Excellent work Isaak, and I like the approach of shedding parts to go all in on a bike like this; your build turned out great! I love those discord fingerling stems. I have a couple in grey and run one on my silver heron touring bike, the long quill makes for such a nice fit.
Congrats, dude! On Friday, December 26, 2025 at 12:06:47 PM UTC-6 Gordon Stam wrote: > Good looking build Isaak, > > The color looks almost like an unpainted frame, with a bronze patina. And > those cranks are cool. I also notice your use of the diminutive Voile > straps. Handy little suckers, aren't they? > > On Friday, December 26, 2025 at 8:19:47 AM UTC-7 Drew Fitchette wrote: > >> Congrats Isaak! >> >> I remember that Bombadil popping up for sale out here and was so sad it >> wasn’t a 58. Stoked you got it and have it built up as your grail bike! >> >> Excited to see many more posts of the adventures you take it on out west. >> >> - Drew in ATL >> >> On Friday, December 26, 2025 at 6:01:34 AM UTC-5 WilletM wrote: >> >>> >>> That's a good way of putting it-- "Sometimes there's a bike...". I >>> daresay I'm not the only other Bombadil owner who nodded his head and said >>> "yep" under his breath when he read that. I lucked into a >>> Protovelo/Bombadil frame on ebay back in 2019. It arrived moderately >>> nicked up and with some alignment/spacing issues that took quite a bit of >>> work to remedy. Even more worrying was that I had never owned a Rivendell >>> and had no idea whether my short legs/long torso proportions would even be >>> able to ride a 59/60cm (since I typically ride a 57-ish road bike). >>> But...well, sometimes there's a bike. So I splurged, pretty much strictly >>> on faith, and literally added one part at a time over 6-8 months, usually >>> with great deliberation. Finally finished it months later and then spent >>> months more fine tuning the cockpit dimensions and every little nut and >>> bolt of the build. And like Isaac, once I found the magic combination, I >>> ain't changing a thing! >>> >>> Thanks for the pics and story, Isaac. Will you be keeping it "naked" or >>> eventually doing a repaint? >>> >>> Willet M. >>> Carbondale, CO >>> >>> On Thursday, December 25, 2025 at 11:33:26 PM UTC-7 Addison wrote: >>> >>>> Beautiful bike! One of the best Riv models in my book and a great >>>> build. I rode my Riv Allrounder through Ashland some years ago on a bike >>>> tour with friends when I used to live in Reno. We stopped to watch >>>> Hamlet, >>>> treated ourselves to a stay at the Stratford Inn and rode out over the >>>> mountain the next day. Quite a beautiful trip. I'm sure the Bombadil >>>> will >>>> serve you well. >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> Addison >>>> Tirana, Albania >>>> >>>> On Fri, Dec 26, 2025 at 5:21 AM Isaak Oliansky <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> [image: IMG_4358.jpg] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Photos here. >>>>> <https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kcDrK3_5__QsJN0_r15HuWU3DCv8vo5X?usp=sharing>Perhaps >>>>> >>>>> this will get a proper shoot someday and I'll update. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Sometimes there’s a bike…well, it’s the bike for its time and place. >>>>> Shortly after my 2nd was born last summer, I saw this beauty on the >>>>> Facebook Rivendell group just after it was posted. I messaged the seller >>>>> with my phone number, and he called me later in the day stating that he’d >>>>> had something like 50, 60 messages about the bike. Somehow I had made it >>>>> to >>>>> the top of the heap. The phone number is key folks. >>>>> >>>>> Fast forward two impatient weeks, and this beauty arrived at my door >>>>> immaculately boxed after a cross continental journey from humid NC to dry >>>>> Southern Oregon. Although the albstache build was not gonna stick, I knew >>>>> in minutes that this bike was the one. I gutted it, keeping only the >>>>> shifters, and began anew. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I ended up selling my ‘89 Ritchey Ultra ‘xibike’ build (with noisy dt >>>>> hugi hubs and fun swoopy bars), my perfect ‘79 Bruce Gordon road bike >>>>> (ouch, I hate bending over), and my blue 58cm Black Mountain Cycles >>>>> Monstercross. With a tidy pile of cash in hand (this purge inspired a >>>>> further purge of everything that wasn’t bolted to a bike), I decided to >>>>> simply splurge completely for the first go around, instead of doing the >>>>> usual strange parts bin builds and then overspending on miscellany as I >>>>> slowly upgraded them, my usual recipe. >>>>> >>>>> No more of that! Tom Bombadillo has arrived! Boy, he has not >>>>> disappointed. His new home turf is the Mt. Ashland watershed- steep >>>>> decomposed granitic slopes with Magic Dirt blissfully mud-free all winter >>>>> turning into a hot dry grind in the summer. He met my #1 bicycle >>>>> requirement which is to not break traction in a grueling seated >>>>> singletrack >>>>> climb in a tiny gear. I wished to do a robust and portly build for old >>>>> Tom, >>>>> yet he still has a spryness that surprises me on every ride, while still >>>>> feeling confident and planted. >>>>> >>>>> I swap between 50mm Soma Cazaderos and 2.2” Continental Race Kings >>>>> depending on the ride. I had some gold Paul skewers on there but they >>>>> felt >>>>> too flashy. Finally, the DaVinci cranks are stunning however they might >>>>> get >>>>> passed onto a different build in favor of the 170mm fc-6206 xt cranks >>>>> that >>>>> came off of my uncle’s cook bros with a microadaptor…to be determined. >>>>> Otherwise, I ain’t changing a thing! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Frame/Fork- 56cm Waterford Bombadil >>>>> >>>>> Headset- Black Chris King Sotto Voce 2Nut (nerds, note the brass >>>>> spacer...could Tom Bombadil wield the one ring after all?!) >>>>> >>>>> Stem- Discord Fingerling 5cm >>>>> >>>>> Handlebars- Ritchey Corralitos 50cm >>>>> >>>>> Bar ends- mismatched rubber Velox, light and dark green >>>>> >>>>> Tape- Campandgoslow (in Great Horned Owl) >>>>> >>>>> Brake Levers- TRP RRL >>>>> >>>>> Seatpost- Nitto S83 >>>>> >>>>> Saddle- WTB Pure V >>>>> >>>>> Brakes- Paul Touring, polished >>>>> >>>>> Shifters- Kelly Take offs/Shimano Dura Ace 10s >>>>> >>>>> Front Derailleur- Campagnolo Record 10s Double >>>>> >>>>> Rear Derailleur- XTR Medium Cage >>>>> >>>>> Cranks- DaVinci 110/58bcd (White Industries made I believe), 172.5mm, >>>>> 38/20 rings >>>>> >>>>> Pedals- Wolf Tooth Waveform (in Espresso) >>>>> >>>>> Chain- SRAM or KMC 10s >>>>> >>>>> Cassette- XT 10s 11-36 >>>>> >>>>> Cable Housing- Sim Works (in Clear Brown) >>>>> >>>>> Doodads- Forager cable cherries, 6 of them >>>>> >>>>> Rims- Velo Orange Voyageur 650b 36h >>>>> >>>>> Hubs- Son 28/White Industries MI5 >>>>> >>>>> Spokes- Sapim Race, brass nipples >>>>> >>>>> Tires- Soma Cazadero 50mm or Continental Race King 2.2in. Tubes. >>>>> >>>>> Valve caps- MUSA from eBay >>>>> >>>>> Rear Bag- Bags by Bird Goldback 11w Tall Black/Green Canvas >>>>> >>>>> Stem Bag- Makeshifter Snackhole >>>>> >>>>> Rear Rack- Nitto M1 >>>>> >>>>> Lights- Sinewave Beacon 2 front and B&M rear >>>>> >>>>> Pump- Zefal >>>>> >>>>> Bell- Spurcycle >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Thanks for reading. Drop a line if you ever pass through Ashland and >>>>> want to take a spin. >>>>> >>>>> -IO at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> 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 [email protected]. >>>>> To view this discussion visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e14fd4c2-99b0-4d4b-954d-4b455a810f59n%40googlegroups.com >>>>> >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e14fd4c2-99b0-4d4b-954d-4b455a810f59n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/468aa8ac-2ab8-4124-8ff4-271785d0eb39n%40googlegroups.com.
