Thoughts on Velo Orange Polyvalent MKII

[Peter M]

So I have been riding the bombadil more this week and it is an awesome
ride but it still just feels a bit tight on the top tube. I have short
legs and a long torso so it is hard for me to find a bike with good
lenght on the top tube without having zero standover. I was looking
at the VO site though and I never even thought to look at their bikes
since I usually just get parts from them. The Polyvalent MKII looks
like the business with a nice long top tube and reasonable standover,
bosses for lights, short horizontal drops, and a nice fork rake. I do
hate that it is not lugged, which I dont know if I can get over or
not. I would really love to go up to the 56cm Bombadil but since they
are as rare as hens teeth it looks like I will have to shell out the
3k to get one which would be a year of saving at least. In the mean
time the Polyvalent looks like a reasonable alternative as a stop gap.
I was just wondering if anyone has owned or knows someone who has
owned a Polyvalent who would know if it is a nice "Rivish" ride for a
bigger (see fatter) guy. Thanks All.

Peter

[Scott Henry]

I don't own a PV but was able to ride a friends.  It wasn't really my size but it was doable for me and I very much liked it.

The Bombadil is a very nice bike, but due to the cost of building thing the way that Grant does, its going to be a different cost ballpark than the PV.

 

If it fits and the angles and lengths look good to you, ride it.   Lugs are pretty to look at but don't really do anything for the way a bicycle functions.

 

Enjoy.

Scott

Peter

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[colinthehippie]

Peter, did you wind up ordering the Polyvalent?  Please let me know if you did, and how the ride is.

[Garth]

Bombadil short on the TT ?   Not at all !  On the Bombadil you must measure it virtual horizontal, not literal along the TT.

[Ron Mc]

Fit is everything - I have the exact opposite dimensions from Peter - short torso and gibbon-like limbs.  I need to sit tall, but a too-long top tube forces me to lean farther than I want.  Tall quill, short forward length and zero offset seatpost solve it for me.  We're having a blast of cold and humid (high 30s and 95+% humidity - Texas winter), so I had my bike on a mag trainer last night.  Happened to be beside a mirror and was looking at my fit.  Was taking note of how comfortable it's tweaked, but it does look a bit strange.  

[Peter Morgano]

Well I went whole hog and actually got the 56cm Bombadil, while the standover clearance is a bit tight I do love the stretched out feeling, which is mitigated by the bosco bars, so somewhat of the best of both worlds. Bike fit is a strange thing where no one factor makes a bike "fit" or not, it takes a whole combination of things. Makes me still wish we had an authorized Riv dealer in the tri-state area, I think it would open up alot of eyes.

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[Peter Morgano]

We are about identical there, Haha. I would think anything bigger than the hetres might be too close for comfort, however if you were gonna ride off road or anything like that.

On Jan 16, 2013 6:47 PM, "Jason Underwood" <jason.e....@gmail.com> wrote:

Peter, what is your height and PBH/inseam?  I just placed my order last week for a new 56cm Bombadil after long debating between 52cm and 56cm.  Just looking for confirmation that I did right by going large.  I am 5ft 11in with 87.5 PBH.  Thanks for feedback! -Jason

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/6pcEuTSrFZ0J.

[Stonehog]

You will be fine.  I have the same leggy dimensions, and rode a demo 60cm Bomba a few summers back on a visit to riv hq.  It was large, but not unreasonable.  I ride a 54 Hunqa and a 59 Hilsen.  Could go up one size on both of those with a non-drop bar. 

Mobile Brian Hanson

On Jan 16, 2013, at 8:07 AM, Jason Underwood <jason.e....@gmail.com> wrote:

Peter, what is your height and PBH/inseam?  I just placed my order last week for a new 56cm Bombadil after long debating between 52cm and 56cm.  Just looking for confirmation that I did right by going large.  I am 5ft 11in with 87.5 PBH.  Thanks for feedback! -Jason

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 9:51:14 AM UTC-5, Peter M wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/6pcEuTSrFZ0J.

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

I’m essentially identical in size to you – PBH maybe slightly shorter.   I have a 56cm Bomba, and it’s a perfect fit.

 

From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jason Underwood
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 11:07 AM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Thoughts on Velo Orange Polyvalent MKII

 

Peter, what is your height and PBH/inseam?  I just placed my order last week for a new 56cm Bombadil after long debating between 52cm and 56cm.  Just looking for confirmation that I did right by going large.  I am 5ft 11in with 87.5 PBH.  Thanks for feedback! -Jason

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 9:51:14 AM UTC-5, Peter M wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/6pcEuTSrFZ0J.

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To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
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[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

IMO, getting the frame size exactly right is a bit over-emphasized unless you're really pushing the limits of stem and seatpost adjustment and standover clearance. I know people want certainty before laying out big $$$ for a frame, but after you get close enough, it's all trial and error and adaptation and overcoming preconceived notions (the preconceived notions part is the most important, and Riv is good at that). We have a joke at HC - every time we build up a new bike of any size, we take a test ride and say "I could ride this!". The truth is that "optimum" is always between two stock sizes, so there's always a tiny compromise involved. For that matter, "optimum" changes over time and space, maybe even during the course of a single ride. And some people are simply more physically or mentally adaptable to the variance than others are.

When I bought my first Riv nine years ago, my 85 cm PBH put me on a 58 or even 61 Atlantis, but my 5'8" height suggested that I'd be better off on a 56 Atlantis. I went with the 58, which was fine. Later I tried a 56 and a 61, and those seemed workable, too, if I'd wanted to monkey around with stem swaps and seatpost exposure more or less than a "fistful", they might have been "perfect".

[Steve Palincsar]

On Thu, 2013-01-17 at 08:54 -0800, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote:
> IMO, getting the frame size exactly right is a bit over-emphasized unless you're really pushing the limits of stem and seatpost adjustment and standover clearance. I know people want certainty before laying out big $$$ for a frame, but after you get close enough, it's all trial and error and adaptation and overcoming preconceived notions (the preconceived notions part is the most important, and Riv is good at that). We have a joke at HC - every time we build up a new bike of any size, we take a test ride and say "I could ride this!". The truth is that "optimum" is always between two stock sizes, so there's always a tiny compromise involved. For that matter, "optimum" changes over time and space, maybe even during the course of a single ride. And some people are simply more physically or mentally adaptable to the variance than others are.

True, but mainly so because the size increment is 2 cm. At 1 cm
increments things improve greatly. Also, at one time SJS sold certain
Thorn frames with not only 1 cm size increments, but also with longer
and shorter top tube versions of each size.

Sure, that greatly increases the size and cost of the inventory, but
there's much less chance of not getting the size right.

[Joe K]

Actually, Peter, I think we *do* have an authorized (at least nascent)
Riv dealer in Bike Works NYC, on the Lower East Side. I know that
Grant likes the place and, last time I was there, they had a Hillborne
for sale. And their site says they're a Riv dealer.

Joe K

[Tim McNamara]

On Jan 17, 2013, at 10:54 AM, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery <thil...@gmail.com> wrote:

> IMO, getting the frame size exactly right is a bit over-emphasized unless you're really pushing the limits of stem and seatpost adjustment and standover clearance. I know people want certainty before laying out big $$$ for a frame, but after you get close enough, it's all trial and error and adaptation and overcoming preconceived notions (the preconceived notions part is the most important, and Riv is good at that). We have a joke at HC - every time we build up a new bike of any size, we take a test ride and say "I could ride this!". The truth is that "optimum" is always between two stock sizes, so there's always a tiny compromise involved. For that matter, "optimum" changes over time and space, maybe even during the course of a single ride. And some people are simply more physically or mentally adaptable to the variance than others are.

Yep. My All-Rounder is 59.5 cm and is a very comfortable bike. The bike frame I designed and built is 63.5 cm and is a very comfortable bike. My Ritchey road bike is 60 cm and is a very comfortable bike. I am 6'4" tall with a 90 to 91 cm PBH.

What's important is the saddle-pedal-handlebar triangle. I am able to get those close enough to the same on each of those bikes that each is very comfortable for long rides. Worrying about 5 to 10 mm here or there rapidly becomes princess-and-the-pea. Close enough is close enough. If you're within a cm of "perfect" you're probably fine barring some morphological challenge like compensating for scoliosis or bad discs or something like that.

One of the worst things to ever happen to bike fit was the widespread discussion of formulas like the Guimard method (Lemond and Hinault's books, for example) and Eddy B's book (although later on he got much more practical and realistic). The problem is that bike fit is dynamic and the formulas depend on static measurements of things that are basically impossible to get right with a tape measure.

I remember a guy pitching a major hissy fit on wreck.bikes because the top tube on his new custom (Riv content: the guy had sent the specs of a Riv road frame to a cheaper custom builder) was 1 mm too short. Yep, his bike was *ruined* and his money was wasted. It was tragic. Oh, the humanity!

[Peter Morgano]

I did hear about it but I was thinking something like Harris Cyclery but in NYC. I have been down there and it's a nice place but one Hillborne for sale does not a dealer make. Maybe in the spring they will expand the lineup but I know space is always an issue here.

[Chris]

That's very interesting Tim. Got my eye on a size 55cm mountain/expedition and I have a PBH of 87. Could I make that work do you think?