Has anyone ridden the Platypus demo bike that can offer an opinion?

[Roberta]

Not that I need another bike (I have Joe Appaloosa for home and A. Homer Hilsen for office rides), but I'd love to get a mixte for my retirement bike, which is actually years away.  But I love the look of the Platypus with its glorious sweeping lines, so am considering it now.  Especially if it comes in RWB blue!

We all know how popular bikes are getting and how quickly Rivendell pre-sells its frames.    So, I (and I'm sure many of you) are considering jumping on the pre-sale website for the Platypus as soon as it's up.  That means I (we) need to do research now.

Has anyone taken the sample bike on a long enough ride to describe the feel?  Did you find it stiff (I found the Cheviot stiff compared to the other Riv's) or lively (my AHH is lively) or solid, dependable and dreamy (my Joe A and the Atlantis).  Or, something else?  Or, did a miss a discussion on this already (I've been working a lot)?

Yours in knowledge-seeking and enabling,

Roberta

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I really am interested in whatever we can know about this bike. Riv has been slow to release info on the Platypus, probably because they are so backed up getting the Guses/Susies and Clems shipped to their owners and because they have reduced hours since COVID. I’m hopeful they will release info soon though; they did post a photo of an unpainted Platypus that they said would arrive painted at HQ towards the end of August.

2020 has been a slog. I’d like some good news and something to be happy about. I hope it comes in the form of a new bike. A Platypus bike.

Leah

[Hetchins52]

Will wrote about a sample Cheviot frame in his April 23rd weekly update: 

"Here's one of those sample frames. It's an updated version of the Cheviot, although Grant is considering having a new name and new decals for it.
The forks came without v-brake studs (I'm not calling them canti-posts anymore), so forgive the mis-matched brakes. This 55cm frame rides like a dream... it feels bigger in a good way compared to the old 55cm, which I attribute to the 700c wheels, slightly slacker headtube angle and longer top tube. I think it's mostly the wheels. The v-brakes are the big change, but there's other small things that most people might not notice. We'll have more details later."

He posted this picture:

David Lipsky

On Friday, September 4, 2020 at 9:32:34 AM UTC-7, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:

.... I’m hopeful they will release info soon though; they did post a photo of an unpainted Platypus that they said would arrive painted at HQ towards the end of August.

[Roberta]

Thank you, David!!!  I had been looking for that write up and pic, but had been searching under “platypus.”  

That’s a mighty fine color, too.  I think they were considering orange, green, and this silver but no final decisions yet. 

I guess with the lockdown, there hasn’t been many visitors to test ride. 

[Jason Fuller]

I have absolutely no experience or insight to offer that you don't already have, but I do have a strong feeling this bike will land squarely between the personalities you describe of your Joe and Homer - which is probably a good thing right, since then it won't render either one redundant?  

There is a practical side of me that always screams when I look at buying a bike I don't strictly need but then I remind myself of the joy-to-cost ratio that bikes provide me, and that even a fancy bike is cheap compared to a car.  Which is cheap compared to a boat. Which is cheap compared to a plane. I vote buy, and sort out the specifics later.  

[Joe Bernard]

Jason, I always apply a great deal of logic to my bike purchases and recently got a custom and Bombadil so I have no need for a Platypus. But it's a Riv and might come in a color I like and Leah is getting one and maybe Roberta so I probably will, too. Logic! 😬

Joe "it's pretty, I'll take it" Bernard 

[Jason Fuller]

Joe, I was clearly not talking about you:  you need this like a hole in the head.  :D :D :D 

[masmojo]

Well, Yes I am guessing that most of us read that, but I am not sure how updated info on the new Cheviot pushes the Platypus discussion along?

Of course it goes back to a question of mine from several months ago: "were the Platypus and the new Cheviot actually two different bikes?" Some people said no, but it certainly seems to me that they are distinct!?

Not that it matters too much I am waiting for the Platypus in whatever for it ends up being.  A 55cm in Rosco Red please!!!!

On Friday, September 4, 2020 at 3:24:19 PM UTC-5, Hetchins52 wrote:

Will wrote about a sample Cheviot frame in his April 23rd weekly update: 

"Here's one of those sample frames. It's an updated version of the Cheviot, although Grant is considering having a new name and new decals for it.
The forks came without v-brake studs (I'm not calling them canti-posts anymore), so forgive the mis-matched brakes. This 55cm frame rides like a dream... it feels bigger in a good way compared to the old 55cm, which I attribute to the 700c wheels, slightly slacker headtube angle and longer top tube. I think it's mostly the wheels. The v-brakes are the big change, but there's other small things that most people might not notice. We'll have more details later."

He posted this picture: