Rivendell News

4th O' July Holiday Hours and Two Auctions For Smile Train

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:12:52 +0000

Holiday hours: We will be open Monday-Thursday this week, and closed Friday and Saturday, the 3rd and 4th of July.

Update: Two bids. Yves Gomez. $2,300.

We have two things to auction, a Riv custom frame and the first ever Yves Gomez mixte. Follow the links below for more details about each one.

Abandoned Custom frame 65.5cm, in "Rivendell Blue"

Yves Gomez # 1 bike

Every penny from the sale of these goes to Smile Train, that org that fixes cleft palettes in Third World children. You've seen the ads. It's a great group, super high bang for your charity buck (they get a super deal on the ads---I asked--so rest assured you aren't buying Armani cufflinks for the staff.)

Here is how it works Email bids to John (john@rivbike.com). Make the subject line:
Smile Train Bid (and specify which one you're bidding on). He will post the highest bid at the end of each day at the top of this News blog. On July 6th, the bidding will officially end at Noon (PDST). The last email with the highest bid wins.

Remember- we will give all the money made on these to Smile Train. No "admin" fees at all.

Soon: New Sams, Tweeds, V-Bags

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:51:15 +0000

We're expecting more 56cm and 60cm Sam Hillbornes sometime in early to mid July, and they'll be orange with cream decals. Some customers have referred to them already as the creamsicle Sams, but that is the color and delivery news. We're out of 56s now, and getting low on 60s.

The NEXT round after this one (as yet unscheduled) will include some 64cm Sams, with double-top tubes--that new signature of our big frames. The extra tubes will jack up the price some, but is a fine idea for the bigger bikes.

I'll tell you about my Sam. I wanted a 56 green, but we sold out, so I took the opportunity to do something I wouldn't condone or allow otherwise---I got a 60, figuring at worst it would be useful as a demo bike. My pbh is 85. The 60 really fits like a 64 to 66--with the 6-degree upsloping top tube and all---and I can't quite straddle the bike when it has, as it does, Schwalbe Marathon 40s on it.

But my contact points are all in the right place, so when I actually ride the bike every day now, it feels like...my bike. I have a 7cm stem sunk deep, and three fingers of seat post showing, and the overall aesthetics are nothing I'm proud of, but my position on it is perfect, and I really love it. Let me repeat: We won't even LET you do this, because it'll make it look like we don't know how to size people. I'm not entirely comfortable riding such an outsized bike in public (it feels like wearing plaid pants with a different plaid shirt--not that the same plaid shirt would be that much better....)---but when I'm on my own in the woods with that bike, it's dreamy.

The new tweed Keven's bags were made incorrectly and we're getting replacements. BUT...they work great as handlebar bags as they are, incorrect and all, and by mid-June we'll put them up on the site at discounted prices and....and that'll be a good way to get a beautifu cheap tweed.

We also are coming out with our Brand V line of bags; V being "Vegan." No leather, less expensive, here and there some velcro, and still made in the USA. By the end of July, look for three models.

All for now.

Grant

Another Saturday, Another 20 Things Garage Sale.

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:22:14 +0000

Update: Good sell-through, so we will do it again on Saturday, the 13th. Thanks!

We will have 20 more "garage sale-worthy" items for sale when the doors open on Saturday at 10.

Incoming Tweed Bag shipment special

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:04:57 +0000

Update--The bags arrived a day early and are now shipping. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered one.
-----------------

A long awaited Nigel Smythe tweed bag shipment is expected to be here this Friday (June 5, 2009).

Submit a pre-order before they get here to get the discounted price.

20 Things Garage Sale

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:38:12 +0000

UPDATE: We sold 15 of the 20 things we put out for sale, so we will try it again this Saturday, June 6th, and keep at it until we get through the stuff, or interest wanes. Thanks to those who came by!

====

We have some stuff to sell, but not enough for a full-blown garage sale, so we are going to try a different approach.

Saturdays are busy in the afternoon, but usually slow in the morning, so this might be a good way to kick off the day. We will try it this coming Saturday, the 30th, and see how it goes.

We will put out 20 "garage sale-worthy" things in the driveway, and (hopefully) sell them. We will repeat every Saturday until they are gone. We will shoot for a good mix of stuff: a few bags, a few racks, maybe a saddle or two. Prices will be low, but fair.

The worthiness of "garage sale-worthy" stuff is very subjective, and makes it hard to sell online or over the phone. This will be quick and easy.

Harry, Dave, and Aaron will be at your service. Come by and say
"Hi."

Will the fellow who was working on the...

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:35:56 +0000

..compilation and indexing of past RR stories please contact me.

Been a while. If you can't do it, that's fine, but I forget who you are and the need continues. I can't even find the posting for that. I think it was in here or the Knothole section, but danged if I can find it. If I could find it, I could look up the email correspondence and maybe reconnect. Not good at this stuff.
Anyway, if you see this, contact me. And if anybody else out there can track down the offer and nail the date within a week or two, that'd be good, too.

Thanks.

G

SACKVILLE color shift, slight, unavoidable, not bad, but...

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:44:19 +0000

The plan was black, but supply was spotty, with waits up to 3 months just for basic black---the stock, easy color. So we're shifting to a just-as-excellent color that the mfr (in Scotland) calls khaki, but to most of us here, it looks like dark grey or light black, with a faint hint of super dark green in it. So far, it is easier to get.

It is a great color.....but the point here is that if you bought a blackie early and have bag-matching tendencies, order up now.

On a global scale, these "problems" are not actualy problems, but in the past when colors had to change, we suffered the sting of arrows plucked from quivers and twanged from bows of bagmatchers, so we felt it was best for everybody to lay it out there here and now. If you want another black, buy it now, because we're going to the dark grey or light black, with a faint hint of super dark green in it.

If supply of dark grey or light black, with a faint hint of super dark green dwindles, we're going to pounce on another just-as-excellent color.

Thanks for understanding...

G

Quickbeams are Here

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:37:48 +0000

(Update: 58, 60, and 62's are sold out)

Sneak peek can be found here. We are building and shipping them AQAP, but the assembly is still fastidious. Either Mark or Jay builds your bike. Rich goes over the wheels. Eric boxes them up so well you'll think it's a shame to undo his work.

There is minimal reassembly required. If you can't do it, take it to a shop. It will take a pro 12 minutes to get the bike up-and-running. Everything goes out tuned, adjusted, so if you get a bill for "adjusted brakes" or "trued rear wheel," somethings as fishy as the day is long. All you need to do is mount pedals, seat post, front wheel, hook up the straddle wire on the brakes, and put the stem in and tighten it.
Piece of cake.

Save Haiti & Free Money

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:08:33 +0000

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Donations tabulated. 49 Rivendell customers donated $4,179 to S.O.I.L. Many thanks!

UPDATE: Tabulating donations today (4/22), and will post results. Thank-you to all who gave.

You may remember last month when we offered to match (to a point) charitable donations to SOMALY MAM FOUNDATION, the anti-sexual slavery group in Cambodia.
This month, until April 21, it's Haiti, and the organization we're raising money for is S.O.I.L. It sounds like dirt, and involves dirt---and human poop to boot---so it lacks the pull of sexual abuse of children. What doesn't?

This time, like last, when you donate up to $100 to SOIL, we'll match that in a credit to your account. We will PAY you to DONATE. If you don't plan to buy anything, then your credit might not be worth anything. But if you do, take a minute, go to the site, follow the prompts to the donation link and click away $10, $35....whatever, up to $100, and we'll cover your ENTIRE DONATION in credits.

You've donated $1600 so far. Twenty-two donations. We're shooting for $10,000 by April 21. On the 22nd, John goes on vacation, and he's the guy who keeps the donations organized and makes sure it all works. That's why it ends on the 21st.

SOIL turns human poop into compost used to rejuvenate the land so they can grow crops and live. Haiti's soil needs the compost generated by human poop, and special toilets make it happen.

Here's a link to a recent NY Times story about SOIL. There's a YouTube link in the story; watch that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/opinion/29kristof.html?ref=opinion

You might think, after the mention in the NYT, that some magnificent benefactor would cut a whopping check to SOIL. I thought the same, and asked. It turns out the mention raised about $8,000. SOIL's monthly budget is a bit over $5,000. Now that the story is old news, donations are tailing off drastically, and SOIL continues to survive month-to-month. According to SOIL's Sasha Kramer, the rent is due, and there's $2,000 in the bank.

Let's raise $10,000 in three weeks. That's how long this post will remain up. Here's how it works:

1. Go here:

http://www.oursoil.org/

2. Read about SOIL or just go to the donation section:

http://www.oursoil.org/donate.php

Follow the prompts and send your proof-o'-donation to

john@rivbike.com

We will match donations up to $100.

On Mondays and Fridays, John will create a credit in your favor for the amount you gave (up to $100) to S.O.I.L., which will appear as an open invoice on your Riv account. We'll post the tally in this updated News section twice a week. Let's go! We're kicking it off with a $500 donation.

Everybody here at Rivendell

The Betty Foys Have Arrived.

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:04:11 +0000

We will start building them in the order that they were ordered, and try and have them all done ASAP. They look great, exceeding our expectations (which were high). Quickbeams and Hillbornes are just around the corner.