"A Steamy Lug Affair" by Grant Petersen

[Eric Marth]

Hi everyone — I was going through some of my many stacks of Riv ephemera and found this short article written by Grant and published in the August, 1999 issue of Bicycling magazine. 

Enjoy! 

[John Rinker]

That was a fun read. Thanks, Eric! I totally align with the idea that making functional things beautiful can make the experience of using them so much more pleasurable. 

Cheers, John

[Ted W]

That's a really nice piece and he's right about all of it. I have two hobbies, bicycles and woodworking. In both cases, my eye is drawn to those "inefficient" details and it's what I love most about both of them.

With bicycles, it's the consistency of a fillet braze from someone who has spent decades honing their craft. It's the lugged frames with their sharp points, transitions and painted outlines and accents that tell the story of someone who actually laid their hands on the frame during its production and cared about the aesthetics of the outcome, even in areas where most people may not even look, such as under the top tube or bottom brackets. Or, in the case of custom bikes, the choice of tubing and how its diameter and thickness were taken into account with the rider's size, weight and preferred riding style to make a bike that becomes more an extension of the body rather than a vehicle atop which the body sits and controls.

With woodworking, you can see this same beauty in the "imperfections" and small details in a piece of furniture. The surface marks left by a hand plane, a rasp or a mallet can not be reproduced by a "perfect" machine and you know someone spent time and poured sweat into the production of the piece, using their eye as the guide instead of a formula. You can see it in a dovetail that has a tiny gap which exposes that no automated machine cut the pins and tails. It can be found in how the grain of multiple boards in a glue-up are aligned or alternating to make a pleasing pattern or fluid pattern.

In both of these areas, beauty extends beyond the immediately visible and into the experience; exposed over time through working on, riding and using the end product. These are all indications that somebody took pride in their work and that they weren't just trying to increase margins with mechanized efficiency but actually care not just about the object being made but about the experience of those who will continue to use it for years and decades in the future.

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Ted Wood < ted.l...@gmail.com >

[Ted Durant]

Grant wrote, "I think we're at the point in bicycle history where lugged frames will either undergo a renaissance or face extinction..."

It's nice to be on the other side of almost 25 years later and see which way it went!

Ted Durant

Milwaukee, WI USA

[John Dewey]

Renaissance it was 💥🙏🚴👍

NAHBS—and others—to the rescue. Thankfully gratefully. 

Jock

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[aeroperf]

I keep thinking it might be easier now (2023) to do a lugged frame than it was 10 years ago because…
You can design the frame with a CAD program, design the lugs with the same program, and print the lugs using a 3-D printer.  If you don’t print the steel lugs themselves, you can use the 3-D printer to print a wax lug, which you can then cast in steel.
Suddenly, everything fits.  The lug fits the geometry of the tubing.  If you make a bigger or smaller frame, it won’t be “we only have lugs for a 55Cm, but this is a 60Cm”, because the printer can just print the correct lug.

Having spent 45 years working in aviation, I know that the skills required  to weld/braze thin walled steel tubing are every bit as demanding as brazing on a lug.  And the CAD tools today are outstanding.

[Ted W]

Funny you should mention this I have a couple different 3D printers, one that prints in resin which is perfect for making positive molds for stuff like this because the end product has very fine layer lines, and i was thinking about how I would design my own lugs… I think you just gave me some ideas!

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[Richard Rose]

Two observations from reading the article. 1. The lugged bike renaissance happened and is ongoing. 2. Neither of my two Rivendell’s are lugged. Well, the Clem has the seat cluster…

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 5, 2023, at 5:05 PM, Ted W <ted.l...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[RichS]

I'm still in love with the lugs on my 2013 Hillborne:-))) Hard to believe these are on a production frame. Thank you Grant!

Best,

Rich in ATL

[RichS]

Eric, I forgot. Thank you too for posting the article!

-Rich

[J J]

This is a great piece, thanks, Eric! 

Does anyone know which was the first production Riv that was *not* fully lugged? 

Thanks again! 

Jim

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[Dorothy C]

Probably the 2017 first run of the Roadini. I bought a grey one which has since been gifted to my sister, I have two orange ones now, a 650b/47cm, and a 700c/50cm

[Eric Marth]

I'm happy to share, glad everyone who responded has enjoyed! Always fun to turn up a little Rivendell/Grant tidbit "in the wild." 

[Ryan]

Did clems precede roadinis?

[Joe Bernard]

Yes, Clem was 2015. The bike that told Riv they could sell TIG'd - and later, fillet - frames and people would still love them.