I have not personally owned an all-rounder. But in general interest of bike development and history. It seemed that the design lineage came loosely from elements of the randonneur bikes (roadish geometry with 650b wider tires) Grant - being a thoughtful individual, adopted the design to contemporary parts availability which created the XO-1, which utilized slightly wider 26" tires. With Bridgestone being less interested in developing niche bikes grant started Rivendell. The All-rounder was a quick adaptation to a more boutique style small company version with revisions as Grant's perspective on bikes changed. If I recall there was also the mountain bike (I cant recall the name) and a road frame? EItherway - the All-rounder morphed into the Atlantis (another reference to Bridgestone touring bikes) The Atlantis, again following trends in terms of wheelsize and clearance became (ie fitting 29er sized tires etc) which has had it's own evolution in itself.
Grant see's his bikes within his interest of market. I think the early Atlantis style bikes influenced a whole generation of conteporary bikes. Crust Romanceur (which has been cited as based off the atlantis with discs and lower trail) Guerilla Monsoon, Midnight Special. ANd pretty much every other company to follow. In terms of a tighter geometry (road) geometry bike that fits relatively large wheels, there are now a ton of options. Which is fantastic. I really like my romanceur. It feels spritely as any road bike but easily handles more conditions. Rivendell in itself has de-performanced their contemporary designs (from racing standpoint) and pushed geometry to be more adventure, comfort, and stamina based oriented. Having several injuries and not being able to maintain an aggressive riding position and extremely excited to build up a CLEM L for camping/touring bike. I'll keep the romanceur for shorter more "spirited rides" as Jan Heine would say. In terms of preference. I think the all-rounder (x0-1) Toyo Atlantis's have a special place especially in paving the way for contemporary performance bike design. Aesthetically and performance wise. In terms of actual design - there are so many options, as we kind of live in a renaissance of bicycle design where we have so many options at reasonable costs. I for one am excited for what RIvendell is pushing these days (long slack sturdy), as I feel like you can find something reminiscent of the All-rounders elsewhere (even the crust lightning bolt). Or even just get a custom made for probably a similarly proportional price from an artisanal builder with many wonderful tube-sets available to choose from. On Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 8:36:41 AM UTC-6 Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA wrote: > I had a 2001 All Rounder for a while. Lovely bike. Fit me well. Checked > all the boxes - looks, quality, fully lugged, Rivendell branding, known > builder (Kurt Goodrich in this case). Maybe I should have kept it, but when > I came across a Clem H in my size - at a third the price I could get for > the AR frameset - I elected to turn the page. Glad I did. The Clem is > everything an All Rounder should be. Stout, stable, versatile, comfortable. > The list goes on. Comparing the two is not easy - they both felt fine for > my riding style. If I had both I dare say the Clem would be out on the > trail way more than the AR. Aside from the Rivendell branding on the AR, I > like the aesthetics of both about the same, although the swooping seat > stays on Clem are kind of interesting - a little Hetchins-like. The Clem > will take bigger tires with fenders if that matters. As a bike, I think > it's hard to beat what Riv sells now. Most are All Rounders in all the ways > that matter. I'll admit I am not a fan of step-through style frames in > general (I had a huge Roscoe Bubbe) or curved/dropped/swooping top tubes. > The Clem H TT is not horizontal, but at least it's straight. Simply a > function of my age I think. If I found another AR that fit, and I had the > $$$, I might be tempted, but I'm not really looking (or hoping) for one to > pop up. Here's my AR and the Clem H that replaced it. The Clem is getting > new tires this week, and has been tweaked in a few other ways. I'll post > some more pics of that shortly. > > Marty > > [image: 47949931546_9757e0f6b5_k.jpeg] > [image: PXL_20210925_162632253.jpeg] > > On Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 9:50:18 AM UTC-4 Sean Steinle wrote: > >> I apologize if this has already been discussed, but I honestly can't find >> much about the All Rounder, in the way of ride reports, reviews, etc. It >> seems to be a Holy Grail bike for several, and I'm curious, is it simply >> the fact that they're rare and hard to find now, or is there truly >> something special about it? >> >> I remember Grant talking about the old Bridgestones in an article I came >> across, and his sentiment was essentially 'They're fine bikes, but they >> don't stack up against Rivs'. At least part of his reasoning was that he'd >> continued to refine with Rivendell, and the improvements were drastic >> enough that he felt the Rivs were in a different league. This makes me >> wonder if Grant would have a similar feeling about the All Rounder. I'd >> love to hear from those who own/have owned one. What's the verdict, is it >> truly one of the best Rivs out there? Worth the price of admission if one >> is lucky enough to find one in their size? >> >> Thanks for humoring me :) >> Sean in Kansas >> > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/26bc02df-c4f7-47ba-a50d-a90cfc1f7c29n%40googlegroups.com.
