ISO: 47-49 Atlantis, Sam, AHH, etc.

[Bob K.]

Hi All,

I have a friend who's been searching casually for a Rivendell for a while, specifically something with a flat-ish top tube, in the 47-49 size range. She's about 5'2". Don't know her PBH yet, but she'll need the smallest size in any/all model mentioned above. Open to others. Intended use is town and road riding and some occasional light-medium touring.

The small sizes don't seem to come up too often, so I thought I'd throw it out there to the list. Please reach out directly if you have anything you might be interested in parting with!

Thanks!

Bob K. in Baltimore

[Elisabeth Sherwood]

Hi Bob,

Given the dearth of available small-size Rivs out there, I would highly recommend that she just bite the bullet and get one of the 47cm lugged Roadinis!  Basically the same geometry as the original 47cm Salukis and A. Homer Hilsons.

(p.s. if you happen to find a 48cm Sam Hillborne, definitely do not imagine that it will fit her.  I'm also 5'2", and that was my first Rivendell purchase. In 2008 or 2009 or so?  Huge...  It ultimately went to my 5'8" boyfriend, and it fits him well.  [On the bright side, that huge 48cm bicycle piqued my interest in bicycle geometry...])

Liz S.

Washington, DC

[Bob Keal]

Thanks, Liz—very helpful! The Lugged Roadini is beautiful, but is it capable of handling light-medium touring loads? Great info about the Sam. I wouldn’t have imagined that a 48cm would be so huge.

Bob

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Bob
443 278 4265

[Elisabeth Sherwood]

Light-to-medium touring?  I would do it on my Saluki, I think.  Probably not fully loaded, though. Good wheels would be key, probably.

Yeah -- the 48cm Hillborne has an effective top-tube of 54cm!  When I bought it I even had it set up as a flat-bar hybrid, and while I reached the bars wholly stretched out, the whole thing was just so ... large.  It just felt like a whale!

All the best,

Liz

Washington, DC

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[Bob Keal]

Thanks again! Yeah, sounds like the Sam would be too big with a drop setup. Good info on the Saluki!

Bob

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Bob
443 278 4265

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[Ginz]

I am 5’4” and drop setups are extremely challenging. Most of the later generation Rivendell frames in those sizes have 540mm effective top tube and 72 or 71 deg seat tube. The old Atlantis in 47cm I believe had a 520mm top tube and 72deg seat tube. Still, drops are difficult without longish arms. 

I own a 48cm Hunqapillar which is 540mm and 71deg. I’ve never attempted drops. I should probably buy a zero or 30mm ish stem from analog cycles and give it a try but I don’t have high hopes. 

I wish I could recommend a frame that solves this problem but I haven’t found one. My solution is to run flat or sweeping bars. 

On Friday, September 5, 2025 at 3:11:15 PM UTC-4 Bob K. wrote:

[Kim H.]

@Bob,

There is an Atlantis 48 cm - NOW $2,000 (dropped from $2,200) in the San Fransisco Bay Area on the Facebook page of Rivendell_Bicycles BUY SELL and Trade for sale. There has been a lot of interest, but no official sale yet. 

The seller's name is Whitney Mortimer 

Kim Hetzel.

[Ben Miller]

I'm assuming that is a 47 cm Atlantis? As I believe Rivendell has never made a 48 cm version of the Atlantis.

A non-Riv, but extremely-close-to-being-Riv option would be an X-Small Crust Romanceur. It's a rim-brake, 650b, fully-lugged bike in the style of Riv. It has an 40mm shorter effective TT than the 47 cm Atlantis. Giving it 30mm less reach (365 vs 395). It has more than a flat-ish TT, it's level! But that might cause some stand-over issues? You can compare them on Bike Insights and see that the Romanceur is quite a bit the smaller bike of the 2. And as for "light-medium touring loads", the Romanceur is a beast and can easily be a fully loaded off-road touring bike... but is also great on the road. It's a great all-rounder (again in the style of Riv). However, all my experiences are at the opposite end of the spectrum: I'm 6'3" and ride an XL version of the Romanceur... So apologies if I'm missing some nuances of bikes for my more diminutive bike friends :)

(Final note: The CEO of Crust bikes is Cheech, who is herself a diminutive rider. I know that because of her they go out of their way to support that often overlooked market. They might have additional info/experience in sizing X-small bikes).

[Bob Keal]

Thanks, Kim, for the info about the Atlantis on FB! I reached out to Whitney and am awaiting a response. 

Ben, great call on the Romanceur. Had considered it, but I didn't realize they had extra smalls in stock! I'll encourage her to take a look at those, too. Because the Atlantis in question is from 2002, the TT should be much shorter than the current version, though I couldn't find the '02 on Bike Insights. The '07 is comparable to the Romanceur.

Best,

Bob K. in Baltimore

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[Ginz]

After some looking around, it seems like the Crust Romanceur and Lightning Bolt in size XS have the shortest effective reach while still reasonably available to actually purchase today.   According to that database, the reach is shorter even than the older Atlantis in size 47cm.

I'd love to try one, but that would be a whole new wheel size for me and that's just not in the budget at the moment.

[Bob Keal]

Yeah, the Romanceur is potentially the best balance of level TT, short reach, classic styling, etc. while still being capable of all types of touring. One big difference b/t the Romanceur and the Atlantis is trail--the former is low trail and the latter is high. But I don't know much about what that means aside from what I've read on the Internet (AKA nothing at all). Seems like the solution you mentioned of running a very short to zero reach stem would go a long way of mitigating the difficulty of running a drop bar on your Atlantis. It's a very specific "look," of course, which is a dealbreaker for some folks.

Bob K. in Baltimore

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