FS: NOS Rivendell Yves Gomez (Betty Foy) Frameset + Fork/HS/BR/BB: 60cm - 700c - Fenders/Racks - Heart Cutout Lugs - Black/White/Gold
Zella Rayne
The classy and rare Yves Gomez was the "men's" version of the popular Betty Foy mixtie frame, circa 2009-2012. It is designed as a do-it-all country bike, built around 700c wheels with clearance for 50cm tires (or 40cm with fenders). Mid-reach road brakes and mid-oversize tires orientate it to a multi-surface road focus with light trail capabilities, vs the later-produced & burlier Cheviot & Platypus. It has swoopy and ornate lugs with heart cutouts and a fork crown that looks like an architectural feature in the Victorian era. The downtube decal mimics French randonneur constructeurs, with the logos wrapping around from the sides to the top and back, with a catchy slogan under the name translating to "bicycle of the good life". This is likely your only chance to find one of these beauties fresh and unridden!
The Yves allows various setups, from comfy and fast commuter with swoopy swept back bars like the Albatross and a basket or two to loaded touring bikes with drop bars on a dirt drop stem and lowriders to something more trail/gravel/mtb oriented with upright bars with less swoop back and knobby tires. It has a pump pegs for a frame pump, and even a kickstand mount plate! Full fender eyelets, front rack eyelet & mid fork braze on, chainstay rack braze ons.
From the 2009 Rivendell catalog: Mixte (mix-tee) frames have a diagonal tube instead of a top tube, which makes it easy for a lady to ride without the wind catching her dress and blowing it up. That’s why it’s known as a women’s bike in the U.S., but the mixte style is popular all over the world among men and women, and there are good reasons for that. The lower stepover height makes sense for anybody who doesn’t want to swing a high leg over. It makes it easier to get on and off the bike, especially with a tall load of groceries or a child in back. If you have bad hips from a lifetime of moguls or plain worn-out joints, it’s necessary. Most mixtes are cheap bikes, made for light-duty use, and aren’t stiff enough or strong enough for touring or trail riding, for instance. The Betty Foy/Yves Gomez is.The stout down tube and the extra set of seat stays make it a top-notch, all-around everything bike.
The Betty was Riv's original design, and when they found some of their (overly) male customers couldn't be seen riding a bike with cute heart decals and a girl's name they took the same frame and repainted it to suit the aesthetics of a prohibition era man.
Sizing! At some point during the run, Riv changed from a four size system to the current 3 size system for its mixties. This one is one of the later models and thus the largest of the three sizes at 60cm. It "fits" smaller than that number would suggest, being a mixtie. Riv provided a pubic bone height range of 82cm to 90cm, which is a pretty limited means of sizing... But I can estimate this will fit riders very roughly 5ft 9 to 6ft 2 or so. I have a full geometry chart attached from 2009, as well as the ad stating the new sizing. I took the numbers below from that chart, aside from the headtube, seat tube, and top tube which I measured.
Condition
New and unridden! The original owner bought this direct from Rivendell in 2012/2013, with the intent to build it with an internally geared 3 speed hub. He got it half built up and installed the wheels and noticed the vertical dropouts....which means an internal hub isn't really possible. So he shelved the project and moved on. So, it's partially built and absolutely never ridden. It's very close to utterly pristine. I see dropout wear from the axles and a tiny chip and scratch on the driveside mid-stay just behind the seat lug (by the brake). And that's about it.
Details
- Frame number:M1110345 BBM-1
- 700c wheels
- Size:60cm
- Pubic Bone Height range: 82cm to 90cm
- Rear spacing: 135mm
- Effective brake reach: 65mm
- Effective top tube: just under 60cm (as measured)
- Seat tube: 60cm c-tt (as measured)
- Head tube: 198mm (as measured)
- Head angle: 70 degree (from 2009 chart)
- Seat angle: 72 degree (from 2009 chart)
- Chainstays: 45cm (from 2009 chart)
- Headset: FSA threaded
- Brakeset: Tektro R539
- Bottom bracket: Cartridge, Shimano?
