Most interesting. I have a '98 LongLow that has the canti bosses, but can
accept long reach side pulls as well. It has Tektro CR720 cantis on it and
with a nice wide fender, pretty sure I could squeeze actual 37mm tires
under there (might be too close for comfort). Certainly actual 35mm tires
with the current SKS fenders on there would be fine. Mine was built by Joe
Starck and painted by Joe Bell, so certainly one of a small batch of frames
and mine might have slight differences in terms of clearance to another
canti LongLow. It certainly does seem to be something of a beautiful
prototype for the move to Japan and Toyo for the higher production
Rambouillet. Now there is production in USA, Japan and Taiwan for the
Rivendell models.
So there could be considered an onshore/offshore lineage (USA or Japan and
Taiwan) as well as a distinction between individual builders (Starck,
Goodrich) and company builders such as Waterford. But, no matter where or
who has made the frames or when they were made, the quality and finish
seems to have been maintained at a super high standard.
Certainly for me, the most obvious progression of design has centered
around tire clearances and side pull brakes - the whole range of models
except the Rodeo will accept relatively wide tires with side pull brakes
and fenders (38mm plus tires). The Atlantis which dated from 1999.75
always had a lot of clearance, yet an impressively low Q factor. Of
course, it uses cantis, but this seems to have been a design that has yet
to be surpassed. I think the perfect compliment to my LL would be a 26"
wheel Atlantis (56cm frame).
But, there are so many design innovations that have made the bikes more and
more practical with each new model. Braze ons to accommodate specific
racks, centre stand plates etc. And there are design features that are
almost obvious by omission, such as dynamo lighting wiring guides, which
would probably detract from the aesthetic approach to the Rivendell design
philosophy.
If stopped by a stranger/friend and quizzed about one's Rivendell (or
Rivendale - why is that?) it's probably best to sum it up as "an excellent
all-rounder with an easily adjustable 1" quill stem, enough room for wide
tires and fittings for fenders, built to a high standard of workmanship and
with a great paint finish". Then change the subject, or you'll be there
all-night.
On Thursday, September 5, 2013 9:44:40 AM UTC-6, Jeremy Till wrote:
>
> As far as I know, the Long Low was an evolution of the original Road
> Standard, the first "road bike" that Grant put out under the Rivendell
> name. As Jim says, the RS was limited by the available sidepull caliper
> brakes of the time, and at most could fit a 28mm tire with no fenders under
> 39-49mm ("short reach") brakes. In the late 90's or early 2000's, 47-57mm
> brake calipers started making a comeback, the big watershed moment being
> when Shimano started making a 47-57 caliper using their awesome dual pivot
> design. The LongLow frames were designed to take advantage of these bigger
> calipers, allowing a fender over that 28mm tire or fatter tires up into the
> 30-37mm range with no fenders. However, I think availability of the
> caliper brakes were still spotty, so some Long Lows got canti bosses
> instead.
>
> Both the Road Standard and LongLow were made in small batches, maybe on a
> semi-custom basis, mostly by Waterford, if I have this right.
>
> I think Grant liked the performance of the LongLow so much that he wanted
> to invest in a larger production road model using the 47-57mm brakes, and
> thus was born the Rambouillet, and then a short time later, the budget
> version, the Romulus/Redwood. These were made in much larger batches by
> the Toyo factory in Japan, and were very popular.
>
> However, while it was a huge improvement over the original Road Standard
> in terms of capability, Grant was never really satisfied with the
> limitations of the 47-57mm caliper, wanting to be able to run cushy 32mm+
> tires AND fenders on his road bikes with easy clearances. His first
> solution for this was to support the burgeoning 650b movement and come out
> with a 650b road-ish (now "country") bike, the Saluki, which using
> cantilever brakes or centerpull calipers, allowed cushy tires and fenders.
> Then, in 2006 or so, Grant convinced Tektro (big Taiwanese brake
> manufacturer) to start making the R556 ("Silver") 55-75mm reach dual-pivot
> sidepull caliper. This allowed the clearances he wanted while perserving
> the simplicity and ease of setup of a sidepull. So Grant designed what
> would be his ultimate 700c road bike, another evolution of the
> RS-LongLow-Ram/Rom line that took advantage of the clearances offered by
> this new brake, and thus was born the A. Homer Hilsen. I think the Saluki
> and A. Homer Hilsen are the "sweet spot" for him in terms of a road bike,
> and so the two bikes were merged into one (under the AHH brand), with the
> 650b size being used in the smaller sizes and 700c in the larger sizes.
>
> A few years later, we have the Roadeo, which most closely replicates the
> tire clearance and component spec of the LongLow or Ram/Rom, but is in fact
> intended as a lightweight, racy road bike as opposed to the slightly more
> workaday AHH, so accepts the limitations of 28mm tires with fenders
> (depending on the particular caliper) or 37mm tires without.
>
> On Wednesday, September 4, 2013 10:46:16 AM UTC-7, George Schick wrote:
>>
>> I'd appreciate a reply from anyone who could point me to an
>> "evolutionary" trail of Rivendell bike models, if such a source exists. In
>> other words, let's say I'm a Rambouillet owner and am riding along and get
>> stopped by someone who is curious about and interested in the bike. The
>> most I would be able to tell them is that it is the successor to what Riv
>> once called a Long-Low, though not precisely the same. What I'd really
>> like to be able to tell them is 1) the differences between these two models
>> and why one replaced the other, 2) the succession of bikes since the
>> Rambouillet up to the current model, and 3) the differences between
>> successive models along the way. In this way the inquirer would have a
>> complete picture of the Rivendell company/business philosophy toward bikes
>> and be more likely to make a future purchase. I don't know if Riv has ever
>> published something like this or if it's ever been hashed over someplace in
>> a blog thread, but it would be very worthwhile info to have.
>>
>>
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