Lol, Ben, a Stephanie followed me on IG after I wrote the post so I figured she’d seen it! That Platy is going to be SO roadish! What Roadini?! Leah: I leaned upon your many posts about doing club rides over the years on your lovely Platy to be confident in telling Stephanie that it is plenty roadish! And I shared your post here with her, so thank you! :) As for bike aesthetics being shallow, no way! After safety, having a bike that looks like the bike *you* want to ride is the most important aspect! Haha
Nick: Congrats on getting your wife a Peri-Platy as well. And bonus points for combining it with another of my favorite pasttimes: fishing! I have an image now of you, phone in one hand and net in the other, helping land both a bike for your wife and a fish for your son! According to the Riv site, the 50cm (and 55) Platy completes comes with an 90 mm Tallux stem (60 comes with a 100mm).
On Monday, June 30, 2025 at 10:57:17 AM UTC-7 Nick Shoemaker wrote:
Received our order confirmation email at 3:00PM (eastern) for my wife's 50cm Peri-Platy frame! Submitted the order while boating my son around an island to fish. Tiller in one hand, not nearly bright enough iPhone in the other, but I managed to get it done without crashing the boat or dropping my phone....super excited for the household's 3rd Riv - and by far the prettiest one yet!
Side note: anyone know what stem length comes on the 50cm completes with Albatross bars? I'm thinking 80mm given that she's near the bottom of the PBH range for the frame, but I don't want it to be too cramped, especially with bar-end shifters.
On Monday, June 30, 2025 at 9:03:28 AM UTC-4 Dorothy C wrote:
I snagged a 55cm periwinkle frame for my sister. I am in CA and have multiple Rivs, including a Sergio Green 50 cm Platy, and my sister is in the UK in North Wales, and this is her retirement gift to herself. We have already been planning this for the past two months, I took the rest of the parts to her when I visited recently. I built her a set of 700c Velocity Atlas wheels with Riv hubs and Sapim Race spokes, she is using a Chocobar with Silver 2 thumbies , and gearing is a Silver 3 wide low crank with 9 speed cassette, and she has Soma Shikoro 48mm tires. I included a Nitto 32 r rack and Wald Racer basket and Voile straps as a gift. She wants to use it as a “pootling around” bike. She already has a 2017 grey Roadini with drops.
I placed the order as I knew my internet signal would be faster from here. I had entered her address as a saved shipping address on my Riv account yesterday. My order placed within a minute of the sale going live.
On Monday, June 30, 2025 at 5:48:07 AM UTC-7 Johnny Alien wrote:
The completes are probably the best "complete" package they have offered. And that's coming from someone that vastly prefers to build up their own. I honestly think thats how I would have gone if I were in the market because its a better deal overall
On Sunday, June 29, 2025 at 10:13:50 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
Oh, wow! I neglected to pay attention to the completes! I only followed the frames, just totally forgot there were two options. Ok! There are still lime olives to be had in all 3 sizes! This is great news.
Ben, I’m so tickled that Stephanie got a periwinkle Platypus! I cannot believe how close you cut it, but YAY. Tell Stephanie that the Platy is plenty roadish. I rode my OG Platy in club rides for 3 seasons and only just got a Charlie Gallop to ride them instead. And it was purely WANT, not need. My Platy was fast and easy. It’s been good for everything, really. And I know it’s shallow, but a bike whose color you love is just even more of a pleasure to ride, and that Platypus is my 2nd favorite color, next to my raspberry metallic.
Enjoy!
So, 2 weeks ago, my wife Stephanie told me she wanted to join the Riv family. She has three bikes currently: a Kona Sutra road bike, a Crust Bombora gravel bike, and a All City Gorilla Monsoon rigid MTB. When I met her, she just had the Kona and I was impressed with her refined taste of a steel bike with larger-that-average tires for a road bike. My stories of gravel biking piqued her interest and she wanted to try that out, but it was still at the tail end of the pandemic bike shortage and options were limited, but found the AC Gorilla Monsoon for a good deal. She never really clicked with the AC GM though, and shortly after announced she was lusting after a Crust Bombora (the bike nerd in me could not have been happier, was that when I knew she was the one for me? Mayhaps). She mostly rides the Bombora these days and wants to sell the AC GM. I recently swapped out the narrow handlebars on the Kona, but the tires are maxed out at 32mm which is fine but not ideal. So, the idea was to get a Riv road-ish oriented bike to compliment the Kona and replace the AC GM.
Of course the idea of her looking at Rivs had me gears turning. I love my Roadeo and Rambouillet, so I was definitely thinking maybe looking around for a used Ram or trying to figure out how to get a new Roadini. But the Roadini? Neither of us love the current colors (they're okay, but Stephanie was deadset against the lime - silver was just OK). Okay, maybe a Charlie Gallop? That blue she liked. But those just went out a few months ago... might be a wait til the next batch?? What I was not thinking of was the Platypus. But then I saw Will's email and no man, that periwinkle looks nice. Before I even mentioned it to her, she was looking at it herself. "Oh wow Ben, that purple Riv is so good looking!" But she had reservations. I had no wittingly influenced her with my own preconceived notions of bike design! "I thought you said I should get a Roadini? I want a road bike and this doesn't look like one. It's very pretty, but is it the right bike for me?" So, I back peddled and tried to undue my own sloppy work. Yes, I think the Platypus would do the things you want it to do. But, the right bike is something only you can decide. This was Friday evening (2 days ago) and we left it at that: she thought it looked beautiful but wasn't sure if it was right for her.
So then today rolled around. Yesterday we went to the wonderful spectacle of Dolores Park in SF during Pride Weekend, which was simultaneously great and overwhelming, so no bikes were ridden. Today was still fairly nice in SF (yesterday was great weather, after a week of blastingly cold fog), so we planned on riding in the afternoon. As I was getting my bike of choice ready for the ride: I checked my phone and saw yesterday's "presale starts noon Sunday" email. That's now! Or, correction that was an hour and a half ago! Quick check of the Riv site: all frame in all sizes are gone! Of course! Platys are the most popular current frame :) I go upstairs and Stephanie must have been on the same wavelength, cause she says: "Oh, we missed the pre-sale. They're all gone :( That purple is so pretty." I mention that yeah, not surpirsed they sold out so quick and she razzs me a bit saying that I must not love her because I didn't set a reminder about the presale time :p We both fiddle with our phones, I check the Riv website again and lo! there is still 55cm Periwinkles COMPLETES! Now sure, a bare frame is ideal, but a Riv complete is still super fun place to start off. Quick rapid fire conversation ensues: "Are you sure this is the right bike for me? What about the Roadini?" There are concerns about the swept back bars and the step-thru frame. But oh man, its a beautiful bike. Anyways, I'm pretty sure that Stephanie bought the last 55 periwinkle Platypus, because will she was doing it I nearly bought it for her, but it had already changed to "sold out!"
I'm real excited that she's joining the Riv family and we both agree the Periwinkle Platy is the most beautiful. She still has concerns about the Albatross bars, but I'm excited for her to try them out (full disclosure: swept back bars have never lasted long on my bikes, but maybe she'll like them???) Always fun to have another Riv in the garage, and can wait to have a vicarious new-bike-day thru her and her Platy. We'll get to trek out to the Rivendell World HQ to pick it up in person, which will most definitely be fun. And of course looking to the adventures I will get to share with her and her Platy :)
Hope everyone else who wanted a Platypus was able to get one today!
Wow!!! That’s amazing. Good on all those who scored one!
Lucia Lucia Matioli Sr Creative Consultant
At 3:05 there is one lime olive 50 left. All the others…gone. Poof. We are going to try and get a 50cm Periwinkle frame for my wife. Whoo Hoo for those of you gunning for a platy! The lime olive color is stunning and the periwinkle is also a head turner. I love this description by Riv: “The Platypus isn’t like that. You don’t have to find beauty in its usefulness and comfort, or put up with its dysfunction just because it’s pretty.”
Good luck folks!!!
Lucia Lucia Matioli Sr Creative Consultant
I was going to wait till 26 for another bike, but I like the periwinkle so much I might give it shot, even if just to hold the frame to build in the fall. I have a Hilsen set up for road riding and a Crust Bombora. Love 'em both. If I were to get the Platy I'd almost certainly use it as a trail bike, replacing the Crust (I really like drops on the road). I'm curious to hear others on its speed, clearance, and how it does on trails. Probably won't make a decision till 3 mins before. Thanks for starting this thread Leah!
On Sunday, June 29, 2025 at 8:48:52 AM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
Today’s the big day! Platypus presale at high noon PDST! Who is gunning for a Platypus? What color are you hoping for? What if that color is sold out - will you take the other color? Will you hunt at the Riv dealers?
Post all your Platy questions/thoughts/comments/plans/ruminations here!
I’m so excited for all the new Platy people. It is my #1, all-time favorite bike. You’re gonna love it. This thread is going to be SO FUN. Leah
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