Farewell Atlantis

It's actually been a done deal for going on two weeks but I wanted to wait till the new owner had received and checked out the bike before completely 'washing my hands' of the frame... after less than a year and somewhere close to 1,000 miles I sold the 64cm Rivendell Atlantis.  I had an absolute blast on this bike, love the aesthetics, the amazing flexibility and almost above all... the name.  Truely an inspired choice for a bike name, excellent art on the headbadge and I'll definitely keep one eye half open for another Atlantis that is actually my size in the future.

In the end it was two things that pushed me over the edge, first the flexibility of the frame to take massive tires was comprimised by the fact that the frame was probably 4cm to big... maybe even more than that for certain off-road uses.  Second I got an opportunity to purchase another Riv that really intrigues me, more on that in a future post.

I went through the full catalog of images I made of the Atlantis and decided to throw them all up in one last post.  I can't say enough good things about this bike!

First photo session, frame, fork, headset, bb, crankset, DT cable stops and seatpost... as purchased

Initial (mongrel) build, particualrly the 700C wheelset off my wife's old dept store hybrid.  Mismatched rear derailleur resulted in only 5 working gears in the rear!

Moustache Bars on the Atlantis just feels right.... right?

First extended ride, an Arlington Loop with a jaunt into DC

Parked with the rest of the fam...

Nice random ride up Arlington Ridge on a warm weekend morning, great new-to-me view found

My first Riv-Ride, I'm still pretty amused and happy by my choice of the Sailor and Seaman Memorial for a backdrop to the Atlantis! :)

Back at one of my favorites, the LBJ Memorial Grove

Over at the Velocity Co-Op as I finalized the legit 700C wheel build, nice XT hubs (dyno front) with velocity rims and the Nomad Resist tires.  Pictured here before I even laced up the chain.

Obviously not an S24O outing but a great and very warm fall (Oct) car camping trip that the Atlantis and MB-5 got to come play in, couple short off road rides proved it could be done!

The first night out the bikes got to dew-ey being left outside, so the second night I found this spare bit of blanket to cover them up... trust me, the Atlantis (and MB-5) are under there.  Check out the mist and the cows in the far background!

The Atlantis touring Lake Waccamaw NC

My first coffee outdoors attempt (unsucessful due to several huge omissions in packing) was also at Lake Waccamaw and I rode the Atlantis out on this boardwalk early in the morning.  Great ride!

Second Riv-Ride meet-up

Howard and I swapped bikes briefly on the second Riv-Ride and I caught a rare shot of the Atlantis in action

Another family shot, you'll notice the Trek got drops (noodles), the Atlantis got the Albatross (upright), and the new XO-3 picked up the traditional Mustache bars... the MB-5 is hanging tough with the bullmoose style.

Bethesda Bagels and a meetup with Erl and his 56cm Atlantis (great looking bike!)

One good one with me and the Atlantis on the CCT over Rock Creek Park with Erl

Alba-eye view of the C&O Canal towpath paralleling the CCT

I love the shadow's in this selfie

Monster cross - Fat Tired Atlantis, massive 2.1" Kenda small block eight tires and the front rack/basket/dyno light dressed up the Atlantis in spectacular style for the final couple weeks.

One of my favorite photo's of myself in a while, courtesy of my lovely wife.  We had a ton of fun bombing around the National Mall, me on the Atlantis and her on the MB-5.

Inside looking out from Swing's coffee where I'm picking up my fresh roasted, single origin coffee.

Last look, I'm really happy with the ultimate build I used with this bike. I went through a fun progression and while the 2.1" tires wouldn't have worked for me long term (too much cush for regular road riding) I had an absolute blast with the bike in this configuration.  The front basket with custom light mount was super-sweet and the Albatross bars with B67 saddle made way more sense than I could have imagined.  

Farewell Atlantis!