yo!
Though I lack the kind of discipline to maintain a long term report out on anything, I'll give it a go with this new purple RoadUno. Presently I don't have plans to keep it "uno", but for a good long while that's what it'll be.

out of the box:


-- inspection by The Boss Lady, approver of such purchases --
No issues with the packaging & shipping. . . . well, UPS was a little bit difficult with delivery timing. But they got the year right!

-- out of the stand - waiting for cataract surgery restrictions to lift --
Out of the box impressions: beautiful paint. did Will recommend the right size? beautiful lugs. love the seat stay to seat tube joint. love it. that's what i call a head tube! zoinks, what'd i do here? i think i'll like the bars more than i was thinking i would. NITTO! love me some NITTO - bars, stem, seatpost...mmmm NITTO.... Dang! that's a taaaaaalll stem! where's my St. Jump sticker on my wheelset ? kickstand plate. kickstand plate...kickstand plate - aren't those for cheap schwinns? headset is tight. dang, beautiful paint.....

First Ride - 26 miles of dirt roads:
- eastern rattler bar tape from CampAndGoSlow
- flipped the bars and slammed the stem
- like my MKS pedals, but a little narrower than I was expecting. I see why the RivBike guys add the wing-things





Rides great. I don't have a Jan Heine hiney to tell you everything that's not perfect. I can say compared to my GUNNAR CrossHairs and my Surly SteamRoller, which can only clear a 38mm tire, these 43mm with this loooong chainstay frame and Brooks B17 -- felt lovely cruising the dirt roads with ruts and pot holes.
More to photos to come. Just received some spiffy new bottle cages to dress this up some more. Going to raise the seat a few mm. Adjust the bars a bit.

A few other comments posted elsewhere:
I'm digging the bars. I slammed the stem and then gave it 1mm clearance to the top lock nut. Then angle the bars and lever to clear the top tube for the first time the bike falls over at the pub.... I mean coffee shop.
Probably I raise the seat a few more mm, slam the seat all the way back, and slightly raise the bars so I can tilt the bars down a bit more.
Oh - the bars, I flipped them upside down.

Long city ride tomorrow. More impressions and photos then.
cheers.

an 80 mile day to do the weekly Beat the Train ride
still getting used to the more upright position. Bike rides great though.

stock build comments
- something started kinda knocking. I thought maybe I got grit in the freewheel. I cleaned it and the noise was still there. I’ve pulled the cranks and bottom bracket and greased things. No test ride yet.
- The seatpost has been slipping into the frame. The build sheet states 10Nm for the seat binder. I had to go way over that. And add carbon paste. The stock post is a Kalloy one bolt deal. Not the Kalloy Uno- which I kinda like. I’ve ordered a NITTO that I like.
- the brake levers have some kind of self adjusting set screw. It looks like they reduce the required amount of pull. Not sure. I backed them out and added blue loctite.

some pics here- since I’ve not been able to create an album for a couple days in BikeForums

Dedicated 1-gear rider here, but whose longest ongoing bicycle relationship is with a GP era B'stone roadie, and who rode phiksies a couple times with a guy on a Quickbeam. So I had been mildly interested in this bike since it first got mentioned some years back. Glad its finally here. I hope you have many miles of enjoyable riding on yours.

Looks like a comfy ride.
I like the lugs.
Dont like the kickstand plate, makes frame look low end.
Nice it can do 43 unlike the FFF Surly SteamRoller, which I really like.
Also nice to have a upright ride for city rolling.

Believe it or don’t- the actual Rivendell instructions say to grease the seat binder bolt.
Which I didn’t do…on account I hardly never get a NEW bike…
but here it is….

at the page bottom.
I figured I knew better- I’m an engineer!! - and we don’t add grease to newly installed fasteners. Probably there are lubricating properties to the plating used. And I figured all my old bikes have enough grit already in the seat tube I get good stichtion without carbon paste.

To go belts and suspenders- I went with greased binder bolt and carbon paste (in the seat tube).
i had some fear that introducing carbon to a Rivendell would set off some kind of atomic reaction, igniting the atmosphere into a ball of flame. But so far everything seems stable. So far!!


seatpost not slipping along the Rouge River

I’ll keep you updated- next post will be about the knocking while pedaling.

RE: Believe it or don’t- the actual Rivendell instructions say to grease the seat binder bolt.
Yes I believe as this is a standard practice to prevent corrosion leading to stuck seat posts in seat tubes over time.
You probably know that for carbon tubes and seat posts, there is a special kind of grease that helps prevent slipping.

Hi! joesch - I've always liberally applied grease to the quill stem and head tube (Al and Fe in tight contact); seat post and seat tube (Al and Fe in tight contact); crankset to pedal spindle and BB spindle (more Al and Fe contact) - to prevent / slow the corrosion between similar metals.

I've not greased binder bolts before.
I had a similar slipping seatpost issue on my GUNNAR CrossHairs. I figured it was the min diameter polished 27.2mm seatpost in a max diameter 27.2mm seattube. My LBS gave a few globs of carbon paste to put in the seattube and it worked OK, but I ended up with a bit more slipping. So I put a cheap KALLOY Uno post in my GUNNAR and it's working just fine. It's also not nicely polished like the NITTO. It never occurred to me to grease the binder bolt!

Probably I don't need the carbon paste in the RoadUno, but it's in there now.

cheers!

Almost every commercial bike I've owned suffered from the seat post slipping down. I didn't know about carbon paste and ended up using things like linseed oil (which goes sticky). Then I started making my own frames a few years ago. Zero slippage, just using regular grease, and modest torque on the binder bolt. I wonder if mass-manufacturers aren't reaming their seat tubes. A seat-tube should come with the ID slightly undersized and then be reamed after brazing/welding so that the seatpost fits perfectly and is gripped evenly all the way around (some people hone them as well although I don't bother). But I'm surprised you had problems on a Rivendell because I thought they were low-volume and hand-made to a high standard.

I would be curious to know what frames and how you were installing things and your weight and riding style and so many other factors.

Being a larger rider and having various different bikes from various different frame manufacturers I haven't yet had a seat post slip and pretty much all of them are using either grease or anti-seize (though one years ago did have a carbon wrapped post so I used carbon paste) Nothing special no crazy mods or anything, a bunch of different clamps or bolts (for some of the vintage frames)

Not saying seat post slipping cannot happen I have seen it but usually not all the bikes from a single person and probably most of them have been QR or on a BSO.

Weight: 82kg
Riding style: Party pace
Bikes: 1999 Peugeot "Competition" with Columbus Thron tubing, 2008 Trek 520 Tourer ("Trek Cromoly"), 2012-ish Whyte hardtail MTB (Hydroformed Al frame). Seatpost slippage issues on all of them! The Peug and the Trek both ended up with uprated seat post collars (they both had the kind that just slots over the top of the ST) that could take more torque. On the Whyte I ended up fabricobbling a better bolt. But none of my own frame-builds (12 bikes to date, 4 of which regularly being ridden by me) have needed anything above modest torque on the binder bolt.

That is an odd one for sure. I have to believe something was at play in those instances but I am at a loss for what it really could be as they are three different frames with you as a common denominator but not a heavy rider likely not putting down a bunch of power so it is just strange. Would love to see your frames. I love handbuilt bikes.

weight - 200 American lbs
riding style— oh, I got style, baby….
- lots of dirt roads. A little single track. Forays into Detroit. Pavement off the dirt roads are mud roads.

so far all my old used bikes never had issues. Just a couple new ones (RoadUno and a Gunnar). I figured clean seat tubes had something to do with it. Probably not.


Gunnar CrossHairs are a recent refuel stop on a wasaayyy too long ride

This is the most recent one (which is a fixed gear). I'm loving riding this thing!

Show us your builds

“… a real bike mechanic! Quit making a hash of things and get someone who knows how to work on bikes!!”

well…as previously mentioned I had some knocking noise start during the second ride. Only when pedaling. Coasting and sitting still were fine.
i thought- nuts, must have got some dirt or grit from the dirt roads in my DICTA freewheel. RivBike said they were fine freewheels but not Shimano fine or White Industries SuperFine. Well…fine….

So I decide I clean the freewheel. You know how many loose balls are in a DICTA freewheel? Me neither. But I put 94 back in…

😱😭
to get the balls to stick…🤨🤣…in the race, I used heavy grease
But springy pawls need light oil! What’s a crap-mechanic to do? No idea. I just went with it.



riding it after the repair- “repair” - I’m still knocking on heavens door. But not the LBSs door….
I find an excuse to buy a spiffy new Shimano 16t freewheel of appropriate t-width.
Now- believe it or don’t- but I find a whole‘nother problem when swapping freewheels.
The jam nut on the freewheel side is not jammed! (It’s barely jelly)
I snug the nuts ….🤨….up to the bearing race and jam them. Check for any binding. Check my 120mm width. All seems like Joy.

Subsequent ride are only the sound of Tyres on Terra that I most prefer.

More later as the fun progresses.

Contemplated going 3x1 this weekend, but couldn’t find a short enough M5 bolt for the cable guide that goes in the Bottom bracket. I’ll try to get a pic, since this is a single speed thread, and y’all might not know what a cable guide is.

I ordered a bunch of short bolts from Fastenal. Then I realized my cracked RockHopper still had the cable guide and bolt still in the frame.

Ride wise, I’m really enjoying the RoadUno.
cushy tires? Long chainstays? Raked fork? All of it? Probably.

That’s it for now.
I’m getting close to clear coating my SteamRoller. If there’s interest in seeing that project, give a holler. I’ve not been documenting it.

cheers

Presently my Rivendelll is no longer a single speed.
I’ve added
44t O8 chainring
Silver DT shifter
​​​​​​ Paul Melivinator
swapped in a new 8spd chain

did a hilly ride yesterday and having the climbing gear and tailwind gear was completely unnecessary. AND AWESOME!!





There’s a set of three washers to align the Melvinator. So far I’ve not shortened the chain. Paul’s instructions say the small ring should have the pulleys vertical.


in the wild.

I guess if the moderators need to kick me out of the SS forum, I’ll see you all in the gravel bike section. Or C&V. But it’s all new… so. General discussion? Foo?

So is it now three-speed but still fixed? Or is there a freewheel on there?

free wheeling
16t Shimano freewheel X 44-38-24 crank rings.

the RivFolks discourage riding fixed because of the low BB drop.
I’m using the 173mm stock build Silver crankset. Another discouragement to riding fixed.

If I was going to ride it fixed, probably I’d set it up with 700cX46mm tires, 165 cranks, and some Crank Bros egg beaters.

As long as I have my SteamRoller, I’ll keep the RoadTres free. I think.
Should have it built back up in a couple weeks.

Nice! Kind of like a classic three speed, but without the extra hub weight and better efficiency.

I wish you well with your 3-speed conversion of this bike & don't necessarily believe we need to kick you out of this subforum but...

It is the perfect example of why I'm sorry to say that I am very disappointed in this bike. As I mentioned earlier I am a long time Rivendell curious rider due to my long love affair with a B'stone roadie - even though mine may be the least GPish of the all bikes he offered through them - who was quite interested in how this model turned out after its interminable lead-up. I noticed quite awhile ago that besides its unattractive, to me, geo - they were steering this thing towards & mostly promoting it as a platform to build into a multi-gear bike. Now with your conversion I feel free to say, & hope you won't mind, that I actually kind of dislike what I see of it. But it is yours so you do you & enjoy it. Ride safe..

IAmSam
the RoadUno is definitely an odd duck.
I was concerned about getting an expensive (for me) bike with such long chainstays I’ve got nothing similar. I’ve got a longish head tube on my Gunnar CrossHairs. When I saw the RoadUno in person it was— wow!

And then there’s the derailleur hanger with track ends. Drop outs. Whatever the rear wheel thingys are called.

If you’re after a sprinty crit bike, this is far from my Schwinn PDG2. A light touring or randoneuring - with minimal complications- the RoadUno would work.

@mrv
I hope you get many thousands of miles of light touring & rando-ing from your bike.

I had the same problem with my Roaduno. I called Rivendell about the seat post slipping. One of the mechanics said it's the binder bolt (to short). They sent a new one. Bolt is still a 6mm, but a little longer. Fixed the problem.

for anyone who got the RoadUno stock build - here's my comments on the brakes and wheels: in short - not good, Bob.
The wheels themselves have been fine. Built in Taiwan by St. Jump. Novatek hubs and Alex rims. I think maybe the rim material was the issue.
Check out the black Yokozuna brake pads after a few weeks of riding.


this started after less than 30ish miles of riding dirt roads. I put up with it for a while before some brain cell fired off and said - hey! you got some brand new Dia Comps rolling around the parts bin.
I installed those, and ordered some pink-pad fillers from Yokozuna. Or Carson City bikes or Universal - don't recall who. Whom. whatever....


As you can see, the Dia Comps did fine for a 100 or 150 miles of riding. So those black Yokozuna pads were not great. Maybe the rims are not great, but they worked find with the Dia Comps.
I don't know too much about ALEX rims, so maybe I shouldn't bad mouth... bad-type them.

And for a couple hundred miles now the pink Scott/Mathause from Yokozuna have been perfectly fine. YOKOZUNA
Before I started using the Dia Comps, I cleaned the rims. Did two laps of each rim braking surface with 400 grit paper. Cleaned again. There's some details here in this 13 year old zombie thread I revived: Rim Job Zombie Link

Hmmmm.... anything else?
Just that one of the rear hub lock nuts was loose when I got the bike out of the box. I didn't check it, but noticed it after riding a few times. It was like a knocking noise. I think I already typed about it.
That's it for now.
Maybe I'll just do some ride reports for a bit. Pretty soon the fenders are going on, and I might add the 2-speed kick back hub. That thing's pretty heavy, but with fenders, meh....

For what it’s worth, my singlespeed has Alexrims (CX-30), and I have no complaints.
Last week, I came across a Sturmey-Archer 2-speed kickback hub (with coaster brake), and I was astounded at the weight. Like, it’s attaching another bicycle to your bicycle! OK, that’s an exaggeration, but still, if you add heavy fenders, I wouldn’t add even more weight to the back of the bike, and if you add light fenders, well, same.