Sunday, December 30, 2018

A Constant Refrain: Those Early Rivendell Bikes Were So Nice, The Road Frame, The Atlantis

So good. All that was missing at the beginning was a Riv MB-1 and a Riv RB-1.  Real racing style lugged steel bikes.  But it never happened.  The Road frame was almost a fancy RB-1, and the Atlantis was the perfect bike for its intended use.  The Rambouillet, the Saluki (650B), the Bleriot (cheaper Saluki), even the Long-Low canti road frames, those things should have made Grant rich beyond his least-wild dreams.  Hell, Grant should have been able to sell the shit out of a lugged, steel cyclocross frame suited to real racing, like a Swiss Cross with lugs and a steel fork.  Time was not kind to Rivendell, though.  The bikes got goofier and tackier, and Grant never focused on the 650B gravel bike trend he started, any more than he made bank off any of the other trends he reignited or helped bring back.  Sad.  There hasn't been a Riv bike I'd buy offered in almost a generation.  Shitting on Rivendell is a storied pastime at this point.  I'm glad I got the generation one Atlantis when I did.  The Riv MB-1 and Riv RB-1 would still have been steady-sellers today.  In the end I guess Grant didn't care.  Paging Zathras.

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