I've had an Atlantis for a while now, but purchased the Bleriot as I wanted a lighter bike for doing brevets and lightly loaded touring.

The frame is a 51cm, and took some time to acquire. I think Rivendell were having a few production issues at the time. But that gave me plenty of time to think about the ideal build. I'd been devouring Vintage Bicycle Quarterly back issues at the time and that certainly gave me a few ideas. I went for a wide range double chainring setup, 40 and 26 using a TA Pro 5 Vis crank, which comes in the shorter sizes that I like. Mine is a 160mm sourced from Bicycle Specialties in Toronto. The last new one they had apparently.

A number of the nice bits and pieces came from Velo Orange - front stainless rack, TA pedals and clips, Tektro 556 brakes, decaleur (yet to be installed) Thanks to Lynn Miller at Chainringtransitauthority.com for supplying the frame and wheels.

I picked up the Honjos and a handful of tyres when I visited Grand Bois. What a shop!

So far it's a great ride. It has the familiar secure Rivendell handling and relaxed seating position. It would have been nice if it had been designed with low trail, but it handles well with a front load regardless.

Build list:
Rivendell Bleriot 51cm frame
Velocity Synergy rims
XTR M900 rear hub
Schmidt dyno hub
Honjo 45mm hammered fenders
TA Pro 5 Vis crankset
TA pedals
Suntour Superbe Pro front derailleur
Ultegra rear derailleur
Dura Ace barcons
Dura Ace brake levers
Dura Ace headset
Tektro 556 brake calipers
Campag SR seatpost
Nitto noodle bars and technomic stem
Velo Orange Randonneur front rack
E6 front light B&M
Seculite plus rear light (wire routed inside fender)
Brooks B17 Narrow
Brooks leather bar tape

Cheers

Andrew

andrewfatseas@gmail.com