Last year, Ottawa Bike and Trail submitted a very unique Surly Ghost Grappler build to our Readers’ Rides. Today we’re sharing the shop’s latest Rivendell build, a stunning Susie Longbolts!

We’re a small bike shop in Kansas, located at the intersection of the Flint Hills Trail and Prairie Spirit Trail state parks. We’ve been in business for just over eight years.

Surrounded by beautiful Kansas gravel, of course gravel bikes are our primary focus. However, we also have a strong love of steel bikes, so we sell a lot of Surly bikes, steel models from Jamis, and a few frames by Tanglefoot.

One of our long-standing goals has been to add Rivendell to our lineup. This interest is driven by our love for their beautiful frames and parts. Being in a small town, we’re always looking to provide unique and hard-to-find products that give people a reason to visit our shop.

With no Rivendell dealers within a day’s drive, we decided it was time to make it happen. After exchanging a few emails with Will at Rivendell, we got the green light.

We immediately ordered one of the few available frames—a Susie W. Longbolts—and began planning a build. Here’s what we came up with. We wanted to showcase some of the Rivendell Silver parts, as well as some of our favorite components from IRD, Sim Works, and Yokozuna.

We’re excited to help grow awareness of Rivendell in the Midwest and can’t wait to build more examples.

Thanks, Ottawa Bike and Trail

We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!