Atlantis Frames by Rivendell
We have closed out Atlantis frames. We have none left. Due to the rising value of the Japanese Yen vs the US Dollar, Rivendell has made some changes to their distribution, and I have decided that I can no longer sell their frames. Please don't misunderstand. My good feelings towards Grant and everyone else at Rivendell are as strong as ever. They make great frames. I wish I could continue to sell them. But it simply doesn't make good business sense for me. If you would like an Atlantis or any other Rivendell frame built into a bike, you can have the frame shipped to us for assembly. I was building up Riv bikes long before I became a dealer. Rivendell offers complete bikes as well, but generally with different components than I use. So you can have them build it, me build it along with my wheels, or just buy the frame and build it up yourself. I'll keep this page up, not just until I've sold the last Atlantis I have in stock, but for as long as Riv has them. I'm happy to promote them. The Atlantis frame and fork are very well built, far better than you would expect for this price. The alignment is always perfect, and the detailing is quite nice. Note the slightly upward sloping top tube. This frame is designed for comfort. It takes big tires, accomodates fenders, gives you a high handlebar position, a laid back saddle position due to the shallow seat tube angle, and very stable handling. It's a great frame for loaded touring, or commuting. It will even handle moderate single track off road riding if you put really fat tires on it. And it fits really fat tires really well. It's designed to be used with compact drive mountain bike gearing. The manufacturer recommends a 46-36-26 triple chainring set, which does work. But I've found that for eight or nine speed rear cassettes, better clearance between the chainrings and the chainstay can be had with smaller middle and inner position chainrings. I like to set up the Atlantis with 46-34-22 chainrings. That works great with Shimano mountain bike front derailleurs, which are designed to have a 12 tooth difference between the outer and middle chainring.
This shows the Atlantis bottom bracket from below. The crank is a TA Zephyr. The middle chainring is in the same plane as the 5th (middle) cog on a 9 speed cassette, in other words, what I refer to as neutral chainline. The middle cog of a nine speed Shimano cassette mounted on a standard a standard Shimano mountain bike rear hub with a 135mm axle, is 45mm from the centerline of the frame. So, for neutral chainline, the middle chainring of a triple crankset should also be 45mm from the frame's centerline. I have found that the best shifting and chainline with lots of clearance with Shimano derailleurs is had with 46-34-20 or 22 chainrings on the Atlantis. Using larger chainrings than this puts the teeth too close to the chainstays, or requires that the chainrings be positioned further to the outside, making for poor chainline. The Shimano cranksets place the rings further to the outside for instance. The gearing still works, but not quite as efficiently as it would if the chainline was better. If you're using a 7 speed cassette or freewheel, larger chainrings can be used on the Zephyr crank with good chainline, since the crank can be positioned further from the frame's centerline, allowing the rings to clear the frame. But I see no point in using 7 speed cassettes or freewheels, since good quality cassette hubs for 7 speed are no longer made, and since good quality 7 speed freewheels haven't been made since the early 1990s.
Here's a 53cm Atlantis built for a rider wanting lots of standover clearance. With the extended headtube and a Nitto Technomic stem, the handlebar can be placed at the same height as the saddle, and still provide plenty of clearance when standing in front of the saddle. This is especially helpful if you'll be using the Atlantis on rough trails. 47cm through 56cm frames are designed for 26" mountain bike size tires. Larger frames (58cm and up) are designed for 700c road tires. I stock 700c road tires up to 50mm in width, so you can take full advantage of the Atlantis's off road capabilities. Except for the 47cm frame size, all Atlantis frames can accept 2" wide tires. The 47cm size is limited to 26x1.75" tires. Because the frames with 700c tires have slightly different geometry at the bottom bracket, I've found it works best to have a crankset with a 46 tooth outer chainring. That allows the front derailleur to be higher on the seat tube. If the derailleur is too low, it may not shift to the smallest chainring because it can hit the chainstay. Modern front derailleurs that work with small chainrings are designed with modern mountain bikes in mind which have very high bottom brackets. The Atlantis has a low bottom bracket. The low bottom bracket means that the chainstays angle upward to meet the rear dropouts. This causes clearance problems with small chainrings because the front derailleur has to be too low and hits the chainstay. By having a 12 tooth difference between the middle and outer chainring, a Shimano XT 9 speed front derailleur will shift very well, and clear the right chainstay when you shift from the middle to the inner (20 or 22 tooth) chainring.
Here's an Atlantis built for a customer wanting a high handlebar position. She has long legs and a short torso. The Technomic stem in a 50mm reach placed at the maximum height gives her a comfortable ride. The Carradice Lowsaddle Longflap can hold lots of groceries or whatever she needs for a day's outing. It's mounted to the Terry saddle by using the Carradice Clamp.
I can install a Chris King headset or one of many other headsets if you like. King heasdset costs $139 installed. I also have several Campagnolo, and Stronglight headsets to fit the Atlantis, though in the past Rivendell has supplied the frame with a headset. Features include three sets of water bottle eyelets, rear rack eyelets, fender eyelets, downtube shifter bosses, front and rear cable hangers for cantilever brakes, cantilever brake braze-ons, 135mm rear axle spacing, ample fender clearance with large tires, extended head tube and sloping top tube for a higher, more comfortable handlebar position. The Atlantis frame is fully lugged, all brazed construction. There's nary a weld in sight! And the lugs are quite elegant, and beautifully finished. Many component groups are available.
Here's a 56cm Atlantis fitted out with a selection of my best components. TA Zephyr cranks 45-33-22, TA Auto-Extractor bolts, Phil Wood 125mm bb, Speedplay Frog pedals, Sachs PC 59 chain, Ultegra 12-27 9 speed cassette, XTR hubs, Wheelsmith 14-16 spokes, Mavic D521 rims, Continental Town & Country tires, Velox adhesive backed cloth rim strips, Ultegra Triple rear derailleur, XT front derailleur, Dura Ace 9 speed bar end shifters, Nitto Technomic stem, 3TTT Forma handlebar, Dia Compe 287 brake levers, Cinelli Cork tape, Paul Touring cantilever brakes, Kool Stop Salmon pads, Salsa Shaft seatpost, Brooks B17 Champion Special saddle.
Zephyr crankset and Speedplay Frog pedals. Zephyr triple cranks are sold out.
This is an Atlantis with a Schmidt Dynohub and Lumotec Oval Plus headlight partly installed. (The cable hasn't been tied down.)
The new Brooks B17 Champion Special in Racing Green looks particularly nice on an Atlantis. And you know how important the look of your saddle is while riding along! ;-)
If you have your Atlantis frame or bicycle shipped to you, it will arrive with a plug in the seat tube, to protect the point at the top of the seat lug.
Loosen the 5mm seat post binder bolt and remove the plug before installing the seat post.
Back to: Peter White Cycles LLC home page Penny is the Lord High Executioner of Email. So please send your email to Penny. Mail to: The email link above uses some fancy javascript voodoo to hide the actual address from spambots. Your browser needs to be set to run javascript in order for you to use any of the email links on my website. If you can't see the links, you can call us. You can also type the address into your email software. First, type the alias, "penny". Then type the "@" sign. It's above the number 2 on your keyboard. Then type the domain, "peterwhitecycles.com". Don't put in the quotes! That should do it. You can also call us at 603 478 0900 It's best to call before 4PM Eastern time since after that we're either running around like headless chickens or at home ready to jump into the pot. Please don't place an order without first reading this. This page updated: Saturday, September 22, 2018 Peter White Cycles LLC
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