Hi Stephen, Back in 2007 I bought an A Homer Hilsen from Riv. I was living in Yorkshire at the time with a baby on the way and Grant's philosophy about having fun and focusing on versatility really hit home. I sold a number of bikes to fund the complete bike (with racks and bags). The import duty and shipping was expensive but it was an investment and great value for money compared to other bikes that charge more and do less. I have since sold the bike (everyone close to me told me not to and that I would regret it). I think they'll be probably be proved right long term but my tastes changed (influenced by Grant I am sure, towards less fancy, more clearance, stouter tubes) and it was necessary with a growing family and limited funds. Like Patrick said, I wouldn't have any hesitation ordering direct from Riv. The sizing they chose for me was larger than I would have expected but the fit and ride were fantastic. Folks on the list have called it limousine-like and I think that comes close. Stable, smooth, comfortable over a long distance. I rode the Northern Coast to Coast on it, a few years ago now, with a Carradic saddle bag (light luggage) and if I were to select a bike from all those that I've ever owned to ride it again I would choose the AHH. When I sold it after 5 years of ownership it looked as good the day I got it (some things looked better with age: bar tape, Brooks B17 Special honey saddle, some things I' d changed: Honjo Hammered mudguards).
In retrospect, had I bought the Atlantis back in 2007 (I overlooked it because I was still coming off the back of long sportive solo rides) I would still have that bike to day, no question. My all-time favourite is probably the orange double top tube canti Sam, though. Good luck in your search but I wouldn't be concerned oredring off spec. I had no previous knowledge and coudln't have been more pleased with the AHH. Best, Chris On Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:55:40 UTC, Stephen Kemp wrote: > Hello everyone, > > I am a Riv-luster in the UK. Are there any UK Riv owners on this group? > I'm pretty sure I will have a Riv one day but not just yet. Until then I go > through thought experiments about which would be my ideal. One of the > questions I ponder over is sizing and, being so far from Walnut Creek, how > do I try out any of the bikes...? I know the answer will come back at me > that when the time comes I should trust GP and the team on sizing advice > but still it would be nice to try a bike before committing to anything - it > would be really disappointing for it not to be right after all those years > of yearning. Hence it would be nice to hear from any UK owners and maybe > they could say something about how they went about making the right > decision, what they went for and where they're based - if you're anywhere > near Southampton it would be good to meet up for a ride (and maybe I could > even try your bike). For the record, if I went for a Sam, I'd be looking at > the 62cm so if anyone has one of those and is on/near the south coast then > get in touch! > > Thanks > Stephen > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
