Latest Builds

Eric's Fast Belmont

Open the pictures in a new tab to see 'em good and big. I was really excited when Eric wrote in asking if we could make a Belmont his way, because it showed he really understood the point of the frame, and that it's probably the only one around that fits his needs. He'd been looking for a Canadian replacement for a road frame "with more class and soul than a modern carbon special" with which he could do road rides and randonneuring out in BC. Speed and comfort was the name of the game. Eric wanted silver parts everywhere (and was disappointed but understood that we don't offer the Belmont with a quill stem) and, a surefire way to have a corner of my heart to himself, downtube friction shifters. I'm also in agreement with him that a 700C wheel with 32mm tires is plenty for anything on a road and keeps rotational weight and pneumatic trail down compared to a wide all-road tire. In lieu of the quill-stem cockpit, we found a beautiful setup with a Dia-Compe CB-2 headset, Nitto Ultimate Road UI-26 forged stem, and Velo Orange Nouveau Rando handlebar. To complement that, the seatpost and saddle are, to my eyes, an iconic combination: Brooks Swift with Nitto Crystal Fellow. The results speak for themselves and everything will be tough and remain just as gorgeous for the lifetime of the bike. The Brooks microfibre bar tape goes with their saddle, no surprise there, and the TRP brake levers can be set up on modern compact handlebars or on traditional round drops, depending on if you install the included spacer block, which is such a relief when trying to narrow down bar choices. They naturally pair perfectly with the TRP Spyre brakes that come standard on a Belmont build. The three-arm French throwback YMC crankset is sourced from Blue Lug, and it really ties the bike together. It was Eric's first choice of cranks and he was entirely correct, the æsthetics couldn't be better, even if he and I would have been just as happy with a Bassi Classic compact. The Belmont is a frame that's happy to be built as a fast modern randonneuse, but is in no way limited to that. I really look forward to building peoples' ideas of a cool bike and seeing what we can come up with together, it's one of the fun parts of this job!

Marc-André's Black Mountain La Cabra

This is a frame which was brought to us by Marc-André, who wanted a very specific build. Black Mountain Cycles are a shop in Point Reyes Station, California. It's a small town not too far North of San Francisco on Highway One, with lovely galleries, ice cream, and this manufacturer within view of the Black Mountain. They design really particular frames which I can only describe as "What if a road bike could mountain-bike". It's a really fun idea but makes it a little more difficult to build the complete bike. There's not a lot of leeway on which components work with the frame, and together. Honestly, I appreciate their philosophy both as a company and in the way they choose to make bikes. This build wound up being really appropriate to the kind of trail riding Marc-André does, and has zero compromises. We've got Shimano GRX on the drivetrain, with a small mountain-bike crank and a wide-range cassette, superb wheels from DT Swiss (handbuilt by us), and lots of winning Ritchey WCS bits to fill it out. There's no other way to say it: this bike absolutely rips. It's meant to be very stable climbing at low speeds and descending quickly on rough gravel trails.

A beautiful made-to-order Panasonic road bike

Local rider Terry came to us with this gorgeous, brand new Panasonic road-bike frame, welded just for him through Panasonic's famous made-to-order framebuilding system. Check out the factory visit in the video below, it's super cool! For those who don't know, yes this is the same Panasonic that's made batteries, turntables, etc you've encountered before. They also happen to be a huge domestic bicycle manufacturer in Japan, mostly under the brand name "National". Since the 80's they've had an impressive ordering system for specifying your frame model, sizing, and colours. This bike came to us as a frame and Campy groupset, and we supplied the rest of the components, along with our usually thorough assembly. The nice, fast Campagnolo wheels go perfectly with the drivetrain, while the classic-looking components we're known for really tie the bike together. Note especially the Cinelli Giro d'Italia handlebar with Nitto stem, a typical Italy-Japan mix like we've always loved. Terry borrowed one of our loaner saddles to try it out, which you can see in these pictures. See below for pictures of the details, and don't forget to open the images in a new tab to really zoom in! We're thrilled we got a chance to help you build your dream bike, Terry! Happy riding.

Dumitru's Classic Rando-Montreal

Dumitru came to us with a mandate for his dream drop-bar build, and the result came out just right! He wanted a few things: an upright and comfortable position, brifters and a 1x transmission for ease of shifting, light weight stuff where it counts, and classic silver and brown styling. He sized between the 52 and 55cm frames, so we opted for the latter to achieve this "French Fit", with the handlebar significantly higher than the saddle. Nitto's super-short, super-tall Technomic quill stem helped out here to get the bars nice and close. For brifters, we opted for SRAM's Apex1 group, which we've tested time and again on our Hog's Back builds over the years. The double-tap shifting is intuitive and fast, and the ergonomics of the levers is excellent. Instead of using their crank, we opted for our Narrow-Wide Low crankset, which has a smaller 38t chainring than the Apex1 offers as a minimum, and can even be lowered to 34t for future-proofing or outfitting this bike for hillier rides. Plus, it's silver! To shave some weight, we opted for where it counts: the wheels. Velocity Quills are our favourite lightweight road rims for wide(r) tires, and they built up perfectly to a Velo Orange rear hub and Shutter Precision front, with double butted Sapim Race spokes that are both lighter, and stronger. Clad in Rene Herse Babyshoe Pass tires, these are smoooooth spinning wheels! Speaking of silver, we needed to make this ride classic. The Montreal is a great platform for this, and we kept things shiny all around. Honjo's beautiful aluminium fenders might appear old-timey at first glance, but they're actually light, solid, and wonderfully functional. The Brooks B17 saddle, which needs no introduction at this point, checks all the boxes when it comes to comfort and good looks. Catch Dumitru riding long distances on this guy! It's since been outfitted with racks, bags, and lights, and continues to evolve over time and age like a fine wine. Photos by Troy

The comfiest ATB-Hog

Once again, here's a fun twist on our Hog's Back Wiggler stock build! This one's key departure from the Wiggler is the handlebar. We wanted to achieve a much more upright position, but also have multiple hand positions to be able to move around on long days of touring. The Blue Lug-designed Nitto-manufactured Losco (here in black, 54cm width) fit the ticket perfectly. We taped the centres with Newbaum's cotton for 2-3 more spots to grab the bar. A Brooks B17 Carved was an obvious pick for an upgrade, and is the perfect support for the rider and this voluminous Arkel saddle bag. It looks just right, too! Speaking of aesthetics, how perfect is the colour match on these Blue Lug Black & Titanium finish XC-III Bear Trap pedals?! With a few minor swaps, this bike came out beautifully and is now customized to the rider's needs. It'll surely follow them on countless tours over the years! If you want a stock build but it's not quite right and you'd like to talk mods, reach out! Photos by Troy @killiskii

Nancy's retro-modern Hog's Back

Nancy's Hog's Back almost needs no explanation. It's exactly what we have in mind with every Bassi - a tasteful balance of classic and modern, drawing from the best of both those worlds! Nancy wanted to lean into polished silver here, speccing it at every opportunity. Thanks to the big brain team at Velo Orange, plenty of parts with decades-old aesthetic but modern compatibility are available, in silver! We used their Smooth fenders for all-weather riding and Nouveau Randonneur handlebar, a supremely comfy bar with flats for the palms in the center, slight backsweep, and short reach and drop. Nancy loved the Microshift Sword from the Belmont stock build but wanted the stouter Hog frame for heavier touring, so we made it happen! We're not all friction shifting retro-grouches here at C&L, these brifters are ergonomic and shift great, plus the gear range is wide enough for some serious loaded climbs. We had to top this build off with an equally-timeless saddle, of course. The B17 special (short version here) uses copper plated rails and wider, hammered copper rivets. It looks great and will be so comfy to boot. Blackburn's EX-1 Rack, although pretty low-key at first glance, actually has some great history that makes it well-suited for this build. Jim Blackburn first developed and released it in 1975, and it's astonishing that it's still being offered 50 years later! Often copied, this is the original influence for so many rear carriers to come. If you'd like to have a Bassi specced your way, please reach out! 'Til then, happy new bike day Nancy! Photos by Troy @killiskii

Atlantis Trio

The fabled and somewhat elusive Atlantis is the most sought-after model in Rivendell's lineup, and for good reason! Having decades of refinement and tinkering behind it, the Atlantis, in their words: "defines our approach to bikes and our ride and fit and aesthetics as well as any bike can." Billed as a do-it-all bike that'll last (almost) forever, the Atlantis is made to change and evolve as your tastes and needs do, too. So, how do you go about building a forever bike? As is our great pleasure, we recently built three of 'em in fairly short succession for three customers lucky enough to snatch Atlantis frames in time. Mario's Kicking off the trio is Mario's Sergio Green 59cm Atlantis. This absolutely bonkers build is the result of leaving no stone unturned. Every little detail was considered for it's manufacturing quality, durability, serviceability and, of course, bling-factor. 700x42C Ultradynamico Rosé Race tires. Mario opted not to max-out the tire clearance knowing he'll eventually want to add fenders. The White Industries cranks with their proprietary double chainring is perfect if you want to fine-tune your gearing. Here, Mario is probably intending to stay on the large 42t ring most of the time, only to drop to the 24t ring when things get steep. Lovely finishing details as you can expect from our fine mechs! Ted's This 50cm Atlantis is as classic as it gets! The small front Sim Works Obento rack (same as on the Atlantis above, and possibly a staff favourite I might add) paired with the sturdiest Tubus rack available make this one fully ready for some seriously loaded touring. The Obento, although not large and seemingly delicate is actually incredibly solid thanks to its 5 attachment points. Tubus CrMo steel racks are no-brainers for classic pannier touring. Cantilever brakes are wonderful when trying to make racks, large tires and eventually fenders work well together since v-brake arms can sometimes get in the way. Cantilevers, being short-pull, also keep the door open for an easy drop bar conversion in the future should Ted ever choose to do so. Smart! The hacked triple crank is a fun touch. Ted opted for our Bassi Classic Triple crankset and replaced the biggest ring with our Bassi Chainguard. The remaining 34 and 24t rings give plenty of range and the 10-tooth difference between them will make for ultra smooth shifting, every time. Bitex Heavy-Duty touring hubs laced to Velocity Cliffhanger rims will spin smooth and true no matter what gets thrown at them! Ted also opted to keep tire size reasonable with 650x48B Ultradynamico Cavas to save room for an eventual fender installation. Another A+ 10/10 build! Samuel's Rounding out the trio is this 55cm Sergio Green Atlantis for Samuel. This one was built around some parts he already had, namely the handlebars. Boscos set up nice and high for max comfort! Setting up the thumbies "upside-down" and further down the bars leaves a ton of room for moving your hands forward. That's an Ultradynamico tire on Velocity rim hat trick! Here Sam opted for the Ultradynamico Cava JFF in 700x42C and Velocity Atlas rims. The eyeleted Atlas is about as strong a rim as Velocity know how to make, and with 36 spokes each these wheels will be able to carry a boatload without hesitation! A Shutter Precision front dynamo hub provides power to a front and a rear light. At the rear is Rivendell's Silver-brand cassette hub. The Nitto Lamp Holder designed by Blue Lug is exactly the kind of perfect little accessory Blue Lug are just so good at designing! The Busch & Müller IQ-XS provides plenty of light at 80 lux and is way more than enough for city use. The Busch & Müller Mu rear light, mounted with a p-clamp à la Julian, will keep Sam seen from behind. The generous amount of rear wiring is enough to give the option of mounting the light on a rear rack. The cranks, also a double, are Rivendell's latest Silver 3 crankset with a chainguard and 44/28t. Being already set up with fenders and a basket, Sam's Atlantis is perfectly set up for all-weather rides and commutes! Fin So there you have it! 3 different Atlantis build, all with their own little twists. We look forward to seeing how these will get ridden in throughout the years! Keen on your own custom Rivendell build? Come on down to our Rachel store or hit us up! Want a Rivendell at a great price and don't need to overthink every single component, we have a very limited number (2, at the time of writing this) Complete Rivendell Platypus bicycles. Check 'em out! All photos by Troy

A tringle-speed Roaduno!

When we're talking gears with folks shopping for bikes, especially for commuting, it frequently goes something like this: -Singlespeed? How silly and impractical! -Gears? Meh, they're cool, but I only stick to two or three, why do bikes these days need so many?! Internal gear hubs, where nothing but three speeds is a normal and widespread standard, are very much in our wheelhouse but have their downsides - they're heavy, the internals are complex, cable routing can be awkward, and they're often pricier. Folks have been working around this since forever with parts bin special dingle- and tringle-speed configurations, where a front derailer shifts between two or three chainrings, and an old rear derailer stays put on a single speed freewheel, just acting as a chain tensioner Rivendell, always a step ahead, went a step further and built a frame just for this kind of build! Meet the Roaduno. With its rear-entry dropouts and simple, lightweight construction, it works great as a single-speed, but has a few additional features that make it perfect for a two or three gears! A single downtube housing stop on the left and a rear derailer hanger are crucial elements that allow you to route a cable to a front derailer, and install a rear derailer or chain tensioner. This build we recently put together for Jocelyn is a perfect use of all these features! We opted for the fancy transmission bits - a White Industries freewheel and Paul Component Melvin chain tensioner - but also kept it practical and friendly for commuting and bopping around the city. A Nitto M18 rack, Crane bell, Greenfield kickstand, full Velo Orange fenders, and comfy upright Sim Works Fun 3 handlebars make this a very capable everyday bike. We love how it came out! Reach out if you'd like to plan a build, we still have a couple Roadunos left and would be thrilled to get more folks on 2 or 3 speeds! Build spec Rivendell Roaduno frameset, Mustard, 51cm New Albion XDT triple crank KMC X9 chain White Industries ENO freewheel Paul Component Melvin chain tensioner Bassi high flange track hubs Sun Ringlé CR18 rims René Herse Babyshoe Pass tires Rivendell Silver2 shifter with thumbshifter mount Microshift R9 front derailer Dia-Compe SS6 brake levers Tektro R369 brake calipers Nitto Technomic stem Sim Works Fun 3 handlebar Ergon GC1 grips Gilles Berthoud saddle Crane E-NE bell Sim Works John Cage bottle cage Greenfield kickstand Nitto M18 rack Velo Orange Zeppelin fenders Lovely photos by Troy

Matthew's Le Montréal Rando-Tourer

Matthew gets it! This is exactly what we had in mind with our design of Le Montréal. While we whole-heartedly embrace the versatility of this frame, and love seeing sweepy-bar builds and modern iterations too, a classically-styled randonneur slash light touring build makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. While the aesthetics are straight outta the 80s, the spec is 99% brand new, still available parts, save a fittingly pewter grey new old stock Exage front derailer. Rene Herse Endurance casing tires, Shimano Dura-Ace (the best!) bar-end shifters, Dia-Compe non-aero brake levers, a trusty Brooks B17, and MKS's stringently tested Gamma pedals were all chosen for their solidity, reliability, and as a convenient bonus, their good looks. This bike has been ridden and toured on thoroughly, all around the province. It's been crashed, it's been fixed, it's been loved. It sports a pair of Tubus racks when on tour, the sensible choice. We love it all! Build Spec Bassi Le Montréal frameset, limited edition Montreal skyline colourway, 55cm Tange CDS chrome steel headset Tange sealed bearing square taper bottom bracket Bassi Classic Compact Double crankset Wipperman Connex chain Shimano 9-speed cassette Formula hubs laced to Weinmann Zac-19 rims Rene Herse Switchback Hill tires, Endurance casing Shimano Dura-Ace bar-end shifters Shimano RD-M591 rear derailer Shimano Exage NOS front derailer Dia-Compe 204QC brake levers Tektro CR720 cantilever brakes Bassi Classic quill stem Bassi forged seatpost Brooks B17 Special saddle Fantastic photos to match the fantastic build as always by Troy

Antoine's Hog's Back!

Antoine came by our Rachel store with a bike-enthusiast friend, looking for a new rig to use for bike-packing. He’s a seasoned commuter and, though new to the bike-packing domain, is no stranger to putting some bags onto his bike! What we came up with is maybe the most bling Hog’s Back to ever leave our workshop. The gold accents might make you think this bike was built by Midas himself. We really went the whole hog with this one. White Industries Golden Hubs laced onto Black Velocity Blunt 35s White Industries Golden Headset and spacers Equal Growtac Brake Calipers (Golden, of course) Blue Lug Brass Crank Caps Brass Ferrules And of course the golden Forager Cable Cherries are the literal cherry on top of the build. Going on a bikepacking trip - or any kind of long distance bike ride for that matter - puts different cycling priorities into focus than commuting or rolling around town. Comfort, durability and reliability are the names of the game. On Antoine’s bike, we added the Brooks B17 Imperial Saddle for comfort, the Wippermann Connex chain for the durability and serviceability, and the Rene Herse tyres for the reliability (also for the comfort!)

Paola's Rachel

Paola recently went on pilgrimage to the greatest bike shops of Japan, came back with the nicest assortment of parts, and said “build me a bike!” We obliged, and with this Monet-blue Rachel frame as the foundation, everything came together into the loveliest custom we’ve seen in a minute. With highlights from Crumbworks (KT bar!), Magic Components (ELBO stem!), Blue Lug (YMC Crank!), and Sim Works (Honjo fenders! Nissen housing! John Cage!), it’s just perfect. Photos by Troy!

Marianne's Tan & Purple Hog's Back

Marianne's Hog's Back is yet another great example of the kind of stock build remixes we love! With the Wiggler as the starting point, she chose to keep the wheels, Microshift XCD transmission and Avid brakes as on the basic configuration. Seatpost and saddle remain the same, too. That's where basic ends and the fun begins! The stock tires were swapped for faster-rolling and tan side-walled Schwalbe Billy Bonkers. Anodized purple bits match the frame's colour scheme. Headset, headset spacers, chainring bolts and M5 eyelet bolts all by Wolf Tooth. Nitto X Blue Lug B812 Commuter bars are a refined touch and purple Oury grips round out the cockpit beautifully. Photos by Troy

A Sergio Green Platy

Paul’s been riding bikes seriously for many years and knows what he likes. He came to us asking about Rivendells after having switched from commuting on good e-bikes, to a quality singlespeed for the better exercise, to trying out a racing-ish gravel bike for longer rides and some speed. Unfortunately, the comfort just wasn’t there and it wasn’t pleasant. Ultimately, if you’re into cycling in an upright position on short or long rides, want a simple all-mechanical bike, and want to go as fast or slow as you feel like on dirt, gravel, and pavement, a natural place to end up is on a Riv, particularly if you want the bike to be as beautiful as possible! We spoke of a few models, but the Platypus is something special. You can size up on it (which we did here) for taller handlebars, but the bike is light enough and nimble enough that the upright position won’t hold you back. It’s like a more flexible all-rounder in the mold of the worldwide do-it-all Atlantis and Joe Appaloosa. With this simple, no-nonsense and few-extras build (inspired by an unusually minimalist Blue Lug Platy), the bike remained pretty light and easy to pack for travelling. Paul eventually added a Memento front rack with a small Wald basket for errands, and one of the smaller Carradice saddlebags and a Gurp stem bag for daily essentials. The Losco bar looks sharp, sweeps back for comfort and has a long grip area, and offers a forward hand position, convenient for climbing or other such higher efforts. We kept the gearing simple but nice and low (for the East Coast, no need for super low out-West gears). The rest of the details we worked out over some long chats, like the chainstay wrap adding a pop of colour and a useful bit of protection for the frame in case the chain bounces too hard. Thanks to our head mech Vince for his patience when shellacking it! Thanks again as well to Paul for his trust in us to build him an exceptional bike which, as he says, “will be a perfect bike for me as I age. Keep me riding!” We’re out of Platypus frames for the moment, but as of this writing we’ll be receiving Atlantises shortly, then a few Homer Hillsens, then in a few months at last some more Platys. Get in touch if you’d like to talk custom builds, we love to work with you on those. Photos by Troy

Miyata Flat Bar Conversion

If you only know about us from our Socials, it might seem like we’re constantly and exclusively churning out ultra-fancy brand-spankin’ new builds left and right. Though that may not technically be wrong, our real bread n’ butter is keeping decades old machines riding smooth, with everything from minor tweaks to a part upgrade to a full-bore rebuild. One recurring job is the flat-bar conversion. Come in to either C&L location and you’ll see racks of handlebar options, because we believe it’s one of the most important parts that determine how your bike rides and feels! Over the years, we’ve swapped tons of ill-fitted drop bars for wider, comfier flat or upright bars. Drop bars have their place, no doubt. But riding around the city with an imitation race bike fit so commonly found with road bikes is bound to be downright unpleasant for most people after a while. We’ll be occasionally highlighting a few favourite bar swaps from here on out! The story we know of this Miyata Triple Cross starts with a somewhat aggro cockpit comprised of a long stem and narrow, deep drop bars. Florence, wanting to tap into the then-nascent gravel bike craze, requested an adaptation of a very suitable candidate for the job. A quick stem and handlebar replacement and gearing down to a 1x drivetrain did the trick! Fast forward a few years to this summer, Florence came back for it's next transformation: Townie Mode. Same Velo Orange stem, but now with a Velo Orange Curvy handlebar for even more comfort and control on everyday rides. ESI silicone grips add some extra comfort. #savethetriplecrank We know how Bill and Simon feel about triples. They’re great and add a ton of versatility to an already very capable bike. Off with the 1x crank and back with the triple! Smooth friction shifting is provided by Shimano bar-end shifters mounted on Rivendell Silver shifter mounts. Tektro FL540 brake levers and the original Shimano 200CX cantilevers supply the stoppage. Funny enough, this bike has pretty much fully circled back to it’s semi-original state, per the 1992 Miyata catalogue: Though I’m sure Florence is as glad as I am that straight narrow bars get to stay in the past. Photos by Troy

Matt's Heavy Duty 58cm Hog's Back

Matt and his partner Erin, having recently moved from Vancouver to Montreal, were in the market for a couple bikes for getting around town with the occasional longer outings sprinkled in. A quick test ride of a floor demo was all Matt needed to have his heart set on a Hog’s Back! With the intent on replicating the vibe of the Philly Bike Expo show bike we had on display, we sent off on spec’ing the most robust yet fun and lively build. Let’s take a look! Being a tall and heavy-set person, Matt had difficulties with stock bikes’ durability in the past. His most recent one, from a very reputable brand with a seemingly sensible spec list, gave him trouble particularly with the wheels and the cranks getting repeatedly wonky after every few rides. Here’s how we addressed those concerns: Hand-built wheels were a no-brainer for this project. Not only is the end product always tougher, straighter and longer lasting than stock machine-built equivalents, we also get to fine tune component selection. We opted for made-in-USA Velocity Cliffhanger rims, the most robust in their catalogue and a perfect size for the desired tire width. Sapim Strong spokes, designed for tandems and ebikes, were an easy choice with 36 of ‘em on each wheel. The venerable Shimano M525 were the top pick due to the tried-and-true construction, serviceability if ever anything does go wrong and unbeatable value. Ultradynamico Cava Robusto 27.5x2.2" tires offer enough protection and way more comfort compared to stiff-as-hell “flat-proof” tires. For cranks and bottom bracket, we looked no further than to Shimano’s SAINT lineup. Designed for the extreme rigours of downhill mountain biking, we knew it would be perfect for the task at hand! Featuring steel pedal thread inserts and their toughest steel crank spindle, they’re probably overkill but we wanted to leave no stone unturned! This build needed to not only be actually tough, but we also wanted it to inspire confidence in the rider. Headset issues weren’t discussed but they’re arguably one of the more important elements when thinking of durability and keeping the frame safe. We’ve seen numerous frames with ovalized headtubes rendering them useless over the years, all because they were ridden for far too long with a poorly adjusted or a totally cooked headset. The FSA The Pig, intended for BMX use, has an oversized CrMo bottom cup for extra strength. And, both the bottom and top cup inserts that go into the frame are taller in order to dissipate forces further along the headtube, making it much safer the frame. Here's the rest of the spec, also thought up for strength and durability: Frame: 2022 Bassi Hog’s Back Frame, Aqua Blue, 58cm Headset: FSA The Pig headset Stem: Thomson BMX ø22.2mm clamp Seatpost: Bassi forged ø27.2mm Saddle: Brooks B67 Handlebar: Surly Sunrise Grips: Ergon GP1 Shifter and Rear Derailleur: MicroSHIFT XCD, 11-speed Cassette: MicroSHIFT 11-speed, 11-46t Crank: Shimano FC-M820 SAINT Bottom Bracket: Shimano SM-BB80 SAINT Brakes: SRAM Guide T, 4-piston Rotors: Jagwire SR1, ø160mm Hubs: Shimano M525, 36h Rims: Velocity Cliffhanger 27.5” Spokes: Sapim Strong Tires: Ultradynamico Cava Robusto 27.5x2.2" Pedals: Crank Brothers Stamp 1 Large Rear rack: Blackburn EX-1 Bell: Crane E-ne Neo Polished Black Kickstand: Greenfield KS2 Bottle Cage: Blackburn Mountain aluminum Photos by Troy

Liz's Purple Platypus

Open images in a new tab to embiggen Rivendells have been extra-popular this year! During their recent pre-order campaign before the Platypus frames arrived, a lot of people tried to get one, but they sold out within minutes. Liz was one of the disappointed hopefuls, but happily she reached out to us for one of the only remaining 50cm Purple Platypuses in North-America, and we were able to build her a dreamy bike. Liz isn't new to Rivendells: she's been riding a Toyo-built Atlantis these last twenty years and it's had some serious mileage. At a certain point, though, some enhancements in comfort and elegance make it worth changing over. This build also has many more affordances for everyday convenience, such as the basket-rack combo and the dynamo lighting. Among the spec was a build close to a typical current RBW and Blue Lug bike in terms of practicality and looks, respectively. Purple was the watchword on this project, with cotton tape finished with twine and coated in shellac as a signature look. The bike wouldn't have to be easily packable and haul massive touring loads for bike trips, but it would need to be able to carry things on day-trips and errands. Riding would be on roads, but super hilly ones. And, in Liz's words, "I sometimes consider a dynamo light system. It’s such a pain to get all the lights charged and hooked up". You're right about that one, Liz. Read on for the gorgeous-looking result! For the hills, everyone agreed: a triple gets you up and down anything you'll want to climb. Our Bassi Triple Classic has a no-nonsense 46/34/24-tooth range (chosen to be compatible with basically everything). Using it with an 11-34t 8-speed Microshift cassette maxes out the derailer's capacity - that old favourite, the Shimano RD-M310. By the way, I think Liz's was the very last we'll ever have in silver, none of the local Shimano resellers have been able to get them for us this year, and you can forget about Shimano N.A. themselves. Why they don't want to make it anymore is baffling but that's the world we live in. Write your member of parliament or congressperson about it, I guess. The purple Newbaum's cotton tape on the chainstay protects the thin steel tube from chain-slap. It's lightly shellacked for longevity and some UV protection. Rivendell's new Silver hubs are simply excellent. Worth the price given how tricky it is to find silver rim-brake 135mm hubs these days, they of course include an internal-cam QR skewer, and the spacer so you can use an 8-speed cassette on the long 11-speed body. You wouldn't think the type of QR skewer is worth mentioning but this kind's surprisingly rare for non-Shimano hubs. The rims are our SunRinglé CR18 Polished 650B: a rim that goes with almost everything and leaves room in the budget for other niceties. The front hub is a Shimano Alfine, an easy choice in affordable but long-lasting dynamo hubs. Along with that drivetrain we've got the Silver2 friction shifters on thumbie mounts. Even people who've never shifted friction are impressed with them if they've got an open mind and a couple of kilometers to get used to them! Since friction shifters don't care about the housing's stiffness, we could use the same clear brake housing for the brakes and shifters. The Shimano DXR V-brakes were a little upgrade from the simple Tektros we spec by default, and they are indeed a little nicer to set up. The matching levers are really comfortable and have reach adjustment for smaller hands or setting them up on a swept-back handlebar like this Choco on a Tallux stem. An all-Nitto cockpit is really the last word in subtly gorgeous parts that work great together. Above, you can see the effect of shellacked Newbaum's finished with twine. This was about eight layers and some smoothing halfway - the cotton absorbs a lot of shellac for the first few layers. Future touch-ups won't use much product though, and will let the handlebars show plenty of honest beausage. Here we've reached the most complicated-looking bit of the bike, with a rack, dynamo light, basket, and fenders all connected in the same 10cm area. Let's go through them: 1. Front dynamo: Busch+Müller's IQ-X is their flagship light. The lens design doesn't waste any power on illuminating things you don't need, only the road in front of you and further along, and it won't blind anyone on the road when set up right. That's the beauty of beam-shaping lenses.2. Front rack: Made here in Montréal by Éliane, Ronny, and Aube at Memento Cycles from stainless steel tubing. These bike builders and designers weld their fantastic racks in-house, informed by their impressive history as bike messengers and cyclotourists. The Ant Rack is their extra-small just-as-strong model and is the right one to pair with a Wald 137 basket. Voilé straps connect the two securely, but you can use zip-ties if you prefer. 3. Connecting the light to the rack can be tricky but it becomes easy and clear with the Blue Lug-designed, Nitto-produced Lamp Holder Mod.7. It's deceptively simple and subtly perfect, and I frankly never want to install another light without one. They make it out of rack struts, it's my favourite new product of 2024. 4. The rear light is powered by the front, as are all modern dynamo lights. The cable runs along the rack, then jumps to the shift cable which it follows down the frame. A twist added to the electrical cable with a heat gun gives some slack, to allow the fork to turn, while allowing for some tension relief and keeping everything in place with small zip-ties. The Herrmans H-Trace Mini, made in Finland, mounts to the seatstay or, as in this case, to the rear fender. It's a small but cleverly made light! This particular setup needs a lot of cable on a long bike such as the Platypus, since it goes inside the fender right by the bottom bracket and reaches all the way to the light on the rear. The cable's nicely hidden and tucked away from anything that could damage it, though. 5. It had to be Honjo fenders, didn't it? Liz wanted them lightweight so we suggested Honjo, she went further and wanted the hammered version, probably a good choice since they won't show the inevitable bumps and dings of everyday riding the way smooth ones would. There are already a few extra dimples smacked into them by yours truly to make them fit perfectly, but they're impossible to photograph: they just get lost in the hammered surface. Having the fenders fall naturally into following the curve of the wheel radius they were made for means that they'll last as long as possible: they aren't being forced into a different shape and therefore aren't under stresses which could weaken the metal prematurely. That's the practical reason for an even and smooth fender line: the æsthetic reason should be self-evident. As a special finish, we added a surprise Liz didn't specifically request but which was oh-so-right: as we were finishing the bike, our friend Peter was sewing us a batch of his Famous Fender Flaps and made an extra purple rear one just for Liz. Anyone riding behind her on wet roads will be thankful not to get a spray of water to the face! Happy riding Liz, and thanks so much for trusting us to build you this beauty. Photos and bartape by Simon

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