In. Plus I bought some stuff too.

Cool. I don't know him but I sold a lot of B'stone bikes back in the day. I've spoken to him on the phone. He's unpretentious and I appreciate his attitude about bikes. Sometimes it is a wonderful life and you do need to help out businesses you believe in.

Mr. Potter d/b/a bikiola helped convince me to buy some Rivendell stuff.

When my friend Charlie suffered a major injury Rivendell helped him out in a big way.

I'm not sure I have ever bought anything from Rivendell nor do I know if I will ever redeem my $10 but I appreciate their continued and faithful support of cycling and of a segment of cyclists who, until recently, were not being served by others.

Small acts of altruism do not require a cost benefit analysis.
Brent

Oh no, it's too late- I was suckered by Big Riv! Never again will I stray from the almighty profit motive in all of life's decisions, community be damned.

A lot of phrases come to mind, like it's a "dog eat dog world", or "live by the sword you die by the sword". But I like to repeat what my 3 year old daughter and I hear while watching Mr. Rogers and Daniel Tiger, "A neighbor is here to help" or "Do something nice for your neighbor, do something nice for a friend".

Yikes, did not expect these responses, but the sentiment is good. LOL @ me being mr potter - i'm more a rabid socialist than anything else! anyway, support on (maybe i was a planted troll to push cranksters to the left...

Oh, and another thing.... This thread...

Grant Petersen....

10 pages minimum.

The world would be a different place if we were all more a little like Mr. Rogers.

Anyway, I occasionally buy stuff from RBW, when it fits into my budget, even though I can buy most of what they sell at cost. Will I ever buy a new frame, or a complete from them? Probably not, but they serve (as someone else noted earlier) a segment of the cycling population that the industry itself doesn't--arguably, a bigger segment, even. Grant/B-stone/Rivendell seems to always be one step ahead of the curve, to their detriment, sometimes. Hybrids, big tires, 650B, etc...You can even see inklings of baskets on racks on "high performance" touring bikes. It would be a shame for that to disappear over a few hundred $$$ that I can spare over the course of a year. Call it a donation, whatever, but to paraphrase, a neighbor needs my help, and I'll do what I can. Is it an objectively good use of money? Probably not...but what it is is supporting a cause that I believe in.

(note: I might be biased, having worked for bicycle shops in some capacity for the last 8 years. Even the best run shops get really tight on money in the winter months. In an 'industry' where it's the norm to fire 50%+ of your staff for 3-4 months out of the year, well, RBW is worth holding up as an example. Maybe not of a company run for pure profit, but certainly of one that is a pillar of the community.)

...+1. My first thought when I saw it, and I've not been disappointed so far.

LOL, +2. I knew it would come to this!!

I guess i'm not articulating how I feel well.. I buy from LBS, support activism, etc. Its tough for me to just give $ to *businesses* specifically (as opposed to, say, families in need, etc) when I feel like the point of a business is to make a product and sell it at a profit for that business, in order to keep them afloat.

Anyway, my .02 cents. long live grant pedersen and the rest of the gang.

...you rabid socialist bike hipsters pushed all my people out of Brooklyn, with your artisanal gentrification and generally lemming like communal massing.

My sainted great Aunt Edith who lived on Avenue X thinks you are trashy and of low class.

Hmmm... how would you know who I am, mate? Youre right though, based on my background and looks, I avoided south brooklyn like the plague - you know all the irish and italian would try to beat the s**t out of us kids from the north based on their "inclusivity"

EDIT: would love to get back on topic. will stop with my opinions on the matter (unless you try that ad hominem, eg 3 alarm fire boy)

.
...and it's Petersen, dammit.

I think the point that we're making is that Riv has always tried to be more than just a profit making venture. Not every company is synonymous with Walmart style greed/capitalism.

Not following you on this one.

...I think it's some kind of lame attempt to get the whole thread pushed into teh P+R.

But I guess calling someone "lame" without knowing if they are literally limping could be construed as an ad hominem. So I would never say that out loud.

you... you aren't so far from your auntie and her ilk's tree after all - can't say i feel much sympathy for the push-out!

I'm down with this explanation -

I prefer "It's a doggy dog world."

In.

I'd like them to stick around purely for the selfish reason so I can get a canti braked Homer.

...her ilk ? HER ILK !!!?? You sir, are the personification of sainted Aunt Edith's paranoia with regard to Nazi's and hipsters. For shame, sir. For shame.

Alright, alright, take it outside, or PM.

Replace Brian Boitano with Grant Petersen:

The intended topic was that a few of us who like this business might want to help it out, and I was just helping spread the word. Plain and simple. Debate is always free, but it's not always helpful. That's all I will say.

I drool over Rivendell frames a lot but I have only bought small stuff. I did help out the "hail mary".

I assume it would also be helpful to actually buy something.

I have a Sam Hillborne that I bought used on craigslist and a bunch of other rivish bikes, so I feel like I have benefited at least a little bit from the Petersen philosophy over the years. Interestingly, I have never bought anything directly from Rivendell because everything I have ever been interested in was available cheaper somewhere else. If I ever spend Rivendell money on a frame, it probably won't be another Rivendell, so I'm a little conflicted. I'd like to see Rivendell stay in business, but if I get some of the gift cards it would basically be a donation. I'll have to think about this one.