Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from our pal Eric Dabbert in Crested Butte, Colorado, who shares the stunning Rivendell Joe Appaloosa that carries him on day-to-day rides around town and further afield into the surrounding mountains. Get to know Eric and find an extensive gallery of photos here…
Words by Eric Dabbert
Hello, I’m Eric. I’m originally from South Dakota but now reside in Crested Butte, Colorado. For my day job, I am the inn keeper/manager’s assistant at a lodge. It gives me a great work-life balance. In my free time, I enjoy almost all forms of biking: rambling, gravel, mountain, bikepacking, and touring. For recovery days when I’m not biking, you can find me in the backcountry fly fishing with my feet in a river or walking my dachshund, Munch!
I had a beloved Surly Cross-Check for six years. I had it built up similar to Rivendell style, but a few things always bothered me about it. Namely: toe overlap, 700c wheels, twitchy steering, and tire clearance. I had always admired Rivendells, and one day, I stumbled upon an orange Joe Appaloosa that a buddy was selling. It has some nice parts on it and was complete. I started riding it and knew it was the bike for me.
Slowly, I started replacing the stock parts with take-offs from my Cross-Check. I also had a pair of custom wheels built. Before you know it, I had replaced nearly every part on the bike except for the frame. Fast-forward to Rivendell releasing the Appaloosa in a new beautiful Lime Olive with gold undertones, and I knew I had to do a frame swap, as olive green is my go-to color palette.
- Frame/Fork Rivendell Joe Appaloosa (51cm)
- Rims Velocity Cliffhanger 650b polished with MSW
- Hubs SON28 polished (front) / Paul polished (rear)
- Tires Ultradynamico Mars JFF 27.5 x 2.25″
- Handlebars Nitto Losco Bars 540mm
- Headset 1” threaded Chris King, silver
- Crankset White Industries VBC 170mm 38/24 rings
- Pedals MKS XC-III Bear Trap, polished
- Cassette Shimano XT 11-36t 10-speed
- Derailleurs Shimano Sora (front) / Shimano XT 9-speed (rear)
- Brakes Paul Gold Motolite
- Brake levers Paul Love levers 2.5, polished
- Shifters Microshift Friction
- Saddle Titanium B17 Select Honey with Randi Jo waxed canvas cover
- Seatpost Nitto S83
- Stem Nitto FW30 Power stem (100mm)
- Front bags Custom waxed canvas Wizard Works Alakazam
- Rear bags Brooks Isle of Wight saddle bag
- Accessory bags Waxed canvas Randi Jo Bartender Plus
- Rack Nitto Mark’s M1 rack with Wald 137 basket
- Kickstand Pletcher double
- Lights Schmidt Edelux (front) / Blue Lug Koma (rear)
- Other accessories Blue Lug Brass headset spacers, Forager Cable cherries, King Cages, Spurcycle Bell, Paul QR
I sold my orange frame and bought my very own brand-new Rivendell. I built it up with all of my parts from the previous build. It rides amazingly, and I love the color scheme of this build. I use this bike daily for running errands around this small mountain town or spirited evening rambles on forest service roads.
Special thanks to my friend Blaise for helping build up my original bike as well as my dream wheelset for it. He also had a NOS King headset for this build, which I think is the cherry on top. Thanks also my bud Andrew for always being down to go on Riv Rambles with me. These bikes are fun, beautiful, and not meant to be taken too seriously. Open shoulders, open mind!
You can see more from Eric on Instagram.
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