bwilli88 

I like flat bars but want a bit of sweep. My dirt motorcycle has the right amount of sweep, now to find bicycle bars like them.
I also like a longer chain stay, it smooths the road.
While Grant and Jan both have great ideas, I do not drink their kool aid. I do like gugie's flavor.

RiddleOfSteel

As an '85 Trek 620 owner (47cm CS)--and past owner of a Specialized Expedition (45cm CS) and various Cannondale ST's (46cm CS)--I "get" the long chain stay thing. How long is eventually too long? I don't know.

GP and Riv: "These bikes are meant for hilly terrain!"

Also GP and Riv: "We always need to walk our bikes up hills!"



The bikes, as usual, have hideous proportions (to me) and really stupid names (to me). I rode a custom Riv a few weeks ago--like a Roadeo but with canti brakes and a single bottle cage boss (LOL). Nicely made and painted, stupid wide Nitto Noodles, low-yet-narrow "modern" gearing (aka spinning out at 15 mph). It was quite playful when out of the saddle (which I really liked), but the hip ultra mega low trail front end was a bit weird. But hey, I'm just some normie bike dude that always has the hots for race bikes and non seizure-level-inducing cringeworthy names. I'm not their target market. People like them. It's their money. I'll let them be super happy with their bikes, and I'll be more than happy to buy more race bikes.

beicster 

I like reading Grant's writing and his ideas about bike design. At this point in my life, I choose not to afford one of his bikes but I do look for ways to adapt his ideas in a more affordable way. It has worked fairly well for me.

canklecat

Makes sense for people like me with zero off-road skills. But my early 2000s Globe Carmel already covers this. I mostly use it as an errand bike but it's remarkably capable off pavement. Long wheelbase (I have to splice chains to install a new chain), simple spring suspension fork, sorta compact frame with sloping top tube. I haven't ridden it for awhile but it was always easy to ride. Just a bit heavy at around 35 lbs.

cudak888 

"What is a Hillibike?"
"Any bike you can ride up a Hilli."

-Kurt

Darth Lefty 

I like the marketing a lot better than the thought of actually riding one.

nlerner

I think they’re the bikes you walk to the top of the hill, then take a nice photo of the view, post to social media, then coast back to the bottom.

bark_eater 

I got to say that I had fun tooling around on a Surly Big Dummy before it got 40 pounds of racks and kid gear bolted on. Its the only bike I've ever ridden with disk brakes, but I think it was more of the long wheel base that let me do 2 wheel drifts on small gravel.

Kobe 

Memo to Grant.

Bring back the XO-1 and stop with all the Hill Bikes. Riv has 3 or 4 versions, but they all seem the same to me.

2old

Been following Grant's bikes since the Bridgestone days, and really enjoyed my MB-3 from circa 1987. I thought/think Bridgestones were as well made as any production bike and their US presence's fate was sealed by not adopting indexed shifting.These Riv's seem to be extensions of those bikes, just too expensive. His concept of producing bikes not designed like the pros ride is consistent with mine.

squirtdad

bwilli88 check out the Velo orange postino.... bit of sweep

hsuBM

have these, they have way more sweep than a motocross/enduro handlebar. They’re about 45 degrees. Doable in the trails, but not ideal.

acm

Breaking News: Grant Petersen designs divisive bicycle that nobody on the thread has ridden, but has vocal opinions about anyway

bark_eater 

Fake News Alert:
Got anything constructive to add, or are you another candle drawn moth?

On second thought carry on, it cant be a true GP thread with out meta commentary on the meta commentary....

acm

If I'm wrong tell me why, otherwise move along

bark_eater 

Rivendell has a "Wavie bar", I haven't found a sweep spec for it yet.

bark_eater 

That's always the second thing that I say when I enter a conversation with a critique of the conversation.

Can we go back to interpreting Mr. Petersons cleverness now, please.

nlerner

Handsome Cycles has you covered:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...s-xoxo-bicycle

IsleRide 

The Handsome Cycles XOXO looks like the real deal.

I've long been following Grant's many interpretations of what a bicycle should be. There was that one Rivendell Reader maybe 18 years ago where they tried to put fenders on a hardcore racing bike when I had to look away. (fenders OVER the brake bridge, that was ridiculous!!) I even wrote in to protest and was met with a double-downed pushback in defense.

For my type of road riding, low bottom brackets, higher bars, plumper tires, return to bar ends, all made a lot of sense to me and my aging body. Always wanted a "Long Low" and finally built an older Rambouillet frameset in 2017 into my dream road bike. I'd probably put a Brooks saddle on my mower if I could.

Late 2019 I took a chance on close out pricing on an Appaloosa which simply became the new frame for me to hang the components from my Surly LHT on. The Surly was a little dull but the Appaloosa is anything but. The long wheelbase is smooth and the handling is surprising for such a beast. The lugs and paintwork are icing on the cake. My Rivs are simply gorgeous.

Hillibikes? Now, about them I'm not so sure. Maybe if I was a Western trail rider. Maybe if I felt I needed a "step through". Probably not ever for me.
I'm happy with my Grant inspired road bikes. Maybe Grant is hedging his bets. Sam Hillbornes and Atlantises are still available (with longer chain stays) I believe there's also new shipments of "Roadinis" coming in that will carry on the old Riv drop bar aesthetic.

Classtime 

I would advise anybody who doesn't have a bike and wants a NEW bike and has plenty of money for a NEW bike, to visit Grant's place and buy the bike that Grant selects for them. I have given that advise but as yet, nobody yet has followed it.

squirtdad

it seems that anyone who actually has a rivendell likes them

hsuBM

the closest that I’ve had first hand experience with that comes close to either the OEM or Renthal replacement bars on my YZ250 I had BITD is the Bullmoose bar. I remember seeing MTB bars in the 00s that looked similar minus the crossbrace (~2” of rise and ~10 degrees of sweep), but I never rode them as I was very suspension-on-a-bicycle-averse.

I’d love to see the results of a thread you start on this topic with pics of your motorcycle bars which you’d like duplicated.

nlerner

I had a Romulus for several years and rode it a lot, including lots of long rides (200-300k). It was super comfortable, fairly neutral in its handling, but not the lightest thing out there, which didn’t make me look forward to those last few climbs. It got replaced by a Black Mountain Cycles Road. However, last year, during a too-good-to-resist sale, I bought a Roadini and built it up with bits taken from a something I had sold off as a frameset:



Overall, I feel like it rides a lot like the Romulus!

base2 

I've got a couture Rodriguez.
500mm chainstays, 69.5 degrees head tube angle, low bottom bracket, & 26 inch wheels. It works well enough. At 1100mm long it tracks with surgical precision & between 56 & 65 mm of trail depending on tire selection the steering is reasonably light. It's great on fire roads & gravel centuries...It's like riding a bike with all the cheat codes enabled. The only downside is it's one of the most boring bikes I own when ridden unloaded. The trade off is carrying 65 pounds or more of groceries & frozen goods (!) isn't really a concern & happens with out incident. The bike below is named Bessie The Planet Express Ship on account of it's freighter like nature.



And in a slightly different incarnation...


I think GP would be proud...Heck, I even stretched a 1974 Schwinn Varsity a few inches....But I have no use for his opinion & still stand by my skepticism of the "Hillibike" poo. He's tryin' to church-up a bunch of surfer'-hippy-counter-culture-b.s. that at this point rings of manufactured nostalgia. It's as if he thinks an entire industry suffers from group think & he, & he alone is the only one with a vision of true reality. My kids 1989 Peugeot Montreal Express
And his1985 Pugeot Orient Express ride every bit as good as any Grant Peterson inspired anything & cost 1/16, (even after overhaul) of what the Rodriguez did.

morri869 

Wow that has to be the nicest riding schwinn varsity that ever existed. Great work!