'tons of bikes' is a bit of a misleading statement. he sells out of small batches of mass produced frames fairly frequently.

My theory is that he downsized his lineup and pricepoints to compete with value steel frames proliferating on the market. I suspect rivendell hopes to produce more mass marketable frames, with the haughty 650b panache attached to set his off from many competitors.

Terry, Rodriguez and other framemakers have been producing many frames for smaller riders and touring use for years using the standard available 26" standards of 559 and 571 (which is 650c for those not in the know.) 650A (590) was still a standard and available tire size before the post-modern reintroduction of the 650b.


my suggestions as to why and how grant positions his bike and frame lineup is based on his apparant corporate interest in mass marketing bikes thru QBP.

$500-1,800 bucks for an off the shelf frame doesn't make much sense you are correct, but changing an offensive pricepoint to sell more mass produced frames cheaply does make business sense.