A Sergio Green Platy

Paul’s been riding bikes seriously for many years and knows what he likes. He came to us asking about Rivendells after having switched from commuting on good e-bikes, to a quality singlespeed for the better exercise, to trying out a racing-ish gravel bike for longer rides and some speed. Unfortunately, the comfort just wasn’t there and it wasn’t pleasant.

Ultimately, if you’re into cycling in an upright position on short or long rides, want a simple all-mechanical bike, and want to go as fast or slow as you feel like on dirt, gravel, and pavement, a natural place to end up is on a Riv, particularly if you want the bike to be as beautiful as possible!

We spoke of a few models, but the Platypus is something special. You can size up on it (which we did here) for taller handlebars, but the bike is light enough and nimble enough that the upright position won’t hold you back. It’s like a more flexible all-rounder in the mold of the worldwide do-it-all Atlantis and Joe Appaloosa.

With this simple, no-nonsense and few-extras build (inspired by an unusually minimalist Blue Lug Platy), the bike remained pretty light and easy to pack for travelling. Paul eventually added a Memento front rack with a small Wald basket for errands, and one of the smaller Carradice saddlebags and a Gurp stem bag for daily essentials.

The Losco bar looks sharp, sweeps back for comfort and has a long grip area, and offers a forward hand position, convenient for climbing or other such higher efforts. We kept the gearing simple but nice and low (for the East Coast, no need for super low out-West gears). The rest of the details we worked out over some long chats, like the chainstay wrap adding a pop of colour and a useful bit of protection for the frame in case the chain bounces too hard. Thanks to our head mech Vince for his patience when shellacking it!

Thanks again as well to Paul for his trust in us to build him an exceptional bike which, as he says, “will be a perfect bike for me as I age. Keep me riding!”

We’re out of Platypus frames for the moment, but as of this writing we’ll be receiving Atlantises shortly, then a few Homer Hillsens, then in a few months at last some more Platys. Get in touch if you’d like to talk custom builds, we love to work with you on those.

Photos by Troy