condor

I just bought a Romulus road bike from Rivendell.

The Romulus is hand-made to Rivendell's specification in Japan and sold as a complete bike.

Rivendell's sizing system, based on pubic-bone height, really worked for me. I normally ride a 58cm frame. Rivendell put me on a 61, and it's great.

The frame is lugged steel but is surprisingly lightweight. The best feature is the high handlebar position made possible by the large frame size. I rode 60 miles today, and I usually ride only 10. The Brooks saddle helped, too.

I took this photo on the Longleaf Trace here in south-central Mississippi. That's where I rode as part of the Trace's "birthday" celebration.

condor

Rich Clark

Congratulations!

Now *that's* what I call a bike!

Did you work through a local dealer to order it?

RichC

Mtn Mike

Coolest bikes around man. I want one.

BikeInMN

Very nice!!

Congrats on your new ride

condor

Rich, I ordered the bike over the phone directly from Rivendell. They have about 20 dealers nationwide but none near me.

You can e-mail Rivendell Bicycle Works for a brochure (Mark@rivbike.com) or phone them at 1-800-345-3918.

When they mailed me the brochure, they included three back issues of The Rivendell Reader, their quarterly magazine, which had some interesting articles.

Eric

roadfix

Your Romulus rocks! Yeah....the handlebars set at saddle level makes all the difference in the world. Congrats!

danr

Sweet! I almost bought myself one.

Enjoy your new ride.

fogrider

cool, I thought I was a retro guy, but you've got me beat! I guess the guys at rivendell don't believe in sti/egro shifters and threadless stems! what are the componets on it?

Raiyn

Wow I'm envious

TrekRider

I am interested in Rivendells, but am a little concerned about the bar-end shifters. How easy are they to operate? What kind of shifters did you have before and did you find the change difficult?

uciflylow

I want one! They look like great bikes.

About bar end shifters. I have an old Mt. bike that I put drops on and bar end shifters. I love them, I don't think I would want to use them for a race bike, but for a road bike like this is ment to be they are the bomb!

condor

Fogrider: the components are Shimano 105, including hubs, headset and bottom bracket. The only exceptions that I know of are the Dura Ace bar-end shifters and the Sugino 48-36-26 crank. The rims are Araya. Tires are Rivendell's proprietary Ruffy-Tuffies. Stem, handlebar and seatpost are Nitto. Saddle: a beefed-up Brooks B-17 (optional). Pedals are MKS touring style with Power Grip straps for shoe-pedal connection. The base bike comes without pedals, seat or handlebar tape to allow customization. Rivendell offers choises in their catelog.

TrekRider: the Dura Ace bar-end shifters work great. I had STI on my Fuji, but I don't really miss it. The bar-ends are indexed on the right (rear derailleur) and friction on the left (front derailleur). The rear system shifts with a satisfying click. Having a friction front derailleur allows for fine-tuning when you start to hear the chain rubbing. Using the bar-ends is fun. Also I like their simplicity.

condor

condor

Thought I'd add another photo that shows the Longleaf Trace--41 paved miles of gently hilly terrain through Mississippi woodlands, small towns and farm country. A great place to ride. The general store in Bassfield is a real, unspoiled country store. No scented candles (yet).

condor

cycletourist

That bike is so pretty I nearly wet myself :-)

roadfix

I recently converted my Mtb into a tourer and among the changes made were switching to drop bars and barend shifters. I use Campy Ergos on my road bike and I find barenders almost as easy to operate. I find barenders so much easier and safer to operated compared to traditional downtube shifters. Friction only on chainrings is very nice......almost forgot what they felt like after years of indexing. Rear shifting can be set at either friction or index mode in an instant. New old stock Ultegra or DuraAce barend shifters are still currently available for 7 & 8 speeders. I picked up my new Ultegra shifters on Ebay for $35 a few weeks back.

George

late

Hi,
barend shifters are very reliable. They are not hard to use. I prefer them to downtube due to a back injury I had. It's about 5 minutes to get used to them from STI shifters. As I have stated in previous posts, I like STI better. But I just bought a 20 year old touring bike with barends; and it's been pleasant going retro.

kefin

Wow! A nice bike! I live in "Rivendell country" (Walnut Creek is just a short hop from San Francisco) and a few times a year I see someone on a Rivendell bike and the bike is always stunning. Rivendells have an awesome retro design and they make great tourers.

Thanks for showing us the Romulus! Ride in good health!

-Kevin (San Francisco)

mistercindy

Condor, I know I'm late to this thread, but I nosed around and found it. Really pretty bike! Like I told you in my thread about buying my Gunnar Sport, I really looked hard at the Romulus. BTW, how do you like the MKS pedals with the power grips? I'm in the throws of deciding whether or not to get clipless.

Istanbul_Tea

Incredibly beautiful bike!! Something so fantastic about seeing a superbly crafted bike... elegant, simple, nothing wasted in its design...

Enjoy it!!

condor

I like the MKS pedals. I had good luck with Power Grips in the past, but this latest set just went bad on me. The adjustment screws that hold the straps in place jammed and won't back out or re-tighten. I don't know if I stripped them or what. Another annoyance: when I wear a different pair of shoes, I have to readjust the Power Grips.

I removed the Power Grips and installed a pair of black plastic (!) Cristophe toe clips with Mt. Zefal straps that I cannibalized from another bike. The clips happened to be exactly the right length, and they allowed me to install reflectors to each pedal. Reflectors may be geeky, but I like them at night.

PS: Here's a photo of some nice, cleatless touring shoes I found at Wal-Mart for $17. They fit the MKS pedals/toe clips perfectly. Called Night Sport by Athletic Works. Model # 5752929.

mnppunky

That is a nice lokking rivendell you got there! I have a Bridgestone that is setup the same except for I have downtube shifters. I like the retro lugged steel rides with fenders and racks etc. I wish you many miles of safe riding on the romulus!Now if I could just convince the wife I need one..... but I probably can't afford one either!