Now that's the kind of question we need on the list right now! The Atlantis came about around 1999 as Rivendell's Japanese-built version of their legendary All-rounder. The all-rounder is/was a bike-style designed to work well in the following ways:
as a road bike for people not set on racing lightness or racing geometry. as an offroad vehicle once you mount some wide tires, and the tire clearance is wide. Grant would shoot for two inches, although the first Atlantis's in 99 through 2001 only got to about 1.9. as an excellent touring bike and in other ways you can think of, because the bike is so versatile. The versatility came through the very high clearances and cantilever brakes which gave no problem mounting fenders and very wide tires. The bike has a pretty long wheelbase and pretty long chainstays (although still shorter than the 80's Trek 720's). It has a low bottom bracket which improves road handling and invites larger tires, especially for offroad use. The other part of the versatility is the rack braze-ons and really nice fender mounting spots. In the earlier part of the 90's, one of the distinguishing features of the all-rounder was basing it around 26 inch wheels. This came from the Bridgestone days, when they were one of the few companies making "hybrids" based around the more useful at the time 26 inch wheel size when offroading is even considered. When Rivendell started, the All-rounder model would continue this 26-inch wheel design, and that was one of the features that made me want one then. But early in Rivendell's existence, they started not liking the 26-inch wheels on the larger sizes, and began selling the larger ones with 700c wheels and the smaller ones with 26 inch wheel. As a tall guy, this bummed me out until I was convinced that in the late 90's, offroad 700c tires, even 2-inch varieties, were beginning to blossom, mostly from WTB and Schwalbe. In the late 90's, the all-rounder was a model made in the US and was fairly expensive, and Grant wanted to make a version of it in Japan that would cost less. This is where the Atlantis came from. It has those all-rounder qualities described above, the big tire clearance, the great touring behavior, the offroad capability, nice bike to ride unloaded for road rides. It's an amazing bike, and it's still available as originally designed, only now it has more rack braze-ons for added versatility (mini-racks and such). I speak from experience regarding the Atlantis. I got mine in 2001, and it really can do everything I would want to do riding. All my other bikes are specialists in some specific cycling arena that the Atlantis can hold its own: sporty road rides, cross-country mountain biking, commuting, sub-24-hour overnighters, country biking with long days and mixed surfaces. What the Atlantis excels at that the others can't match is touring rides that include camping. 700c in the large sizes and 26 inch in the smaller sizes. Amazing bike. One of the higher price Rivendell production models, but worth it. And the 700c tire options are wonderful now. I don't long for 26ers much anymore. Additionally, the Atlantis was ahead of the mainstream now so excited about these modern "29ers!" A Homer Hilsen: Perhaps without the All-rounder, the AHH could not have come about. Let's say you never want to tour, you love country rides, you like to veer off-road, you like to go overnight, just not days on end, you like to be comfortable for a long day. You like to carry stuff on your bike, at least sometimes, and you like road rides. But most importantly, in addition to all of the above, you want to do most of it, including the road rides, on tires that are between 32 mm and 40 mm, because you've discovered what an awesome size that is, including for road rides. Also, because you like that tire width so much, you don't want to scale the tire down just to mount a fender. If so, then the A Homer Hilsen is the bike. Also, the A Homer Hilsen has a cool refinement: dual pivot sidepulls work well and still provide the clearance needed to do what's described above. Another way of describing what's above for the AHH is to say that it sort of splits the difference between the Rivendell Atlantis and the Rivendell Road model. So the AHH is a refinement of the all-rounder, moved closer to the road end of the spectrum. Or maybe it's the other way around, because the tubing of the AHH is lighter like the road models. The Atlantis uses more sturdy tubes for its loaded duties and probably greater offroad duties. The AHH probably tours for days on end better than many bikes that have been taken for days-on-end touring by many people for the past 50 years. I'll be that big-tire, fast road-biking is something that few people know exists, and I'll bet the AHH is the best bike in the world at it. Also, Rivendell calls the AHH a country bike. You should read Grant's description of the term "country bike." I'll try to find it. If you take fully loaded touring out of the equation (which could be valid, because it's a rare thing to do), then I think the AHH is the most versatile and coolest bike ever made. San Marcos: Rivendell has almost always had a road model available, a bike not designed for heavy loads or too much offroad use (but with Rivendells, you can stretch those rules even.) Rivendell road models have always had slightly longer wheelbases than typical road bikes, and their comfort levels are extremely high. You get handlebar position versatility (high included) and big tire clearances. The production Rivendells for the road that came before the San Marcos have been the Rambouillet, Romulus and the Roadeo. With the San Marcos and the Roadeo, you can use 700x33 tires with fenders which I think is extraordinary. If the main thing you want is a road bike, get one of these. They are superb performers as road bikes and they are very comfortable and versatile. The San Marcos is much less expensive than the Roadeo. You're not supposed to load them too much, but listen: I have a Rambouillet and I stretch the rules often. I put a rear rack on it and take it on overnighters. I put Jack Browns on it (700x33) and veer offroad sometimes. If I had to knock the whole bike collection down to 1, on paper and for practicality/versatility, that one should probably be the Atlantis. But even still, in the end I'd have a hard time not picking the Rambouillet. I don't know what the San Marcos rides like, but I'm guessing it is similar. Rivendell road models are amazing. Also, some people (brilliant people who know their stuff by the way) will tell you that the optimum tire size for these models is 700x28. They are probably right, but for me, ever since I put Jack Brown greens, 700x33, on my Rambouillet, I have vowed not to take them off, the ride is so wonderful (and I think fast). And remember my friends, it is better to feel fast than to be fast. -Jim On Jan 20, 2012, at 4:58 PM, Mike Goldsworthy wrote: > i'll take a look at it. thanks! > > what's the difference between the san marcos, AHH and Atlantis? > > On Jan 20, 2012, at 4:15 PM, DustyMerkin wrote: > >> Have you looked at the Soma San Marcos, the 54cm does not have the 2TT but I >> believe the geometry is similar to the 56cm but not sure. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/p8xMS9KuPU0J. >> 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. > > > -- > 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. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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