link. This is a rather lousy pic from when I first got 'er home; that horrendous '90s tape will be gone soon, and a proper Brooks shall be sat upon.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gDTTJCPsBfaswwiv9

[m4rk540]

To me this is as ugly as any current Rivendell:

https://www.speedvagen.com/ready-made-gtfo/

I'm sure that and the curved top tube Riv are both hella fun to ride and I'd be a riding fool on both. But only on the SV would I feel like a fool. I think Colker is right about the marketing.

[Joe Remi]

Originally Posted by m4rk540

To me this is as ugly as any current Rivendell:

https://www.speedvagen.com/ready-made-gtfo/

I'm sure that and the curved top tube Riv are both hella fun to ride and I'd be a riding fool on both. But only on the SV would I feel like a fool. I think Colker is right about the marketing.

That thing is so ugly I unfollowed Speedvagen on IG so I could stop looking at it. This is also another vote for naming bikes Road, Tour, or give it a number. I'm not riding a GTFO!

[choke]

Originally Posted by Lewis Moon

I have no idea why anyone would go back to friction and down tube shifting. It baffles me. I would pick "brifters" as one of the best bicycle improvements of the last 50 years.

I used to think the same thing until I started doing some rides that required DT shifters. I found that I really liked them better than Ergos...they made me feel more connected to the shifting, for lack of a better way of articulating it. I took the Ergos off the bike that I ride the most and replaced them with DTs and I'm really happy with the change. If I could find a source for nice Campy brake levers at a decent price I'd probably switch most of the rest to DTs as well. As it is, I can't recall the last time that I rode a bike with Ergos....it has to have been more than a year ago.

[dancinkozmo]

ive rediscovered the DT shifting as well.
you dont really need brifters unless youre racing

[colker]

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

Ok! I couldn't upload it here, so let's try a Google link. This is a rather lousy pic from when I first got 'er home; that horrendous '90s tape will be gone soon, and a proper Brooks shall be sat upon.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gDTTJCPsBfaswwiv9

My size.
I am not a big fan of slim tires on 26in wheels though. I would maybe go w/ 2.2 slicks.

[eddief]

will the become collectable?

[Joe Remi]

My preference is bar-ends, indexed rear. I have a couple bikes with brifters and they work well enough, but the "reach way forward, shift sideways" motion isn't intuitive for me. I like reaching down and back for the vertical movement of bar-ends better.