My 25th Anniversary Rivendell

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

It's everything I want a Rivendell to be. What better way to celebrate RBW's 25th anniversary year than to tweak a classic All Rounder into something special. This is my Goodrich-built 2000 AR. Joe Bell paint holding up nicely. Many of the parts were re-purposed from other Rivendell models: the wheels and brakes came from an Atlantis. The front rack from a Hunqapillar. I had the stem/Albatros bars on a Quickbeam. I used the saddle on a Bombadil. All those donors moved on. This one found it's forever home. The Pletscher rack hack makes me happy. Spring trap removed. Nitto struts added and bolted to the brake bridge. Something about the curved front and low profile feels right to me. Yes, the Big Bens fit by a couple mm. Other odd parts include an All City ring guard - too big for the middle 36t ring, but it allows the use of the older XT up front. Inner ring is a TA 20t on the 56mm BCD location. Ergo grips turned up feel great and allow the bar end wires to pass nicely, secured by a zip tie. You can see all the other stuff for yourself. 

Everyone has a perfect 25th anniversary model in their head. This is mine.

[Deacon Patrick]

Brilliant, Marty! Absolutely brilliant! I love that rear rack. Suave.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Anthony Childs]

Wow! That’s nice! I love that! 

Anthony Childs

On May 28, 2019, at 4:57 AM, Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA <martin...@gmail.com> wrote:

It's everything I want a Rivendell to be. What better way to celebrate RBW's 25th anniversary year than to tweak a classic All Rounder into something special. This is my Goodrich-built 2000 AR. Joe Bell paint holding up nicely. Many of the parts were re-purposed from other Rivendell models: the wheels and brakes came from an Atlantis. The front rack from a Hunqapillar. I had the stem/Albatros bars on a Quickbeam. I used the saddle on a Bombadil. All those donors moved on. This one found it's forever home. The Pletscher rack hack makes me happy. Spring trap removed. Nitto struts added and bolted to the brake bridge. Something about the curved front and low profile feels right to me. Yes, the Big Bens fit by a couple mm. Other odd parts include an All City ring guard - too big for the middle 36t ring, but it allows the use of the older XT up front. Inner ring is a TA 20t on the 56mm BCD location. Ergo grips turned up feel great and allow the bar end wires to pass nicely, secured by a zip tie. You can see all the other stuff for yourself. 

Everyone has a perfect 25th anniversary model in their head. This is mine.

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[John Hawrylak]

Marty

Very nice, especially the rear rack.  Can you explain what you did to the rack other than remove the spring trap.   I see you bolted the curved end into the brake bridge.  What about the stays?

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[RichS]

Very worthy of an RBW 25th anniversary model.
Nicely done!

Best,
Rich in ATL

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

For the rear rack, I drilled out the riveted stays on the Pletscher, enlarged the holes a touch, and the Nitto stay bolt thingies made the job easy. I also drilled a hole in the middle of the bracket at the bridge. The frame has a flat there, so no need for a concave bridge washer. The rack is very light, no good for panniers or a heavy load, but would work great as a bag support or a modest rack top bag. You can also see I had to raise the brake saddle to clear the rack, but it was no problem as I had an orphan Moon Unit.

[John Hawrylak]

Marty

Did you use the Pletscher stays with the Nitto stay bolts or did you use Nitto stays?  Can you provide a close picture of the rack and the stays?  Really a nice concept and execution.

I have 3 old Pletscher racks and would love to try this on one of them.  What model did you modify?

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

A little more on the rack. It’s a Modell C (Pletscher spells it that way) and I could not reuse the original struts as they were not long enough, and a little oversize for the Nitto strut bolts. I bought a pair of long struts and cut them down once I had it level. Width is perfect for the dropout eyelets. Brake bridge height on any given frame may or may not work with your tire size and keeping things level. I can take more pics next weekend, but I’ll try to attach one here.

Marty

[John Hawrylak]

Marty

Thanks for the additional information.  Any advice on removing the mousetrap without destroying the rack?

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

As I recall I used a bolt cutter on the springs and it basically flew apart. Might want to wear eye protection. No damage to the rack once the spring tension is released. I may file down that little dip in the frame for more tire clearance, but it clears now so I’ll probably forget to do that. Might use smaller tires in the future, in which case its no issue.

[Pondero]

Bravo! Excellent materials, sound thinking, beautiful outcome!

Chris Johnson
Sanger, Texas

[in Dallas nick]

My kind of build!

It looks super!

I really like that shade of green.

Paul in Dallas

[Peter H]

Beautiful!!! Enjoy!

[John Hawrylak]

Marty

I looked at my Modell C and RS racks and see if you just cut the spring the whole trap comes off.  I test fitted the RS on my 1988 Schwinn Voyaguer and it seems mouse trap does not interfere with the SKS P45 fenders I have (700x32 tires).   The height of the brake bridge sets the rack height, assuming a level rack and stays cut to make rack level.

Just wondering if the mousetrap interfered with your tires or if you just wanted it off for weight????

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ 

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

The trap interfered with my tires so it had to go, but honestly I wanted a cleaner look to begin with. I suppose it is lighter now, but in this case aesthetics was the driver. Think of it as a Swiss taillight bracket.