Big City People with Clems: Your Opinions Wanted

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

My sister lives in NYC. She has a 52 cm Clem L and her husband has a 59 cm Clem L. They just bought a lovely apartment and it has a luxurious bike room, complete with Saris racks to hold everyone’s bikes. This is the model of rack in the bike room, seen here on Saris’ website: https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/8-bike-rack-double-decker-72-w-x-63-d

She just moved the bikes in today, and when she went to park them, they are, you guessed it, way too long. They do not fit in the beautiful, provided Saris rack; the rear wheels stick out into the aisle. 

The only thing we can think to do is get some Voile straps (she ordered some today) and try to rig them up so they don’t tip over. They owned these Clems while living in a different city, and space was not at a premium there. She said had she known they would live in NYC she would have given her Clems to our brother and his wife and started over with a shorter Rivendell model for NYC. 

I hate to see her have to do that, though I agree it is maybe the best option. But I was thinking, I KNOW there are a lot of Riv owners in NYC and other populous cities in the US. Who owns Clems and how are you managing them in the city? They don’t fit on buses or Amtrak. They probably don’t play well in your building’s bike racks. How do you live with your big long Clems? What are your secrets? 

I have thought of offering her my mermaid Platypus. The wheelbase of a 52 Clem is, I think, 52 inches. And the 55 Platy is, I think, 47.5 inches. That is just so much more manageable. If her husband got a Platy (he loves a mixte so he doesn’t rip his suit pants swinging a leg over), it’d have to be the 60, and I don’t know how long that one is. We might run into the same issue if the 60 Platy is much longer than the 55…

Thanks in advance,

Leah

[Franco Rinaldi]

I have a Clem and live in the city! I’ve had it on Amtrak and the subway a few times. I don’t live in a high rise so I’m fortunate in that regard. But it’s mostly a townie bike. Or or goes on a car to somewhere I’m riding from.

Franco Rinaldi 

c:  646.403.0661 

-Pardon any typos, Siri typed this message-

On Apr 17, 2025, at 8:23 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

My sister lives in NYC. She has a 52 cm Clem L and her husband has a 59 cm Clem L. They just bought a lovely apartment and it has a luxurious bike room, complete with Saris racks to hold everyone’s bikes. This is the model of rack in the bike room, seen here on Saris’ website: https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/8-bike-rack-double-decker-72-w-x-63-d

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[alan lavine]

Hi All,

I live on the UWS of Manhattan and had a Clem several years ago. I found the size unmanageable....it would barely fit in the elevator (for awhile I kept it in the apt). It was just too much bike to ride in the city, at least for me. Most bike rooms will allow you to park the bikes in a corner somewhere with a lock if it doesn't fit in the rack. Like tandems or recumbents.

If you're riding in the city for transportation, I strongly recommend an older frame converted to single speed. Not a theft magnet and its just really cool! Currently, I use a 1996 Trek 830 mountain  track hardtail and a late 70's fully chromed Schwinne Voyager, both SS conversions.  My other geared bikes are for "OTB" rides...over the bridge into Jersey for longer rides.

Best,

Alan

[Leah Peterson]

Alan, this is what I suspected - the Clem being unmanageable. Do I remember correctly that Clems were originally made to be city lock-up bikes? And then morphed into Hillibikes? Maybe this is why - people found them too much bike for big cities…

On Apr 18, 2025, at 7:34 AM, alan lavine <ciga...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All,

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[Johnny Alien]

As with all RIvendells the wheelbase slowly got longer as time went on. They were originally designed to be like 90's mountain bikes. The hillybike name came around with the Susie model. I am not sure how much shorter the original Clem wheelbase was but its noticeable if you put them next to each other

[Coal Bee Rye Anne]

Although I am not a big city dweller I am faced with similar size constraints with my big 65cm Clem and a small 2bedroom condo with shared basement storage.  The Clem is great for the open road/trails and my local riding but too big to bring anywhere by car and cumbersome to get in/out of the apartment and/or basement storage.  Fortunately, I get to just park it via kickstand on the open basement floor alongside my other large bikes in the locked basement with enough space to wheel it around but still need to navigate the turn through the door and stairs, which is doable but noticeably more challenging than my smaller frames.

Any chance they could rotate the bars 180deg to turn the wheel/fork and shorten the wheelbase for parking?  Likely depends on fender/rack/bar/cables whether this is possible but maybe just enough to better fit the racks?

I do recall the Clems being intended as less precious lock up Rivs but still think the design was more reflective of their local trails and somewhat of an interpretation on Grants solution or substitute to old MTB conversions with Riv sourced parts rather than ‘city’ bikes.

That was part of my initial interest in the Clem… a large and properly fitting replacement to my old rigid mtb I kept trying to update and sinking funds into parts.  Rather than replacing it, it supplemented it and I still keep the smaller 90’s mtb around and is my bring anywhere bike being easier to transport.

Hope it all works out!

Brian

Lawrence NJ

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[Maeve Gately]

I am in NYC and thinking about getting a Riv--probably a Homer, Apa or Roadini. Any other city owners have these and find them manageable? I have a four floor walkup with narrow stairs so that's my main concern

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[Leah Peterson]

An Appaloosa is pretty stout…might be a lot to lug up those stairs…

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 18, 2025, at 9:10 AM, Maeve Gately <maeve....@gmail.com> wrote:

I am in NYC and thinking about getting a Riv--probably a Homer, Apa or Roadini. Any other city owners have these and find them manageable? I have a four floor walkup with narrow stairs so that's my main concern

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[Paul S]

I live in a 4th floor walkup in NYC and a Clem would just not be workable.  I actually own a 59 Clem L that lives with family out on the west coast where it makes more sense, but getting those long chainstays around the corners on the stairs each day would be a real pain.  If I had a bike room/basement/low floor apartment I think the Clem would work great in the city and would love to ride it here.

I currently ride a 58 Hunq for about half my commutes and a ~60 cm steel 650b conversion for the rest. The extra length and weight of the Hunq is noticeable going up my stairs, but is manageable. I think if I had to pick a modern (upright) Riv for my specific commuting circumstances, it would be a 60 Platy, which would hopefully be short enough to be manageable.

Paul

BK, NYC

[Ryan]

Ha Ha...I hear you

I live on the top floor of a duplex.

I have a garage where I lock up my X0-1 and PX-10 SS

The Rivendells live in my suite, since garages, even in my relatively safe neighbrhood in Winnipeg, have been broken into

These two bikes are OK to schlep up and down my stairs which are not super-wide

My mixte, however, is a bit of a bugger

[Dorothy C]

Leah, my son’s limeolive 55cm Platy is the same year as your mermaid, and I measured it from tire edge to tire edge front to back at 6ft 4 in without tilting the handlebars, with Soma Shikoro 48mm tires on Atlas rims. I doubt your mermaid one is any shorter than a 52cm Clem, especially if your sister has one from a while ago. I was measuring to give my sister an idea if the one she is hoping to buy this summer will fit in her bike shed. 

[Joe Bernard]

I think Grant/Riv designs bikes for the roads/trails they intend them to be ridden on and don't worry too much about parking/storage. Which isn't a criticism, it's just something folks need to take into account when looking at a longbike. Like a recumbent (been there), those things ain't gonna fit some places. 

Joe "I'll bet I can make it fit. Nope!" Bernard 

Clearlake CA 

[Ryan]

Wow! The size of a short NBA player :)

[Brian Campbell]

I would guess a Roadini would be a good choice for city dwelling, where space was at a premium. I think a Roadini can fit a 38mm tire, with a fender, if you wanted to use the bike for transportation in the city. 

I have ridden all over Philadelphia and the surrounding counties on 35mm & 38mm tires and given that most of the area is paved, you are in usually in good shape, tire wise.

Maybe sell the Clem's and get Roadini's? Its always easy to spend someone else's' money on more Rivendells!

[Kim H.]

FYI... My 52cm Clem measures 75 inches long, from end to end of the outside of the wheels. It is my surfboard.

Kim Hetzel.

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

GASP! That gorgeous mixte!!!!!!!! When was it made? It looks like a custom Platypus!

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Dorothy, I had both a 52 Clem L and a 55 Platy and the Platy is much shorter. Clem WB was 5” longer than the already-long Platy!

[Mike Rossi]

I was going to say “Ryan’s living the dream”, until I noticed all those flat tires. Beautiful bike(s), nonetheless.

Mike

On Apr 18, 2025, at 3:07 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

GASP! That gorgeous mixte!!!!!!!! When was it made? It looks like a custom Platypus!

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[Ryan]

It is a custom mixte...more Glorius-inspired. I ordered it from Grant on December 31 2015 as my retirement bike. Frame by Mark Nobilette, painted by Joe Bell wheels by Rich Lesnick, assembled by Mark Abele and kind co-curated by with their recommendations.Since I was still working, I want hard on part-speccing ...and thus did not spare the horses.  Not as glamorous as your bikes, Leah or other builds I see and admire...but totally in line with my personal aesthetic. I finally got it in early 2017. From time to time it cropped up in Grant's Blahg at various stages of the build.

Have not fully dialled it in...love the look of the bars, but they took getting used to (moustache-bar, dropped bar usually) and I feel like I could use more setback, so I have a luuged seatpost that I intend to instal

[Ryan]

Mike...busted! From a prior season and I shouldn't the storing bike like that on those flat tires...would be better if I replaced the tube and actually hung the bike up like a civilized person would do. 

TBH though I am under no financial pressure to sell, I know that probably the right thing to do is release this collection out into the wild because they really aren't being ridden enough. I don't delude myself that I'll make the big bucks selling them and finding a good home for them should be the point. But emotionally, I'm not quite ready to let  them go yet.Hoarding? Selfishness? Nostalgia?(my late partner built up the 1st 2 and I have a more substantail riding history with those) ? It's complicated. 

 Dear Reader, judge me as you will. Just don't be too hard on me :)

[Drew Fitchette]

Ryan - those bikes are beauties! Love the color contrast between the 3. That shiny green in particular is stunning. 

Hope to see more photos of them when they’re out and in use!