Rivendell Bicycle Works

Rivendell has been in business for thirty years, selling bicycle frames, parts, assembled bikes, and other random stuff out of Walnut Creek, CA. I first started buying things from them around 2005, getting a saddle bag, some beeswax, and a few other parts. But it wasn't until 2026 that I bought a Rivendell bike, an A. Homer Hilsen that was discovered in their warehouse when doing an inventory.

Rivendell is famous for its contrarian views on bike culture and equipment. Its founder, Grant Peterson, holds these beliefs about cycler¹¹ This is what they call people who ride bikes, instead of the more common cyclist. equipment:

• Frame material: steel over carbon fiber or aluminum

• Closhes: wool, seersucker, or linen over lycra

• Handlebar tape: cotton over rubber

• Handlebar grips: wool or cork over foam

• Tires: wide over skinny

• Brakes: rim over disc

• Shifting: friction over indexing

• Ride tracking: watches over head units

• Axles: quick release over thru-axle

• Frame connections: lugs over welding

• Bag closures: hook and loop over zippers

• Bag materials: canvas and leather over polyester and nylon

• Recently, sloping top tube frames over flat ones.

Some of these beliefs are more strict than others. For instance, a lot of Rivendell's employees have bikes with indexed shifting and their more affordable frames are TIG welded.

But the company has made a name for itself for its aesthetic and adherence to The Old Ways. Of their beliefs, the only one that's made a foothold in industry so far is the preference for wider tires. There have been a few profiles of Grant over the years:

• The Art of Taking It Slow in the New Yorker (2024).

• An Interview with Grant Petersen, founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works in Nativve (2023).

Other Rivendell owners

Here are some other owners of Rivendell bikes:

• Syaheir's Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen

• Jessica's Rivendell Sam Hillborne

• Alan's 2009 Rivendell Sam Hillborne

• Marcus's Rivendell Atlantis

• Rivendell Bicycle Works Joe Appaloosa Assembly by Eric Marth

• Rivendell Atlantis: Long-Term Review

• Nassim and His Sam Hillborne

• Charlie's Rivendell Romulus

• Andrew's Rivendell Platypus

• Luke's Rivendell Atlantis

Resources

• RBW Owners Bunch is a mailing list for people interested in talking about Rivendell.

• Rivendell Reader Archive holds PDFs of the early newsletters that were mailed to fans of Rivendell.