Bikes

Updated May 22, 2012

The Shop link above is open for business and we are now accepting deposits for a projected delivery mid to late summer!!!

I am guessing is you have followed my story you may be looking to get a bike that bridges transportation and sport, i.e transportation does not  have to be a mini van.  You like bikes that have a traditional look and styling.  Possibly a preference for traditional french styling from the 40’s and 50’s, with your daily load up front where you can keep an eye on it and get to it without climbing off the bike.  Your previous attempts at this with the commonly available bikes may have left you with a less than optimal handling experience.  Either a bike that was heavier than it needed to be, if it was a light weight had no provisions to carry the load on the bike or if it did the handling was compromised when loaded.

With years of personal research and design study I have addressed these issues with a bike steeped in the lineage of the traditional french touring bikes.  Using modern production techniques and partnering with a U.S. fabrication team to  deliver the look and function you are after with a few bells and whistles thrown in.  The ride will be light and sporty, yet stable with loads for you commute, day rides or the occasional quick load of groceries up front.  It goes without saying there will be provisions for full coverage fenders to keep you and the bike clean during year round riding.  This is the bike you will want for rambles through the countryside, distance rides and randonees, and still able to be your daily steed.  All of this at a price that is competitive in the current market.

The sport touring frame set project is moving along as planned.  The Design spec and engineering is settled in at to 95% point and I am comfortable releasing my Geometry and Tubing Spec:

The Spec table has been revised to show the move to 8/5/8 wall thickness on all sizes below 56 and 9/6/9 on 58 and up.  I will have a link to the older table up later this weekend for the curious.

The line has a range of odd sizes from 51 through 63 measured along the seat tube Center of bottom bracket to the top of the intersection with the top tube.  When comparing this to traditional road frames or the size you may ride in your regular bike, consider that the size in the chart will be about 1 to 2 cm larger due to the distance from the center of the top tube to the top and the generous bottom bracket drop.  For example I ride a 63 or 64 on my Roadeo and Eisentraut, and the 63 above is designed around my needs.  On other offerings like a Surly Cross check or other “cross” bikes I would ride a size smaller, something closer to 60 or 61

Other things to consider with the spec:

  • Clearance for 42mm tires and fenders on all sizes
  • These are designed with the provision for Paul Racer brakes mounted with Brazed on bosses.  These provide ample clearance while retaining outstanding performance.  The bridges and brake holes will be located such that a 68-70mm reach brake could be used if the brake bosses were omitted by customer choice.
  • Frame construction will be Tig welded double butted 4130 steel.
  • The fork will have an investment cast crown and braze-on provisions for small upper and low rider racks as well as lighting wires.
  • Down tube shifter bosses
  • Double water bottle with reenforcing star mounts on all sizes
  • Columbine Quickchainger brazed on for clean and easy rear wheel changes.
  • Brazed on fender mounting points placed such that installation will be easy and result in even fender line.
  • 130mm rear spacing to work easily with modern road bike components.
  • Color options of American flag blue and  red and sunflower yellow

Production samples are complete, testing and review are in progress and we project final availability for late Summer 2012.  The initial offering will be at $1500 for the frame, fork and Paul Racer Brakes.  I am planning a couple of different levels of promotion for the early adopters.  These will likely be discounted components for your final builds as delivery approaches.  The best way to get details on this is through signing up for the “Rambler Newsletter” in the right margin.

As always I appreciate you continued readership and support.  Project news will be updated here as soon as it is available.

 

11 thoughts on “Bikes”

  1. Any chance of an optional 1″ threaded steerer? After struggling for years with Crosscheck and various other bikes to get my bars at just the right height, I’m tired of playing the headset spacer/stem/should I cut the steerer now? game. I’m really starting to see the benefits of being able to quickly adjust my bar height to match my fitness, pace, mood, etc.

    I think the dark yellow color sounds excellent, that was a color I was leaning towards when I was thinking of a custom bike.

    1. Thanks for your interest, and in the yellow too. That color is getting lots of good feedback.

      I went back and forth on the stem issue, and after weighing it all out decided to stick with the 1 1/8″ threadless. If I were to add the threaded as an option it would get more complex than I can really manage while in the startup phase of this thing. That being said, my contractor and I have discussed the option of forks as a single item. If we did a 1″ fork, and combined it with a king Devolution headset, it could be made to work, but that is still less than optimum. I have a foot in both camps on the headset stem issue. Once I really settled on with a bike that fits, I have found I do not move the stem that much. If I do it is for a bar or control swap, and this is when the removable face plates on the threadless systems shine. That and headset servicing.

      Take a look at this resource when working out some of your stem adjustments:

      It helped me get my head around the geometry for locating the bar in 3d space.

    1. Errin, No announcement yet, these are still my 4 production samples. They went a lot longer than planned, but all of the production tooling is now going to be in place for the first run. My LLC paperwork is close behind these in things taking longer than planned. I can feel the dominoes starting to tip though.

      Target pricing is $1500 for frame, fork and Paul Racer Brakes. My contractor and I will be reviewing every aspect of these 4 to see what and where any adjustments may be needed to keep this on track. I believe we are close, but there will be a couple of tweaks with things like dropouts to get it all dialed. I plan to hold to that price for some portion of the first run, likely 25-50 units.

      I will shoot you an email as soon as things gel…

    1. The head tube measured out at 205mm, I will ad that data to the revised spec chart as we move towards production

  2. Rob, what’s the steerer tube length going to run on these? If I can’t have a threaded steerer, I at least need to be able to get the bars higher than my Crosscheck (300mm steerer) Also, what’s the fork length run for the 700c model?

    Thanks,
    Eric

    1. Eric, I can make the steerer just about anything you want, within reason, and 300mm should be no problem. The sample forks actually came in a bit longer than that. The 700c fork length, axle to crown is about 390mm. There may be a couple of mm tweaking, but that is very close to where it will be.

      Cheers
      Rob

  3. Oh, and a few more questions: are there rack mounts on top of the fork crown, or what’s the idea for mounting a front rack?

    Any chance of more detailed pictures of number 1? Show it off, man!

    1. The fork are rack mounts are on top of the crown, mid blade and double eyelets on the dropouts. The brake hole through the crown will be drilled out for fender mounting and possibly a rack mounting point. In addition to that you could always opt to add the Paul double ended bolts and have a mounting point at the brake bosses as well. I will be setting my bike, No.1, up with a Mark’s rack next week. The modular mature of that platform will allow me to work out placement, dimensions etc. and help give you all out there a better idea of where this is going.

      The picture taking and riding will be able to ramp up now that I am over the hump with the storefront. The last few weeks were more Banking, legal and web stuff, not bad, but I am happy it is mostly done. The next stretch should be a bit more fun for me and you. Trust me, I plan to show off every molecule in time.

      Thanks for your interest
      Rob

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