I don’t qualify as a normal person who owns less than three Rivendells, but I will answer nonetheless. I am awaiting delivery of my new Bike Friday Diamond Llama frame (in yellow) at the end of the month. I have a 21 year old Bike Friday Metro and I plan on swapping all the current components over except the quill stem and bars as the new Bike Friday is threadless. I plan to use a Nitto threadless Bullmoose. The rear derailleur is a Rivendell sourced Shimano Altus, ideal for 20” wheels - better ground clearance (7x1 drivetrain). A true built in the USA steel frame. A correctly designed folding steel bicycle is a wonderful thing. Incredible smooth ride, easy step-through frame. Something that I never expect Rivendell to make. Now that I am retired, and don’t have my Element any more, a folding bike fits into the hatchback Integra more easily. I am getting the new frame as I am too heavy for the old one. I have lost weight recently though, and did not have the get the custom reinforced model.
Laing Conley On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 12:22 PM Michael Cinibulk <[email protected]> wrote: > I should preface this by saying that my height and tall PBH (6-2, 94 cm) > has strongly influenced, and obviously greatly limited, my choice of bikes. > I have been following Rivendell since shortly after Grant started it but > didn't actually buy a frame until 2009; up until then I was just a customer > of parts and accessories. My first really nice bike after the Univega Gran > Rally that I got as a high school graduation present was a 1998 Waterford > 1250 with 9 spd Campy Chorus group, which I still have and is my go fast > road bike. It's still in like-new condition despite riding it regularly. I > was actually considering a Rivendell Road at the time, but for whatever > reason decided to go straight to the source and worked with my LBS to get > the Waterford. Geometry was essentially identical for the two frames. I got > my first Rivendell in 2009, a first gen Sam Hillborne since I could afford > it and I wanted something dedicated for commuting and touring with wider > tires and fenders. Then in 2019 I was looking to replace my 1986 Peugeot > Canyon Express as my ATB and got a Jones SWB when they offered the first > gen Complete bikes for a ride on the Great Divide route. Finally, earlier > this year I wanted a bike for off-road touring that would still ride well > on-road with ~2 in. tires to bridge the gap between my Hillborne and Jones > and got a Black Mountain ModZero. I love riding all of these bikes. Oh, > almost forgot, in 2000 we bought a Santana Sovereign tandem, my first and > only aluminum bike but it rides like butter. A really great bike with XTR > kit that unfortunately doesn't see much use anymore. > > -Mike C > Bellbrook OH > > On Wednesday, October 8, 2025 at 9:59:43 PM UTC-4 Jason Fuller wrote: > >> I got caught up thinking about all the brands I would consider similar in >> ethos, quality, and general thoughtfulness as Rivendell and utterly forgot >> to answer the question. >> >> I qualify as I own two Rivendells, a Hillborne and a Bombadil. I owned >> three for a short period, but it felt like too many given my space >> constraints (apartment, though pretty good bike storage) and wide variety >> of riding that I like to do. The Hillborne was my first Riv, bought in Oct >> 2019. I bought a 45cm Clem H on closeout shortly after, but it proved too >> small and I ended up upgrading majorly to the Bombadil in Oct 2020. They >> are by far my highest mileage bikes in my current quiver of 5. >> >> So since 2019/2020, I have bought the following bikes: >> >> A Crust Wombat in 2023. What attracted me to it was that it was simple, >> stripped down, light and playful like a big BMX. I still have it and I >> still love it. It's my pick for when going for social ride around town >> where I might want to jump off things a bit and generally get a little >> loose. >> >> A Brompton in 2022, which I sold earlier this year. I bought it when I >> had a train-friendly commute, but now I don't. It is a great bike for >> situations where no other bike would work. I regret selling it a little >> bit, to be honest. I would consider one again. >> >> A Bike Friday All-Packa. That was a catch and release, I couldn't say no >> to the deal and I figured it would be a perfect commuter. It was, but I >> didn't really have space for it and it was first on the chopping block. >> >> A Stooge (ok actually three in succession), first a Speedbomb and now on >> a Scrambler. I live by arguably the best MTB trails in the world, and they >> are steep and technical. Contrary to popular opinion, suspension is really >> not necessary to ride and enjoy the (less extreme) trails, but disc brakes, >> dropper post, and big fat tires make a huge difference. The Stooge bikes >> are as timeless as Rivendells, just a different set of priorities. >> >> Also a Bridgestone MB-3 as a cheap commuter in 2021, which I sold when I >> bought the Riv Charlie prototype that brought my Riv count temporarily up >> to three. >> >> So now the quiver is, and I hope will continue to be for some time: >> >> Raleigh Twenty - heavily upgraded but still looks original as everything >> looks period-correct. Perfect city errand bike. Has ~3000 km on it >> Riv Hillborne - all-road bike and my commuter at the moment. Has ~13,000 >> km on it >> Riv Bombadil - any-weather, any-terrain bike for just getting out there. >> Has ~10,000 km on it >> Crust Wombat - single speed play bike and ATB. Has ~2600 km on it >> Stooge Scrambler - trail bike, also bike-packer. Has ~700 km on it >> >> >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/37b7e9df-649e-49e3-8c22-49f9accc1c62n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/37b7e9df-649e-49e3-8c22-49f9accc1c62n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CADXkOiNG97_yk_xy16RSxiP7zHkPiC-XhSgKp%2BwNn_R72UfDqQ%40mail.gmail.com.
