Been following Grant and Rivendell since Bridgestone. Had a couple B'stone catalogs, and a big stack of early Riv Readers. Nothing but admiration. IMO Grant almost single-handedly shifted the direction of the industry. He created a demand for something outside the mainstream of bike development, i.e., what Shimano and the other big companies were promoting. Companies like Velo Orange owe their existence to Grant Petersen, as do products like the big clearance Tektro sidepulls now used on so many bikes. I can see the business problem, though. His bikes are expensive but still probably just barely cover his costs, which must be enormous. Even though many of his customers own multiple Rivs, still, all that work (meaning time) developing the frames, the back and forth, the redesigns, then for each customer the component selection and assembly, he probably doesn't clear that much on each bike. And here I am. As big a fan as I am I've never bought one. I can't justify to myself owning such an expensive bike, as much as I would like to.