My turn to chime in. I just couldn't go out in the mid-September humidity and ride this afternoon so I'll write here instead. I will first say that yesterday when my 8 year old saw it he said "WOW, cool!!!"
I also think it's very cool, and if I hadn't just got a new Atlantis this year it would be something to consider for a burly commuter and occasional off-roader. I'm in Indianapolis and there are very few hills here, but nevertheless I've built and ridden many similar-style vintage MTBs from the 80s as light trail bikes, touring bikes, commuters, etc. And I've built three for friends just in the last two years and got them riding bikes again. So I totally agree that there is a reason to build a sturdy MTB-like bike for the 90% of us who ride mellow off road (or in areas of the country without major trails) and might also just like the sturdy cruiser style. This could be a killer commuter. I'm not in the market for this bike right now mostly for budget reasons (I have six working bikes, none of which I want to part with) but also because I recently built something sorta similar to use when I do make it to trails. I have a 2016/17? Raleigh Pardner that I got off the ibob list last year. It's a simple, steel framed, 4-inch fat bike with low-level Shimano. I solved the low head tube problem with a surly fork (uncut) and some riser bars. It doesn't have the long chain stays, but it does have a slack geometry and a long wheelbase relative to its size. Not the same bike at all, but another simple bike with big tires that can handle everything my 47 year old body can do. The only problem I have with this bike is keeping the disc brakes working and not constantly dragging the pads! The Boots would be a much smoother and cooler version I'm sure. I just saying that I totally understand the concept and I think that, in a very Grant/Riv way, lots of other riders will dig this concept too if they gave it a shot. I understand the worry about parts (and I've had to work a bit to build the rim brake bikes I own lately), but other than rims, I can't imagine anything is a real worry. And there are plenty of 650b touring bikes out there that will need sturdy rims in the future, rims that will work well with this bike. I put 5, 10, and 30 year old parts on my new Atlantis this summer along with a new 1x10 setup. So much fun to mix and match. Lastly, I'd also like to point out that Grant's post and pics are crazy in today's modern marketing and Insta environment. That particular bike is huge and the set up is just plain ugly, especially the black bits and bars (obviously needs a Bull Moose or the new wavie?). No other company would ever allow a new bike to be released this way, especially one this innovative and experimental. I personally love Riv for this, but if it was carefully built with all the coolest stuff and posed and shot by a pro (no offense to the photographers at Riv!) I think there would be less hand-ringing over it's aesthetics. Just saying. Ride on! Brynnar -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
