a midway bikelog

Update: The bike is sold, thanks for the interest and well wishes!

I’ve come to the totally unfun decision to sell my Rivendell Redwood. It’s a great bike, the best-riding bike i’ve ever owned, and gorgeous, but well, i need the money from it more. Details and photos follow, write me at bconnell at gmail dot com with interest and questions. Thanks.

For sale: my 65cm Rivendell Redwood. It was Rivendell’s plainer (simpler lugs, one-color), upsized version of their Rambouillet frame, but sold only as a complete bike. The middle-of-the-bell-curve version was the Romulus. The frame was built by Toyo in Japan and features the same geometry as the Rambouillet with a slightly stouter downtube, and it was only available in the 65 or 68cm sizes and only in this lovely, shimmery green.

The bike has about 3,000 miles on it, I bought it new from Rivendell in October 2004. I’ve used it primarily for century and other long road rides, and relatively tame dirt/gravel roads. It’s never been crashed or used for heavy touring, no structural damage of any sort, and it’s never been structurally modified or repainted. It was also never ridden on salty streets during the winter. The small blemishes it has are from everyday wear; chain nicks on the right chainstay, some smudging on the left downtube decal, and a scratch on the stem where i had a bell mounted. There are minor scratches on the cranks, but i’ve mainly ridden it with clipless pedals. I’ve done normal maintenance as needed; it’s had a new chains, cables and a new rear tire, i retentioned and trued the wheels once when the bike was about a year old, and i rebuilt both hubs once. Everything is in great working order and cosmetically very clean.

The parts spec is mainly as original: Sugino triple crank, Shimano 105 group for hubs, bb, headset, brakes and derailers, dura-ace bar-end shifters, Araya RC-540 rims, 12cm Technomic Dlx stem, 46cm Nitto Noodle bars, Nitto 65 (aka Crystal Fellow) seatpost. I added the Ale cages and the SKS fenders. Front tire is a somewhat worn Ruffy Tuffy, the rear is a year-old Pasela, bars have a black & brown cloth tape diamond weave.

I’m most interested in selling the bike complete as-is in the photos, minus the cyclometer, saddle and pedals. I’m starting the listing at $1450 $1300 (new reduced price) plus actual shipping, and i’ll entertain reasonable offers. It would ship (if it must ship) in the original box (with new packing, i can have a shop pack it) and i should have the manual somewhere too. Let me know if you have any questions or want to see pictures of anything specific.

Update: a note on sizing and fit. I’m 6′4″, saddle height 83cm, PBH 93cm, and this bike as-built fits me perfectly with about a fistful of seatpost showing and the bars level with the saddle. This is the style of fit that Rivendell recommends, and you’ll be skeptical if you’ve been riding smaller bikes (in the parlance of our times), but it’s truly a super-comfortable fit that has let me ride multiple centuries (some 150 miles or more) with no bike fit-related issues (tiredness and leg cramps are not the frame’s fault). If you’re between about 6′2″ and 6′8″, measure your PBH and if it’s around 92-95cm, this’ll probably work well for you. Of course, it’s also available for test rides in St. Paul.