The 2026 bicycles have arrived!
This is the complete, assembled-in-Taiwan, ready-to-ride Clem, making it a bit more affordable than a custom bike.
Clem Smith Jr. is Rivendell’s fat-tire, easy to fender & rack, joyously upright and stable, and more affordable than the rest of their lineup bicycle frame. The "L" version is "Low top-tube".
They're more affordable only because most of the joints are tig-welded instead of lugged. Tigs cut the construction time for each frame down by a lot so the price gets lower. It's a perfectly strong way to make a bicycle, although not as pretty to look at as lugs.
Clems still have a strong wide fork crown, napkin-ring reinforcement lugs at the headtube, and a beautiful well-designed seatlug, so it looks far from a generic bike.
These are made by the same people who make the more expensive frames and with the same materials even. Just no lugs (lugs are expensive).
FRAME SIZES/WHEEL SIZES:
45cm / 650b / 27.5 inch new mountain bikey size wheels.
50cm / 650b / 27.5-inch new mountain bikey size wheels.
55.5cm / 700c rim size, but with room for "29er" tires
59cm / 700c rim size, but with room for "29er" tires
PBH ranges:
45cm - 68 to 81cm
50cm - 72 to 86cm
55.5cm - 77.5 to 89cm
59cm - 86 to 96cm
Pick the size that your PBH falls most in the middle of the range. The large frames have the curved seatstays and simpler seat-cluster. The small frames have straight stays and the fancy seat-cluster.
Relevant specs:
Wheel Sizes: 650b for the 45 and 50cm, and 700c for the 55.5 and 59cm.
Seatpost Dimensions — 27.2mm for all sizes
Rear spacing - 135mm and QR wheels only.
Front derailer clamp size - 31.8mm.
Max tire size - 2.4 inches for all sizes. You maybe be able to squeeze in bigger than that, but we're sticking with 2.4. That allows for a little wobble in the wheel (although you'd have to bash it into something pretty hard for that to happen) without tire-rub on the frame.
Complete Bike Build:
- FSA Duron Headset
- Shimano 118mm Cartridge BB
- Rivendell Silver1 36/26 crank, 170mm length for all sizes
- Shimano Alivio V-Brakes
- Tektro RS360 Levers
- Our Silver hubs laced to Alex DM24 rims - handbuilt by St. Jump. Super nice wheels.
- Kenda Booster knobbies, 54mm wide
- Silver2 thumby on the right, SunRace on the left. We had tons of SunRacer shifters left over from a past order, and they're great, and we used them here.
- SILVER OM-1 rear derailer - the best-looking & working rear derailer made.
- Skeleton Key front derailer. Ugly, but works great.11-36 cassette
- Nitto Faceplate stems. The 45cm and 50cm sizes have 85mm 90-190 stems. The 55.5cm bikes have 110mm 90-190s. The 59cm bikes have a special 31.8 clamp 72-190 stem.
- TOSCO Bars. Kind of like the BOSCO. A good pick. 55cm wide for the 45 and 50cm bikes, 60cm wide for the 55.5cm, and 65cm wide for the 59cm.
- SEAT POST: NITTO S65 — 27.2mmComfy, basic plastic saddle also included
Pedals and grips aren't included. For add-ons, substitutions, accessories, or anything else Clem-related, contact us
