Rivendell News

We are open every day this week, but closed Labor Day Weekend.

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:49:07 +0000

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Back on Tuesday, the 2nd.

General price trends....not down

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:04:44 +0000

They're going up pretty soon. It's hard to understand or believe or trust any price you see, isn't it? You just don't know. At some point, particularly if you understand anything at all about business and don't just assume that all business is commercial evil and that everybody should work for nothing and give stuff away to people who appreciate its beauty and will say Thank You--once you're beyond that (and many aren't), then you understand that many things can affect the cost of something, and the mere passing of time and oil, not wind, drives up the cost when the goods come by truck or steamer instead of ponies and sailing ships.

And even in bike land, people want and warrant things like a medical plan, and cost of living increases and now and then an outright raise and a Christmas bonus...because fruit that used to sell for $0.49 per pound goes for $2.49 per pound now, and ALL THAT STUFF.

The bicycle trade magazine, Bike Retailer & Industry News, reports that tire prices are expected to go up 20 to 30 percent next year, because they're made with oil, and the labor even in Everywhere gets more expensive every year. Raw materials--steel, carbon, titanium, are way up, too. Next year's Chinese bikes are going way up. Everything is, maybe even more than your paycheck.

Our Japanese bikes have increased by about 30 percent, affecting any frames we get in after September. So they'll go from $1600 to $1800.

The Taiwan frames we're planning---we'd expected to be able to sell them for $800, but it'll probably be $1,000. They have all those investment castings, and steel is way up, and Taiwan labor is way up, as they're losing work to China, and even that super cheap labor is way up.

The normal response, for a manufacturer is to look for ways to cut costs invisibly, because they're afraid of scaring off customers who buy mostly on price, which is most customers. I'm looking at the bikes and seeing nowhere to cut. We're using the best lugs and crowns and bb shells and dropouts. We can find cheaper labor, but don't trust it. The tubes cost what they cost--what do I do?--go to the maker and demand lower tubing prices, when I have no idea of their costs, and we're a minor customer to boot?

It's all OK, because there's no other way, and the bikes are good. It'll be fine. That's the idea, just keep going. More later.

Current AHH prices (etc) will hold for a few months.

Some lugged eagles have landed

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:46:52 +0000

We got ten 250mm x 27.2 lugged seat posts today, and they'd all been spoken for long ago, so we shipped them out. More coming in about 3 weeks, should be enough for a couple of months, but there are lots of backorders still to fill.
It's a good-looking post, and has an extra 15mm of setback, which seems really useful on most saddles out there, including Brookses, and especially the wider ones.
Almost everybody I know shoves the saddle all the way back and wishes it could go farther still, and this ultra-expensive, $185 post gets you there. It is expensive, but there are carbon posts that cost more (and weigh less, yes--and won't last a tenth as long); and....and...and...things just cost a lot. Nitto makes it, and Nitto is the best component maker in the world. They don't make everything but everything they do make is the best of what it is. Nitto bars cost about 40 percent less than high-end carbon bars that aren't, you know, good. They just show up on expensive bikes and don't weigh much, and yikes. Well, this is about the lugged seat posts. They're in, they're out, and in 3 weeks we'll have them in again. Taking backorders, o'er-n-out.

G

Minor thing here, Nitto torque specs

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:57:03 +0000

We've been asked a few times. Here's our answer.

Thanks, and we'll have a more lively post up within the week.

Back to Regular Hours This Week.

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:33:48 +0000

Thanks to everyone who made it out for the garage sale/ride/dinner. We're back to our normal hours this week: Monday-Friday 9:00AM to 5:00PM, and Saturday from 10 to 4.

Saturday Ride/Dinner Details

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:45:31 +0000

After the garage sale (8:30-10:30 AM) this Saturday July 19, we'll ride up the mountain. It's a flattish 30 minutes at a casual pace (13 mph or so) to get to the park entrance, where two options await you: An 11-mile, 3,600-ft climb to the summit (count on 1.5 to 2 hours); or a 6.5-mile, 2,000-ft climb to "The Junction," a normal stopping /turnaround spot for many of the locals who've been to the top already, and are just out for a hilly workout without a summit involved.

At the Junction (Northgate Road and Southgate Road meet there), there's a ranger station, benches, shade, water. Start the ride with a belly of water and a full bottle, and you won't need to carry two full bottles, because you can refill there.

Once there at the Jct., you may descend Southgate Road and come back another way, but no space here to explain how. Some riders may opt for that and invite others along. If you're one of the inviters, keep the group together and guide them back to Rivendell, OK?

Better to descend Northgate, the same way you came. If you plan to do this and don't know the way, it's OK, because we'll have written instructions and maybe a hand-drawn map.

On the other hand, the climb to the summit is another 4.5 miles and about 1,640 feet. Shortly after the climb, there's a trail option with a horrible climb/push combo. There's nothing technical, it's all legs and gears, and will cut about 3 minutes off the road route, so long as you keep moving, don't stop.

The last 0.1 mile of the climb to the summit is a narrow, super steep "driveway" that will have you walking if you've already dug as deep as you can. No shame in that.
There is some water at the top, but you should have filled up at the Junction.

The descent is an 11 mile/3,600 foot drop. Few in the world are longer, and probably no more than half-a-handful in this country can equal it. I doubt any surpass it, turns, scenery, variety. Sierra passes are essentially long straight shots down the mountain, and are no match for Diablo's gentle beauty and variety. This is a local talking, of course. Main thing with the descent: Control your speed, don't try to keep up with anybody who's faster. Just make it down and you've won.

This is not a low-pressure, friendly ride. You are truly on your own, from a legal perspective, although we will ask you to sign a waiver. You will be in the company of the friendliest group of riders in the solar system, and as climbs to the top go, it should be easy in such fine company.

At 4pm we will eat at Tullio's, Rivendell's Favorite Restaurant, and though it lacks the white napkin/crystal goblet swankiness of some of Dowtown's eateries, the food is unmatched. Salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza.

It's a No Host/Buy Your Own deal, but we're doing it this-a-way:

Give us $12 (for what will most likely be a $13 meal when you consider grog and tip ), and we'll cover any extras plus the tip.

That way, no weirdness, arithmetic, and no mental math geniuses figuring out that they're owed $1.75 and that the guy in the green hat should pay more because he had an extra beer.
So: That's how we're going to do it: Give us $12 and we'll cover the rest. The waiter will get a wonderful tip.

If you plan to be a meal-eater, please let John here know ahead of time. You can still eat if you don't notify, but notifying will help us and Tullio's plan better, so if you're kinda sure, then please kindly let John know.

He's john@rivbike.com.

Store Hours Next Saturday (July 19)

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:05:07 +0000

We will be around from 8:30 until 10:30 for the garage sale, and then closed for the rest of the day, riding up Mount Diablo. We will resume regular Saturday store hours (10AM-4PM) the following Saturday, July 26.

Rivendell Garage Sale & Ride

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:48:03 +0000

On Saturday, July 19th, we will be having a garage sale here in the driveway. 8:30 AM, and not a moment earlier. We're going to try and keep it simple. Cash only. Prices ending in 5. Unless it's a dollar. We will divide the stuff into areas by price. Each area will be attended by a Riv employee who will take your dough before you move on to the next area. It's faster and easier, and less complicated.

At about 10:30AM , we will head off for a ride up Mt. Diablo. If you are interested in the ride, send john@rivbike.com an email by July 11th. Subject line: July Ride.

It's semi-unoffical, but we will have a waiver for you to sign that morning, just to be on the safe side. Bring a bag lunch. We will have coffee, juice, and bagels here before we go.

We might do an early (no-host) dinner at Tullio's, our neighborhood Italian place, afterward, so mention in your email to John if that is something you'd be interested in attending.

Air Conditioning follow-up

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:55:05 +0000

Thanks to upwards of 150 brilliant suggestions ranging from super low tech that even I can sort of understand, to way too unaffordable, we've got enough information now to forge on ahead. Air conditioning matters, but it is not the stuff of fascinating blogs, so this is the last you'll read of it; but again, thanks.
Grant

Air conditioning question

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:21:59 +0000

We've had two 100-degree days here in our non-air conditioned office, and local meteorologicolical records strongly suggest we've got about 60 more days between 90 and 108 ahead of us between now and late September. The 90s we can handle with seersucker and soda pop (or water, for those of us on a higher plane), but once it's in the low triple figures, work gets unfun fast.

We have five 24 x 40ft workspace units, sheet metal & warehousey, with high roofs that makes normal air-conditioning solutions pathetic failures. When it gets over 104-degrees, we roll out the swamp cooler and aim it at Mark, so he can assemble bikes in relative comfort. Other people use portable fans.

The main problem area is Miesha's space. She's here with 4-month old Freddy, and works in a semi-private 8 x 24-foot space at the far back of one of these rooms. It has a low ceiling (so would be easier to cool) , but there's there's no outside outside her walls, so a normal set-in air conditioner doesn't seem like it'd work. And, since it's 32 feet from the front door (a roll-up and a normal one), it seems like it would be awkward to run a hose-vent from her room to there. It would have to span our main showroom area, and there's not a good place to put the hose.

We need to keep Miesha and Freddy cool. If you really know this stuff and can offer something more helpful than "spray misters and drink lots of cold water," please get in touch. Thanks!

send to grant@rivbike.com