I like the Rivendell line of bikes and the "life-style" they endorse....it appeals to my sense of the different, out-of-the-normal, more-is-less grumpy old man nature; I am sortofa grumpy old man; I'm 57. I was in Santa Monica on Sunday (9/27) and spotted an A. Homer Hilsen locked-up along Third Street. At first I thought someone had done a nice job of converting an older road bike into a fendered urban/cyclo-tourist bike but then I saw the name on the downtube. I was underwhelmed by the bike's lack of "flashiness". No shinning chrome, loud colors or unusual design features. At first I thought to myself "geez, all that money for a bike that looks so plain". Then I realized that it's more a finely crafted machine build for a specific type of service and years of use with minimal repair/service in mind; kinda like a classic car that some people keep and maintain for hundreds of thousands of miles and still use on a daily basis. I'm still considering an Atlantis but am researching, have been for about 5 years now, other brands to make my "lifetime investment" bike; don't want to spend $3-5,000.00 only to realize that something else would've been better for me. PG.