Are Rivendell Bikes Good? A Mechanic's Honest Verdict
Rivendell makes some of the best steel bikes money can buy — if your definition of "best" is comfort and a 20-year lifespan, not speed or value-per-dollar. Here's the honest breakdown, model by model, plus who should skip them.
By the Bikefinest Editorial Team
The short answer
Yes — Rivendells are good bikes, genuinely good, as long as you're not grading them on speed or price. These are hand-brazed and TIG-welded steel frames built for comfort, utility and a 20-year lifespan, made in small batches by a tiny California company that's been swimming against the industry current since 1994.
Grant Petersen started Rivendell in Walnut Creek after Bridgestone's US arm folded, and the whole catalogue is a rejection of what mainstream cycling sells you: no carbon, no aero, no planned obsolescence. That's exactly why they split opinion. The prices make people wince, the bikes are heavy, and the friction shifters look like a time machine. But the ride is sublime, the resale is bulletproof, and almost nobody who buys one for the right reasons regrets it. The whole game is working out whether you're that buyer.
What Rivendell gets right
- The frames outlive the rider. Steel has a genuine fatigue limit that aluminium doesn't, and a cracked tube can be re-brazed by any competent framebuilder. Try that with a carbon frame.
- Ride quality is the whole point. Long chainstays — often in the 45 cm range on the touring frames — plus fat tyres and relaxed angles soak up chip-seal and gravel that would rattle your fillings on a race bike.
- Tyre clearance is huge and the mounts are already there. Most models swallow 2.0–2.3 inch rubber, with braze-ons for fenders, racks and bags. No bodging, no seatpost-clamp light mounts.
- They hold value like nothing else in cycling. A clean used Rivendell often sells for 80–100% of retail, and discontinued models routinely go for more than they cost new.
- Nothing proprietary. Threaded headset, quill stem, friction shifters, standard round seatpost — you could service one in a barn in 1996 or 2036 with the same tools.
- The lugwork on the premium models — A. Homer Hilsen, Atlantis, Platypus — is genuinely beautiful. Hand-brazed joints, not robot welds.
- They fit riders the road brands ignore: long torsos, upright preferences, anyone who finds a slammed stem miserable.
Where they'll frustrate you
- The price stings. Framesets run roughly $1,000–$2,500, and a complete build lands anywhere from $2,500 to well past $5,000. Some of that is a philosophy tax, and Rivendell won't pretend otherwise.
- They're heavy. Steel frame, rack mounts, wide tyres — expect 25–35 lb built up. Nobody's setting a climbing PR on one.
- Getting one takes patience. Frames arrive in small batches, popular sizes sell out, and the dealer network is thin. Most people order direct from Walnut Creek and wait.
- Not every model is lugged. The cheaper Clem and Appaloosa line is TIG-welded in Taiwan — the fancy hand-brazed lugwork lives on the pricier frames, so know which one you're actually buying.
- The spec is polarising by design. Friction shifting, swept-back bars, minimal saddle-to-bar drop — it's a deliberate anti-racing stance that some riders adore and others can't stand.
- Brakes skew old-school. Plenty of models are still cantilever or caliper; if discs are a hard requirement, your choices narrow fast.
- A frameset is a project. You (or a shop) have to spec and build the whole bike, which means more money and a stack of decisions before you ride.
The lineup, decoded
Rivendell's range confuses first-timers because the names give nothing away and the construction isn't uniform. Here's the shortlist people actually cross-shop. Prices are approximate framesets — Rivendell nudges them over time, so treat these as ballparks, not quotes.
Model Construction Wheel Tyre room (approx) Best for Frameset, approx Clem Smith Jr. TIG-welded steel 26in or 650B up to ~2.3in Upright do-everything hauler $1,000–1,300 Roadini Lugged steel 700C up to ~43 mm Lighter, faster all-road $1,000–1,300 Sam Hillborne Lugged steel 700C / 650B by size up to ~45 mm Light touring & all-road $1,300–1,600 A. Homer Hilsen Lugged steel 700C up to ~40 mm Classic all-rounder road ~$2,000 Atlantis Lugged steel 26in / 650B 2.1in and up Loaded expedition touring $2,000+ Platypus Lugged step-through steel 650B up to ~2.2in Upright comfort & commuting $1,500–1,800 Common Rivendell models at a glance Reading the tyre and wheel sizes
Rivendell quotes wheels the old way — 700C, 650B, 26-inch — and mixes them across sizes of the same model to keep the geometry sane. That trips people up. The only number that never lies is the ISO/ETRTO bead diameter, printed on every tyre as two figures like 42-622. The first is tyre width in millimetres, the second is the bead diameter. Match the bead to your rim and it fits, full stop.
What you'll see Wheel it fits ISO / ETRTO bead MTB name 700C Road & all-road standard 622 mm 29-inch 650B Smaller wheel, room for fatter tyres 584 mm 27.5-inch 26-inch Classic touring / expedition wheel 559 mm 26-inch 700 x 42C 42 mm tyre on a 622 mm rim 42-622 — 650B x 2.1in ≈53 mm tyre on a 584 mm rim 53-584 27.5 x 2.1 26 x 2.0in ≈50 mm tyre on a 559 mm rim 50-559 26 x 2.0 Decoding the wheel and tyre sizes Rivendell uses Who should actually buy one
Rivendell is a poor bike for the wrong rider and a near-perfect one for the right rider. There's not much middle ground. You'll love one if:
- You want a single bike you'll still ride in 20 years, and you'd rather maintain it than replace it.
- Comfort and stability matter to you more than speed or weight.
- You tour, commute, or ride loaded — panniers, groceries, a kid seat, dirt roads.
- You like sitting upright, and aggressive road positions leave your back and hands wrecked.
- You appreciate low-tech, repairable-anywhere parts, and you've got the budget to buy the worldview along with the bike.
Who should walk away
- You race or chase Strava segments and count grams — a Rivendell will feel like an anchor.
- You want the most bike for the least money. This is not value-per-dollar territory.
- You treat the newest drivetrain and disc brakes as non-negotiable.
- You won't build or spec a frameset, and you don't want to wait months for your size.
- Paying a premium for steel and a philosophy annoys you rather than delighting you.
How to buy one without getting burned
Say you're sold. A few things save real money and real regret before you commit.
- Size by PBH. Rivendell fits you off your pubic-bone height, not a generic S/M/L, and they deliberately put you on a taller frame than most brands. Read their sizing page and measure twice — the whole ride feel hangs on it.
- Don't undersize. The tall head tube and generous standover are features, not flaws. A frame that's too small throws away everything you're paying for.
- Buy used to skip the waitlist. Resale is strong, so a clean second-hand frame usually saves you months and often a chunk of cash too.
- Budget for the build. If it's a frameset, add wheels, drivetrain, bars and brakes — that's commonly another $1,000–2,000 before you turn a pedal.
- Match the model to the job. Roadini for spirited road miles, Atlantis for loaded touring, Platypus or Clem for upright around-town. Don't buy the prettiest one and force it into a role it wasn't drawn for.