Compliments

[aeroperf]

So one thing I’ve noticed - I mean REALLY noticed - about our Rivendell bikes is that they get compliments.

I ride the Silver Comet near Atlanta.  https://groups.google.com/g/bicycletouring/c/cFpcvUWqzkA
For 15 years I rode a Diamondback Approach, a decent hybrid bike (as they called those back in the ’90s).  I never heard a word from fellow riders.
Then in 2015 I got a Sam Hillborne.  Bog standard, as the Brits say - Sage Blue, cork grips.  I added some fenders and started seriously hitting the trail for exercise.

Suddenly folks are pulling up next to me (or going past), and saying “Nice bike!”  Now I’m 74 and banging along at about 11 mph, so it’s not tough to pull up next to me.  But this happens 2 - 3 times a year.  It surprises me.

A couple of nice ladies went on about the friction shifters and “a hard leather seat.  He’s hard core!”, before riding off on their carbon Cannondales.  A nice gentleman commented at length on the cork grips.  Maybe he was a fly fisherman?

It happened again yesterday when I stopped for water.  Two guys also stopped and were very complimentary about the Sam.  One asked to ride it (sure!) and came back grinning (“If I didn’t already have too many bikes…”)
It surprised my wife, too.  I built her up a Platypus last winter, and on her second ride she got a “Nice bike!” from someone.  She came home with smiles.

Does this happen to you when you ride your Rivendell?  Tell us about the compliments you get.

[Ryan]

For sure.not many in Winnipeg 

[Toshi Takeuchi]

I am close to Riv HQ in Oakland, but I'm surprised by the comments that we get.  A random walker on the bike path says, "Nice Betty Foy" to my wife.  I mean, how many walkers out there know what a Betty Foy is?  This last weekend, my wife and I were on a tandem, and a cyclist passes us by and says, "Nice riv tandem, don't see many of those." 

I think there is a wide appreciation of Riv bikes beyond the Riv riders themselves.

Toshi in Oakland

[Kim H.]

Not yet.

Kim Hetzel.

[Matti]

I noticed the "nice bike!" comments right away after I got my Sam Hillborne frame built up last winter, having swapped most of the parts from my old Surly Long Haul Trucker.  I think the color (lime olive), the lugs, the hammered aluminum fenders and Brooks saddle make the bike unique compared to the typical bike in Portland, so it draws some attention.  That attention does make me extra careful about where and how long I leave it locked up on the street or at the grocery store.

[ascpgh]

My orange Rambouillet draws unsolicited compliments often. When riding The Five Boro Ride in NYC a few years ago my wife was impressed by the number of strangers who pulled alongside, took a long look at my bike and either gave silent thumbs up or gave compliment to it. She noticed the relative anonymity of all the CFRP bikes and how their riders looked dejected when positive comments on my bike came. Near the Verrazano Narrows Bridge she said "It's like we've been riding with 30,000 of your friends."

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Nick A.]

I've been lucky enough here in the D.C. area to receive a number of compliments for my Atlantis while out and about. Notably, many of the complimenters are gentleman older than I that always wanted a Riv but for whatever reason never pulled the trigger. Or, have never seen them in real life. They ask if it was worth it, and I say "yes" without hesitation.

[John Dewey]

Y'all, I'm a GA southerner recently displaced in NorCAL and I get tagged for comments damn near every time out it seems. The locals are pretty much dialed in, even folks you'd never guess be interested. 

I'm guessing the color or the mudguards is the attraction...but the comments aren't so unusual as the recognition as Rivendell. Many say 'ooo, nice Riv." That definitely never happened before. 

Jock

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[Ryan]

I always admired that bike, jock 

these 2 always get compliments

[RichS]

Hello Mr. Aeroperf,

It's been awhile but we've encountered each other on the SC and corresponded via the list. Last ride on the Comet was in late September. Glad to see you're still pedaling the Sam and receiving compliments on the bike. Our octagenarian friend Irv is a regular rider on the trail with his orange Joe App. He's easy to spot.

If you ride a Riv (or any other well turned out steel frame rider) you'll likely get admiring comments. My sage green Sam often gets likes. 

Ditto for Rivs I have previously owned. Remarks have ranged from "nice bike" to "I didn't know they still made bikes like that" or "how old is that?" 

Next time I'm out your way I will give you a heads up.

Best,

Rich in ATL  

On Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 3:01:31 PM UTC-5 aeroperf wrote:

[RichS]

Hey Ryan, nice bikes. Very nice!!!

Best,

Rich in ATL

[Ryan]

Thanks rich...can't bring myself to sell them yet even though I haven't been riding them as much

[Mike Godwin]

Indeed. Rode along with the SLO bike club one day on my Roadeo (white with blue head tube) with my Sunday riding buddy. A few folks were asking about it, one rider even took some photos. Other comments from strangers have been, "its vintage, how old is it?" or "you have a triple chainring, haven't seen that in a long time." 

Its nothing special, but it does get attention fur sure. 

Mike SLO CA 

[Greg J]

It's actually a big downside for me.  As someone who is generally uncomfortable with compliments, I find myself choosing not to ride my Riv as much because of the attention it gets.  My other, equally-attention-worthy bikes (vintage Ritchey, Eisentraut, Gordon) never elicit the level of attention that the Riv does.

[Bob Warner]

I often chuckle when people comment on my Rodeo and Hillborne and make reference of asking how old my bikes are. They instinctively think that they are vintage old bikes, and are surprised when I let them know, they’re relatively new!

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 16, 2023, at 1:55 PM, Mike Godwin <spoke...@gmail.com> wrote:

Indeed. Rode along with the SLO bike club one day on my Roadeo (white with blue head tube) with my Sunday riding buddy. A few folks were asking about it, one rider even took some photos. Other comments from strangers have been, "its vintage, how old is it?" or "you have a triple chainring, haven't seen that in a long time." 

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[J S]

I live in the northeast and after all of these years only had one person say nice bike. Not sure if it was the Hillborne or the Saluki. This person did not know it was a rivendell, they were not riding but walking at the time. Of course there are less Rivs here than in the Bay Area. 

On Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 3:01:31 PM UTC-5 aeroperf wrote:

[Patrick Moore]

I often get compliments on my best Rivendells and copies; I say "best" because these are the ones that I build with the nicest -- shiny silver -- parts and keep the cleanest. I got more compliments for my customs than for my Sam or Ram.

Someone said that compliments make him uncomfortable. They don't make me uncomfortable, but I admit that, when I'm in a hurry, as when in a store, I am sometimes not eager for extended conversations, but I am always pleased to hear compliments. People usually assume that the bikes are old and I also admit to a bit of glee when I answer the question, "So, how old is it?" by saying "25 years next year; it was delivered in April 1999" or "Summer 2020."

OTOH, a few years ago I had a rather lame-brained roadie youngster (late 30-something twit!) yell out, "Old steelie! It's an old steelie" That didn't make me so much uncomfortable as annoyed -- the bike was either the 2003 Riv road custom or the 2020 Matthews copy. I did my best to put him down.

I enjoy bike compliments all the more in that my old steelies are generally odd: fixed gear, hub gear, or 50 or 60 mm tires with drops and fenders and rack and road derailleurs and near-corncob cassette.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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When thou didst not, savage,

Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like

A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes

With words that made them known.

[WilletM]

This wasn't a Riv compliment, as it happened thirty years ago when my acquisition budget was somewhat smaller than it is currently.  But it has stuck with me and made me smile for all the years since.

Riding down the road in Lincoln, NE, on my recently acquired Eisentraut custom road bike that had been ordered (not by me) with a swirly pink paint job that was right out of this year's Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie, I heard a voice shout out "niiiiice bike!" from the direction of a corner gas station/convenience store.  Thinking that it must be a true aficionado who knew of Albert's work and appreciated the thinly-filed lugs and Excell tubing, I looked back over my shoulder eagerly to see if it might be someone I knew from a local bike shop.  And I saw, standing there with a big smile on her face, an 8- or 9-year-old girl who apparently just REALLY liked that shade of pink.

Willet M.

[Frakern]

I was at an ice cream shop a few years back and the owner was really interested in my cork grips too. I didn't understand why he was so fixated on them lol. 

[Joe in the Pay Area]

Daily, either the orange Atlantis or the orange All-Rounder get a "beautiful bike" yelled to it.

[Patrick Moore]

I was complimented twice today in quick succession during this afternoon's errand ride. I was riding the 2020 Matthews, which is not a Rivendell of course, but it is a pretty faithful geometrical and even a close aesthetic copy of a 2003 road custom, and build entirely according to the Rivendell canon, apart from the ASC hub -- tho' even that is polished silver aluminum (old innards in a modern 32 hole hub).

Or perhaps this was due to the newly installed Rene Herse front brake cable housing hanger: truly the most jewel-like such hanger I've seen. I installed it for practical reasons, but I do like the look.

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