Motorad

I've been researching Rivendell bikes, and their Custom Rivendell bikes would be an excellant ride.

However, my first informal contact with the company has indicated a two year waiting period. That is one serious wait.

Is anybody on the waiting list for a Custom Rivendell, and how long have you been on the list? Any comments about the waiting list, such as for starters ... is it worth the wait?

Louis

Is it worth the wait? For a younger person it definitely would be worth the wait. At my age it doesn't even make sense to buy green bananas.

CrossChain

Consider their non-custom Rambouillet. Not quite as flawlessly finished and the lugs not quite so ornate, but.............if it falls over in the garage you won't have heart stoppage and it has, as they told me at Rivendell, at least 90% of the custom's performance. And with the difference in price....the imagination can run wild.

Just depends on money and time available...and felt need for their "best".

P.S. I've seen a custom Riv............they do "gleam".

late

Hi,
I think Waterford makes a slightly better bike. They don't usually have a long wait, and all Waterfords are custom. They also have a 'budget' line called Gunnar.
That's what I have. My wife has a budget Rivendell.

Hermes

Something does not add up. A two year wait for any purchase is too long - they could go out of business before your order is fulfilled . They must be having some kind of problem. Even if the quality is A+ the fulfillment of the order is F-. There are too many good custom builders to wait two years.

CrossChain

There is a kind of "chic" in the retro, sometimes boutique world of Rivendellian taste and bikes. Just like some Italophiles need a bike crafted by a little, welding torch wielding Gepetto-like character. (If you can find such.) Many of Riv's owners have, I think, more than one bike and so don't mind the excruciating wait. A sort of rite of passage?

Personally, a bike is a tool for me....and too jewel-like a bike would make me feel a little inhibited about using it and "going anywhere". Older bikes that work well appeal to me. I can sweat on them, knock 'em over, let them get grimey, etc.-- as long as mechanically they're well tuned. A nice thing about steel.

I'm sure others have more refined and nuanced taste and the wait somehow contributes to its value for them.

BSLeVan

+1 There are a lot of very good custom builders with a much shorter wait. What is it that attracts you to the Rivendell? Is it possible you could get what you seek from another builder?

Louis

On Tom B's thread about having $3K to buy any bike you want, I said I'd probably end up with a Rivendell.

Seriously, if the wait is 2 years I would look elsewhere, as much as I love the Riv's and Rambo's.

Jet Travis

Somebody once said, "Rivendell is not a bicycle company. It's a church." I think there's some truth to that. I've listened with great interest to Grant's sermons, and I'm glad the church exists. I've certanly spent a few bucks there, and everything I purchased has been of excellent quality.

At the same time, I can't quite transform myself into a true believer. Ironically, perhaps, Rivendell convinced me that lugged steel bikes from the 1980s set a standard that more contemporary bikes would do well to emulate. Since I already own two such bikes that I purchased 23 years ago, I just couldn't see buying a similar bike built in the 21st Century.

[edit] For what it's worth, I just went to the Riv website. They say the wait for a custom bike can be "eight to 36 months. We aim for a year."

I-Like-To-Bike

A bike seller would have to pay me $3,000 to make me wait two years for his product.

spry

At your age huh?I,ve seen the road zealots in your group climb those 20-30% hills in your town.I,m 53 and I avoid your"hood"like the plague.

Louis

Lately I climb like I have the plague.

Are you sure you have my location correct? I'm about 10 miles west of Akron.

big john

If I was going to wait 2 years, I would want a Vanilla. Last October, I waited 3 weeks for my Gunnar. It's a sweet riding frame, hard to think a Rivendell could ride that much better. I know, there's the lust factor.

Tom Bombadil

I'm sorry Louis, but you first said "Rivendell" and I'm going to have to hold you to it.

And since the small print on the $3000 gift certificate said that it expires in 1 year, then I guess you are just out of luck.

Louis

S.O.L. again. I've been there so many times, you ain't gettin' no rookie.

Velo Dog

The wait is nothing new--Riv has had an 18-month to two-year wait as long as I've been paying attention, which is probably six or eight years. If you're 55 or over, I think Grant lets you jump the line, though.
Having said that, I have both an Atlantis and a Rambouillet (got a great deal on the Rambo used, or I couldn't afford both), and I can't even imagine better bikes for the kind of riding I do. I mean that literally: I bought the Atlantis new five years ago to last until my kids got out of college, when I intended to buy a custom Riv. I have about 10,000 miles on that and 3,000 or so on the Rambo, and when I think about getting a custom, or any new bike at all, I can't justify it. There's NOTHING I can think of to change on either bike to make it better for a 62-year-old guy riding for recreation and fitness. Plus Riv has been great to deal with except for Brian, who's kind of a pr!ck.

slvoid

There....

slvoid

Vanilla's have a 34 month, thats almost 3 years, waiting list. You could be dead before then. But then again, the bikes are heart breakingly beautiful..

CrossChain

Dear "slvoid",
This note is to inform you that you are in violation of the Articles of Deportment at Bicycle Forums, namely SubByLaw #231M, Paragraph 19, Entry 342, SubSlash CrossReferenced in Vol. 37, 14th Edition. To wit: Altering the rightful words of another member intentionally by design is punishable by having to post the word "titanium" a minimum of 20,000 times or until such malfeasance is deemed corrected.
Respectfully,
Joe Gardiner's Conscience.

slvoid

Wait hang on a sec... is that 20000 times starting now? Or is it retroactive?

centexwoody 

So does his first titanium post count and now we can just look forward to another 19,999 times?

So he'll become "slvoid" AKA titanium?
or will he become "sltitanium" instead...

BluesDawg

I guess I could consider it fortunate that no matter how much I would like to have a custom Rivendell, I can't afford one and that's not likely to change in this lifetime. But if you want one and can pony up the price, you'll probably still want it in a couple of years when it is ready. Limited production volume + high demand = long waits.

spry

Excuse me Louis,
I was thinking Chagrin Falls,due to our previous discussion of the Michelobe Bike Ralley.Those hills are pure hell.

Some one told me there is a newly completed section of the towpath south of Akron due to open this spring?

John E

There is another, very satisfying, option -- restore and ride a classic.

Motorad

Thanks everyone for your replies. I cracked up with the first post from Louis, with his wait-response that even WC Fields couldn't do better. One thing I'm good at is patient, and I'll order a Custom-bike from Riv and do the wait. The main reason for wanting a Custom is my PBH (74 cm) is limiting me on what is available in a quality, non-custom, all-purpose roadie. But ... I'd like to go ahead and get a more quality bike (than my current stock Trek 730) in the meantime.

To BLSeVan's post, about what attracted me to Riv-bikes (in two bloody years from now):
* Comfort for an all-purpose Custom-fitted bike.
* Useful for commuting, general riding, and occasional trail.
* Now that I've been riding my Trek 730 for a while, I can see that I would prefer a more comfortable bike that is more road-specific.
* Wide range of tire sizes for each frame.

To CrossChain's first post: Having read everyone's comments to this message, I went back and checked the geometries of the non-custom frames: For my 29" PBH, here are the closest frames, and would like to hear everyone's feedback on whether their standover heights are acceptable for my PBH:
* Atlantis size 47: Standover = 71.2 cm = 28"
* Rambouillet size 50: Standover = 74.2 cm
* Saluki size 47: Standover = 73.5 cm

Soooo, a question I could ask you guys and gals: With the Size 47-Atlantis having a reasonable Standover Height for me, what is the probability that the rest of this sized-frame's geometry could be adjusted by a LBS, to be a comfortable stock bike for a short person such as myself?