The Rivendell Atlantis Page
As Rivendell says in their literature and webiste, the Atlantis is their most versatile bike, their best-seller, and has remained virtually unchanged since it was introduced as the first Rivendell production bike in 1999.
There seem to have been minor modifications to the braze-on arrangements on the fork, and the kickstand plate as seen on the A. Homer Hilsen was added as a running change in 2007/2008. There has only been one stock color of the Atlantis - a creamy bluish green.
It is ideal for loaded touring, trail riding, commuting, and general riding where you're likely to want tires 35mm wide or wider most of the time, and fenders a lot of the time. If you look through the images in the Gallery, you'll find that the setups vary significantly - it seems as though you can do anything on an Atlantis. Even the flyers below show a significant variety of setups. Truly a versatile design.
Update on the Atlantis for the future -
One of the realities of our current global economy is a continued devaluation of the US dollar against the yen. In mid-2009, some rumors began to surface that if things continued that direction, it might be necessary to have the Atlantis production moved away from Toyo. As you would expect with this most popular model, a great concern erupted about the possible disappearence of the Atlantis. Some of the realities were enumerated with the Rivendell Holiday 2009 email, which noted:
"We have a dwindling number of what seems to be the last of the Japanese-built Atlantis frames. They are stratospherically expensive to buy, and your price, $2,000 for frame-fork-headset, counts only if you buy a complete Atlantis from us. Frame only is now $2,300. Sometimes next year we'll likely bring in a Taiwan-built Atlantis, also built under the guidance of Tetsu Ishigaki; and the fork will be made in the old Toyo shop, in Japan. There may be some changes. Fewer sizes, more upslope on the TT. It will be a good, good bike."
Rivendell Atlantis bicycles in the Galleries:
#831 - Angus Lemon's Rivendell Atlantis #763 - Jay Scheiner's Rivendell Atlantis #756 - Seth Vidal's Rivendell Atlantis #519 - Mel's Rivendell Atlantis
#481 - Rick Galezowski's Rivendell Atlantis
#446 - Will Carey's Rivendell Atlantis
#412 - Clive Standley's Rivendell Atlantis
#389 - Ray Shine's Rivendell Atlantis
#355 - Chris McPherson's Rivendell Atlantis
#293 - Steve D's Rivendell Atlantis
#289 - Joe Collins' Rivendell Atlantis
#225 - Robert Kirkpatrick's Rivendell Atlantis
#197 - T E Oakes' Rivendell Atlantis
#184 - Michael Wolfe's Rivendell Atlantis
#161 - Gary Rogers' Rivendell Atlantis
#129 - Forrest Meyer's Rivendell Atlantis
#124 - Eric Nye's Rivendell Atlantis
#119 - Kelly P's Rivendell Atlantis
#110 - Bob Stoltz' Rivendell Atlantis
#102 - Chris Karcher's Rivendell Atlantis
#63 - Joe Collins' Pinstriped Atlantis frame
#33 - Jay Guerin's "Flapped" Atlantis
#32 - Tim Rangitsch's Atlantis
Atlantis on the RBW site - The Atlantis Flyers - Atlantis Announcements in the Rivendell Reader - A "Non-RBW" Atlantis - RBW Owner's Bunch Mailing List
Custom-Forked Atlantis Project
David over at ReadyToRide.biz blog has had issues with shimmies on his Atlantis, after installing a larger, top-front-rack mount bag. He decided to have a custom fork fabricated with lower trail. While there are differences of opinion as to the efficacy of doing this, it seems to have solved the problem for his specific riding situation. His experiences are related here.
Some more on fork re-raking - an ibob thread, an ibob general search
The Atlantis Flyer #1 - Winter 2001 (?)
References Atlantisbike.com to be up after 2/25/02
The Atlantis Flyer #2 - 2003 (?)
Cost of frame now lists at $1300. States that more than a thousand Atlantis frames have been built.
Both flyers are printed with black ink on cream colored paper. I received the first one as a direct mail piece, or inserted into an order received, but I'm pretty sure I picked up the second one at RBW.
There are also higher resolution scans which can be accessed from each individual page. Click here to see all the pages.
Rivendell Reader #35 - "The Atlantis Before Our Atlantis"
Before Rivendell brought out the Atlantis, there was a Bridgestone Atlantis model - this one a relative rarity which was based upon French cyclotouring models. Interesting reading, and quite possibly, something to do with that number which appears on the seat tube of the RBW ...
Rivendell Reader #21 (Fall, 2000) - "A Very Well-Mannerred Ballooner"
As most of the cycling world is beginning to notice some fellah named Lance is winning a European race in July, The Atlantis begins to show up as an actual, real-world-useful bicycle design. Rack, sprung saddle, upright bars. At the time, it was kind of an odd way to set up a bicycle, to say the lest.
Decent-Rez version - Hi-Rez version
Rivendell Reader #21 (Fall, 2000) - "Atlantis Review & Update"
This seems to present the "full text" of the Atlantis model which would be used in Catalogs and website - with background about Toyo as the builders and a comparison to the Rivendell All-Rounder. It sounds as if they've recieved the first batch of 100 frames, and are genuinely pleased with the outcome. It also is the beginning of the Rivendell sizing by PBH - not that it wasn't referenced before, but in this case it's becoming more prominent with the introduction of a production bicycle.
Hi-Rez of 1st page -- Hi-Rez of 2nd page
Subsequent announcements in the Rivendell Reader can be found by scrolling up.
Rivendell Reader #20 - News & Updates Column - "Atlantis"
The first run of 100 has sold out, and another 60 have been placed on order. I like the line, "...it's hard to say how popular they'll be..."
Hi-Rez of 1st page -- Hi-Rez of 2nd page
Subsequent announcements in the Rivendell Reader can be found by scrolling up.
From Rivendell Reader #20 - "Three Good Things About the Atlantis"
Decent Rez - Hi-Rez
Subsequent announcements in the Rivendell Reader can be found by scrolling up.
Earliest Atlantis Announcements- (so far*) - Rivendell Reader #20, (Summer 2000) in GP's column. Kind of a pivotal time in the Rivendell's growth as well - they had just moved to their Main Street address with actual rectangular floorspace. Now a "production" bike project.
Decent Rez - Hi-Rez
Subsequent announcements in the Rivendell Reader can be found by scrolling up.
*I know there has to be earlier announcements, but my pre #20 RR's are on CD, which I can't seem to lay my hands upon right now. Also, I've yet to mine through my copies of the various catalogs.
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Company Info:
Rivendell Bicycle Works
P.O. Box 5289 Walnut Creek, CA 94596
T 800.345.3918/ 925.933.7304
F 877.269.5847
Please note - this is absolutely not meant to be a comprehensive representaton of Rivendell Bicycle Works, their products or their policies.
Please visiti their website, or contact them directly regarding these products.
Last updated: July 5, 2011
