1,500 miles on the Charlie Gallop

[Stephen Edmondson]

Some thoughts after 1,500 miles and 6 months:

• I love it. Begs to be ridden. Especially enjoyable on longer (30+ mile) rides. Easily the most comfortable bike I’ve ever ridden. Also great to look at. Have spent many a morning riding to the cafe, enjoying a coffee and just appreciating how cool (and weird) this thing is.
• Again, the comfort! This bike has solved my numb hands and lower back pain after a lifetime of cycling. I've tried a lot of things, but this is the only time I've ever been able to ride for long distances and frequent rides, pain-free.
• Most of my riding is paved trails and roads. Gave a rail trail a try over the holiday break. Started out paved, then into hard packed dirt that turns into small gravel and larger chonky sections. The bike was surprisingly fun on hard pack with 42 urban contact tires. Had to pick my way through the chonk but it did well. Makes me want to find more of the hard dirt.
• Most other riders dismiss the Gallop or don’t know what to think. Is it a vintage bike? A vintage….cruiser? Why does the paint look so good? That’s not to say it doesn’t get compliments. Those who know are quick to yell “NICE Riv!” Or “Nice lugs!”. Everyone who has ridden it, raves and raves about the ride.
• The length (especially in this size) is truly huge. I spent a lot of time looking at Blue Lug albums of their Gallop builds before ordering. I didn’t think about the frame size affecting proportions (most of those are much smaller). The proportions of the 61cm really get exaggerated at this size. Just look at the attached pic with the banana for scale! Needless to say, I was pretty surprised at just how big it was on arrival. BUT!—it fits me great with a 90.5 PBH at 6ft tall. I did change the stem. It came with a 110 which felt a little long, swapped for a 85 and it’s spot on.
• Was lucky enough to get one of the initial OM-1’s. Happy to report that reversing the shift action feels very natural. I had no problem adapting and feels like it should have always worked this way. I also never quite got along with the Altus the bike came with. It would ghost shift at the worst moments, nearly throwing me from the bike when I stood up to pedal at one point. Even with multiple adjustments, I could never get it sorted. Whatever the issue was, the OM-1 has none of those problems, looks great and does what a rear derailleur should.
• Thinking about where I can go on multi day rides this year. The lower weight capacity has me looking for credit card and hub/spoke options. Would be fun to try the Katy Trail on this...

Here's to double the miles next year!

-Stephen in Dallas

[Franco Rinaldi]

What bars is it set up with?

Franco Rinaldi 

c:  646.403.0661 

-Pardon any typos, Siri typed this message-

On Jan 5, 2026, at 5:05 PM, Stephen Edmondson <stephen....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Stephen Edmondson]

Albatross. First time using these bars and I really appreciate the second hand position. Have some more neubaums I've need to wrap that section with. 

Have the bars tilted slightly down. Originally had the saddle tilted slightly up to match the angle, but have continued to adjust the saddle flatter and flatter.

[D D]

Appreciate the update. Lovely bike. The banana behind the seat tube shot might be my favorite so far for 2026. 

Dustin in VA

On Jan 5, 2026, at 5:16 PM, Stephen Edmondson <stephen....@gmail.com> wrote:

Albatross. First time using these bars and I really appreciate the second hand position. Have some more neubaums I've need to wrap that section with. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a4f36833-2afa-4487-92d5-9f15e0603176n%40googlegroups.com.

[Steve]

It's a sweet thing when a new bike turns out out to be just what you were hoping for. Great looking build!

Steve in AVL

[Brian Forsee]

The Charlie would be a perfect Katy trail bike! There are plenty of lodging/food options. Use the Amtrak if you're able!

Brian

[Jason Fuller]

Looks great and that's some pretty good miles racked up over 6 months together, proof that the relationship is working! Regarding all that banana clearance, I wish they put bottle bosses on the rear side of the ST too, there's clearly room for it!  I really enjoy reading these kind of reviews, especially when the results are so positive. 

My thought on loading it up for a camping trip: if you ran a rear pannier rack like the Nitto 32R and loaded it up with two big panniers and a tent on the top, all that weight would bear upon the eyelets just above the rear axle - not really going through the frame much at all. I know it's considered bad practice by many to load one axle heavily and not the other, but my experience of trying to run front and rear load on a more flexible frame is that it gets a lot of wiggle. There's a chance it could shimmy with the unbalanced load I suppose, but I doubt it would happen. The long stays put more of your own weight on the front wheel. If it were me, I'd go for it, but leave the kitchen sink at home and take it easy on the downhills. 

[Roberta]

Congratulations on the bike and mileage. It looks beautiful.   I have albatross bars on my bikes and also like them tilted down a little bit.  I think it goes with the ergonomic placement of the hands and wrists. 

Is this your first Riv?  When I got my first one I couldn’t believe how comfortable a bike ride could be.  Goodbye pain!

I’m looking forward to hearing about your adventures. 

Roberta

Philadelphia

[Josh C]

I'm glad you're liking it. I hope you have many miles of joy on that thing. 

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Wonderful to hear, Stephen! I have a golden Charlie, too, and I love it. I bought it for club riding and it has done its job well. I’ve had Charlie almost a year (but couldn’t ride some of those months because of winter). I don’t know his mileage, but I rode 4223 mi in ‘25 and with 2-3 club rides a week, he got most of them. 

Interesting to hear what the size of a big Charlie is really like; mine’s a 53 and feels positively petite compared to my longer Platypuses. 

I’ll be interested to hear how it goes if you take your Charlie on a trip. Also, don’t you love the color? It’s my one of my favorites. I’m glad we got golden Charlies. Also, the bubble lugs and the decals and head badge are to die for.

Leah

[st nick]

Stephen,  nice write up on the Charlie and congrats on the 1500 miles on it.

I had the opportunity to ride it last Saturday and it is indeed a sweet ride and looks great.

It was also cool to see the new derailer.

I hope to order one later in the year.

We have a core group of 5 Riv guys now in the Dallas, TX area ( Luis, two Jim's, lets say Jim of the 3 Rivs and Jim of the one Riv to tell them apart and me) with Stephen being the new guy joining us about 6 months ago when he bought his Charlie Gallop. I might add Stephen is also the youngest of the group and most likely has to slow his pace when he rides with us older guys.

It's great fun to meet up and ride together.

I forget, Stephen,   if you've told the story on list

of how we all got connected.

After seeing a picture of one of the Jim of the 3 Rivs bikes online, was it on Reddit,   he reached out inquiring about the pictured Riv he saw.

Jim of the 3 Rivs responded to Stephen and what was it, within 3 or 4 days Stephen had test ridden 5 of our Rivs I think it was.

Correct me Stephen if I got any of that account inaccurate. 

Before we knew it Stephen had placed his order for a Charlie and shortly after receiving it all 5 of us were able to ride together. 

We've all ridden together several times now and hopefully in 2026 more group rides are to come.

Safe riding to all in 2026, 

Paul Cunningham in Dallas,  TX

[Stephen Edmondson]

Thanks for all the kind words. I really really like this thing.

Leah: Here's a pic in front of a cafe and my Trek 930. Really shows off the lovely color. And yes, it's loong, but thankfully still fits on my 1Up rack.

[Stephen Martinez]

Hi Paul and everyone — hope it’s okay to jump in here. I’m also a Stephen, but a different one than the Stephen above.

I’m over in Saginaw, and I moved to the Fort Worth area in summer 2024 from Chico, California (home of Paul’s, BTCHN’ Bikes, Dynaplug, and Performance Bicycle — so cool bikes have always been close to home for me).

I currently ride a Rivendell Platypus, and reading about your Dallas-area group got me wondering if any of you are planning to do any charity rides or organized cycling events in the area in 2026.  Last year I signed up for several rides I found through Wheel Brothers and local Texas Facebook groups, and probably ended up doing 20+ different rides—almost every weekend—mostly as a way to explore the different towns and areas around DFW, though I usually rode my Waterford road bike. This year I’d be up for joining in if any of you are planning events and adding a Platypus to the group rides.

Either way, it’s great to see a strong Rivendell group riding together locally.
Looking forward to more miles in 2026.

Best regards,
Stephen (Saginaw / Fort Worth)

On Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 6:38:43 AM UTC-6 Paul in Dallas wrote:

[Tom Powell Davies]

Thank you so much for this excellent report, Stephen, and for the photos!

I've been wondering about getting a Charlie myself, and would be the same size. I love the concept of a light road bike that works with swept back bars.

Can I ask - does it feel like a light and zippy road bike? Or does it handle kind of more like a light tourer? (I remember someone saying this about the roadini, for instance...) I know that these categories are contentious, but I'm just wondering if the Charlie would scratch the light road bike itch, or whether something like a Crust lightning bolt might do that better.

Thanks in advance for any other reflections that you or others might have, and I'm glad that the bike has worked out! 

Tom in Sydney

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[Stephen Edmondson]

Hey Stephen, thanks for reaching out!

I'll send an email off-list to introduce you to the Riv group here in DFW.

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[Stephen Edmondson]

Tom,

The wheelbase on the 61 Gallop is something like 49" or 1,244mm. In comparison the largest Lightning Bolt is about 7" or 200mm shorter! 

The size adds a little bit of weight and slows down the handling a bit. The dropped top tube also adds some flex (that I suspect adds to the comfort). You can see it here: https://theradavist.com/video-rivendell-the-string-test-for-bike-flex

I've not ridden a Lightning Bolt, but I have done back to back rides with a friends' Bombora. They couldn't have felt more different, but it's hard to say if that was the 1x drivetrain, disc brakes and indexed shifter vs the actual geo/handling.

The Gallop never feels heavy but it's also not a super stiff and quick steering bike. Touring is probably a good word, although I love going fast on the thing. It is fantastic for long rides. I regularly am doing 40+ miles and it just asks for more.

-Stephen in Dallas

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[Tom Powell Davies]

Dear Stephen,

Thank you so much for this reply, it is very helpful! I really appreciate your (and Leah's) comments on Charlie's ride qualities. I wish I could pop over from Australia for a test ride!

With thanks again,

Tom

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