I personally love it when Beke goes off about Rivendell. He's funny.

I guess I'm kind of a fence-sitter on this issue. I happen to agree with Beke in a lot of ways about Grant P and the way he does his business, though I find Grant infinitely better than most business people and marketers I've seen, and I admire him as an ersatz keeper of the flame for products that have a pre-1980s mindset. I would much rather have a thousand Grants in the world selling tried and true works of craft and hand labor (even though he can be kind of a huckster) than the cheap manufactured plastic-pushers of today's big business world.

However, there is a definite J Peterman thing with Rivendell, as Beke has pointed out time and again. I know that marketing is designed to sell things, but I find Riv to be goofy in the way they do it sometimes - they will outright rhapsodize about a Ticonderoga #2 pencil or Lip Ivo lip balm (seriously, not one iota better than ordinary Chapstick - they just like it because it's old and "the original lip balm since 1901," and they don't want it becoming extinct, as far as I can tell), and I think it is kind of silly that otherwise intelligent consumers might be inclined to get caught up in the brainwashing way that Riv hawks certain products.

Again though, they sure do make some very nice bikes and cater to a style of product that - thank God - hasn't yet vanished from the world, and if money grew on trees, I would definitely consider getting one of their customs. At their prices though, if I wanted to pay out the nose I would much rather have someone at Alex Singer make me a boutique bike. We need J Petermans.