PLACEHOLDER

This will be the page for information about the first generation of Rivendell Bicycle Works "Production" bicycles - the Road Standard, Longlow and All-Rounder.

It may also contain information about the Rivendell Mountain Frame.

This information may also overlap with the "Custom" Rivendells.

Data Points:

Eric N. - My Riv Road was built in 1997 and has "JS" painted on the bottom bracket.

Tim McNamara - Does it have a "made in Waterford WI" decal on the left chainstay? In 1995 all Rivendell frames were being made at Waterford AFAIK. My understanding is that the Riv serial numbers follow the Waterford conventions. My 1996 All-Rounder was built at Waterford, as was my wife's Heron.

David Estes - JS=Joe Stark, no matter what the year was (I think).

JL (subfascia@gmail) - There is a handy link through Waterford that details the dating for Waterford built bicycles. - AFAIK Riv's, Herons, etc included. I posted the serial number from my '96 road standard backwards the other day. I re-read it and it is D96059, or the #59 frame built in April 1996. Check it out. Maybe it will help with the EJ date code. http://www.waterfordbikes.com/2005/data/culture/paramount/sn/over.php

Tim McNamara (replies) - That's consistent for me- J96077 (September 1996, frame #77) and the frame arrived at my house in early October 1996. I'd wonder if the "EJ" date code on the OP's frame is some kind of artifact and that it shouldn't be an E (May) or a J (September).

Beth - Do the Match-built frames include an "M" in their number? I assume so because it would make sense; my All-Rounder number include AR, a number and M.

Jim Thill - Curt Goodrich built Rivendells for Match.

Tim McNamara -

This has been only part of the story. When Rivendell opened up, they had an agreement with Waterford to build their frames. Initially the frames were not customs, they were made in a range of sizes. Rivendell had a guy named Gary Boulanger who worked at Waterford doing frame prep, packing, etc. to handle the Riv frames. The custom thing slowly crept in, Grant's ideas kept developing, sales increased, etc. and eventually Rivendell and Waterford parted ways amicably. (IIRC the Heron line was developed before that happened and were still built by Waterford for a while after the Riv frames were no longer made there. Heron was a three-way joint venture between Riv, Waterford and another guy whose name I have forgotten. There were too many people for this to be profitable, though, and Riv pulled out. Eventually the Heron product line was sold to Todd at Tullio's Cyclery in Illinois; Todd got out of the bike business a year or two back.) Rivendell hired Joe Starck to build frames; he had been a builder for Masi and other places (maybe Waterford, too). I don't remember if painting was subbed out to Joe Bell right away, since Joe Starck didn't paint AFAIK. As the waiting list expanded, part of the Rivendell line (All-Rounders and maybe some other frames) were subbed out to Match Cycles, which was owned by Tim Match. Curt Goodrich worked for Match and built quite a few of the frames made there. When Match went away, Curt moved back to Minneapolis came on board with Rivendell as their second frame builder. For a period of time, both Curt and Joe built Rivendells. Joe stopped, Curt went on. The waiting list grew and Curt also developed his own frame business. Oddly enough I can't remember who's been building customs since Curt stopped, I guess I haven't been paying enough attention. Grant has periodically looked for ways to produce lower-cost frames than the full customs. Those have their own histories. In terms of geometry, I think that few people need a custom frame. Human proportions tend to vary pretty consistently, and most of the variations can be easily accommodated with the various adjustments that are possible. It's the details- braze-ons, brake reach, tire clearance, etc.- that really determine the utility of a frame for specific needs.

David Estes - There were also several "anonymous" builders that came in to play either before or after the match (small-case) bikes. Richard Sachs built a couple for sure (friend has a "RS" frame!). Mark Nobilette starting building frames to help Curt manage the load. He built up a lot of the Protovelos. Now Mark is the only custom frame builder that I'm aware of. He also builds under his own name http://www.nobilettecycles.com/background.htm , and either co-owns or works for the current owners of the Rene Herse http://www.renehersebicycles.com/ line.

Doug Van Cleve - Tim's recollection is very close but I have a couple additions/corrections. The main match guy was Tim Isaac. I believe he started out building under his own name, then worked for Trek in some capacity before starting match. Joe Starck worked for Trek for years before going to Masi and then doing Rivendells. The third party involved in the original Herons, and the brand owner, was Ted Durant. He also did the Willow chainrings that RBW used to sell: http://ronacomp.com/index.html.

Allan ais3@psu.edu
If the number starts with 95, you probably have one of the earlier (or earliest) Rivendells sold. I believe that the early (Waterford) Rivendells all used 753 tubing with 531 forks. The 753 tubing used was very heavy, much heavier than the standard 753 of other (racing) frames of the period. This would seem to negate the point of using the more expensive (heat treated) tubing (753 is stronger, thus can be used in thinner, lighter tubes), but that was how it was done. The Reynolds frame stickers are in French, not English... I have a very early 57cm All Rounder, serial # K95xxx, which would be Oct. 95. It was a prototype. (The All Rounder was introduced after the Road.) It has the classic Mavic crank, triplized, "Winkel Wheels," Sun Tour XC rear derailleur, Kelly Take-Offs, Sun Tour Superbe non-aero brake levers, all standard Riv. spec. for the period. Color is Riv Burnt Orange, slightly darker than Waterford Burnt Orange, with a grey head tube. No seat tube decal (other than the Gallic Reynolds sticker). The Burnt Orange color was frequently used, I think, both for later XO-1s and early All-Rounders.

Generation 1 Bicycles in the Galleries:

cc #822 - Don Genovese's Rivendell LongLow
cc #843 - Cyclotourist's Rivendell Road

- Scans of Generation 1 Bicycle Models: Riv Catalog #5 - Rivendell Mountain Frame - RBW Owner's Bunch Mailing List

TEXT

Rivendell Reader #5 Scans - from Winter/Spring 1999

There are two scans of each - 72 which should be viewable onscreen, and a 150 dpi scan which should print out if you need, or provide better resolution onscreen.

Click on the pages to get a decent onscreen image. Below the image for higher resolution.

Rivendell Road Standard	Rivendell Longlow	Rivendell All-Rounder
150 dpi	150 dpi	150 dpi
	Generation 1 Frame Specs
	150 dpi only

Rivendell Mountain Frame

This was sent to me by the former (?) owner. It came to my attention through this thread on the Rivendell Owners' Bunch list, in which he described it as a "that 'elusive Riv MTB' pictured in Catalog #3! I was able to buy it during one of Riv's 'we need cash ASAP' sales that happened periodically in the early days. You are correct, per the catalog it used the AR lugset, as did 62 and up Roads.

I contacted him for more info (also, since he was considering selling it). He was kind enough to send an email with a photo of the bicycle.

According to the email:

"It's a 19" frame - yes, the Mountain/Expedition was sized in inches. The top tube is 23-1/2" (59 cm). Standover is 30" at the crank, 31.5" at the head tube. I stand just under 5'9", and have plenty of standover height (84 cm PBH), but find it a bit of a reach to the bars. I'm realizing more and more that I'm somewhat short torso'ed, and need a shorter than average top tube. Plus, my world here is paved, so I don't get off road much at all.

The current build is more road cruiser than mountain bike:
Nitto Dirt Drop stem, Albatross bar (I've used drops or moustache bars in the past when I took it on camping trips and rode fire roads), Sugino XD triple, Phil BB, Dia Compe 980 canti's, Mathauser pads, cheap Shimano levers, Shimano XT rear derailluer, Suntour XC front, 8 speed indexed bar ends, Nitto 1 bolt post, Brooks B66 w/ Seat Sandwich, Velocity Aeroheat rims on 32 hole White Industries hubs, butted spokes, 50 mm Schwalbe Marathon Supremes (with various knobby and not so knobby tires in reserve).

Click the photo for larger version

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- Rivendell Bicycle Model Pages -

A. Homer Hilsen	Bleriot	Quickbeam
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Company Info:
Rivendell Bicycle Works
P.O. Box 5289 Walnut Creek, CA 94596
T 800.345.3918/ 925.933.7304
F 877.269.5847