Came in a bit late on this one and had to go back to Riv and read GP's comments. To me, all this speculation about the end of the Atlantis is reading a lot into what Grant wrote. I take his words at face value - either the price goes up or they don't produce in Japan. Simple economics. If it were produced elsewhere, and made to the same standards we've come to expect from Rivendell, I for one doubt I'd be able to tell any difference between my bike and one made outside Japan. As to a re-design, pray tell why? The Touring Bike has been pretty well worked out for a few decades now, so other than fiddling with a few more or less braze-ons, what's to re-design? My Atlantis is exaclty what I expected. I can load it down like a mule, bounce up & down rutted tracks chasing you guys, and even keep up with my local club, at least for a few miles on a coffee ride (cheated and tried some light wheels for that recently, loads of fun!). But at the end of ride, it's still just a bike and readily replicated by a competent builder. I predict we'll see the Atlantis for the forseeable future.
dougP On Aug 22, 4:41 pm, James Dinneen <jfxdinn...@yahoo.com> wrote: > An Atlantis was high up on my list of possible bikes when I was in the market > a couple of years ago. I am heavy and the Atlantis seemed indicated from RBW > charts. However, I was in the 56 cm size and thus the bike had 26 in. wheels. > I did not think that the "fun" quality of the ride compared with the Saluki I > tested and the Bleriot I bought. An Atlantis with 650B might be an excellent > option. Just thinking. Jim D. Massachusetts (waiting for > Hurricane Bill to blow into town) > > --- On Fri, 8/21/09, JL <subfas...@gmail.com> wrote: > > From: JL <subfas...@gmail.com> > Subject: [RBW] Re: End of the Atlantis?!? > To: "RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > Date: Friday, August 21, 2009, 1:18 PM > > IMHO Fork bends have much to do with order of operations (some > builders rake the fork first then cut the blades to length and braze > on the for ends) and technology (hand bending vs machine production). > Maybe it isn't so much that the Taiwan factory can't make the same > fork bend, it is more an issue that they aren't set up/trained to do > the same kinds of fork bends. > > There have been some things said in this (super long) thread that > really make sense. IF the Atlantis is taken out of the line up that > will mean no more 26" wheeled bikes. Would this mean a phase out of > 26" wheel support (assuming once all old stock is sold out etc)? I'm > not trying to start rumors here, just speculation for the sake of the > thread. I hope riv finds a solution for the Atlantis situation > because of all the reasons that have already been mentioned - it is > there "flagship" model so to speak. In addition I think the current > line up cover the scope of the Atlantis - from AHH, to Hilborne, to > Bombadill, any one of these three models can be a replacement for the > Atlantis depending on the desired use. I think, if I understand the > complaints (both on and off of this list) that might prevent someone > from buying one of these models instead: 650b is still a weirdo wheel > size, new models don't have as classic a look (sloping top tube, one > color paint etc), double top tubes are ugly, weight concerns (either > too heavy for desired bike or worried bike is too heavy). Ironically > it may have been that many of the changes in the past 4 or 5 years > have been do to feedback and requests. I think it all comes down to > nostalgia. The Atlantis (2) is a fine bike that has come to represent > Rivendell as a company. I hope they are able to keep it as part of > the line up. It seems plausible to move production to Taiwan, use the > same lugs (as mentioned earlier there is no need for new, simple lugs, > the Atlantis lugs already exist), the same geometry, same fork crown, > the same tubing thickness (actual tubing may need to change based on > availability), figure out a way to paint it nicely (or powdercoat > which tends to be more environmentally friendly) and still bring it in > framesets that retail under $2000. Maybe they can shoot for half the > distance between other models and end up at $1500 for a two color > paint, concessions made when needed Taiwan Atlantis. > > jason --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
