It is one step further along the path.  The store front is up and I am taking deposits on the Rambler.  You can get there by clicking on the store link above.  The initial price for the frame, fork and Paul Racer Brakes will be $1500.  Deposits to hold a place in line are $800.  If you sign up for the “rambler Newsletter” you will get a discount code to help out a bit on the costs.  Delivery is projected at approximately 90 days from the time I cut a PO with my contractor. And that will depend on initial demand.  The faster we get past 30 deposits, the harder and faster we all have to work on our end.

The store will be populated with more fun stuff as we move along.  There will be some subtle refinements, and such, but the basic format is there.

As always thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and be sure to make some time to ride!

You may have noticed the email list sign up box to the right side of the page, I will be using the email list to send out newsletters and such consolidating the Rambler news stuff you will see here on the blog.  As an added bonus there will be special promotions, coupon codes etc for those on the list as things move along.  Please sign up if you are interested, it helps me immensely to consolidate the requests I get for email updates.

The initial price for the Rambler frame, fork and Paul Racer brake will be $1500.  When the official storefront is open I will be taking $800 deposits.  Delivery is projected for 90 days after I am able to get a minimum of 30 orders.  I will add here that if we can reach this goal quickly, or better yet exceed it, that will not only make my day, but my contractor team will likely be motivated to beat this goal.  Remember the email thing I told you about a few lines up?  There will be a couple of ways to sweeten the deal included in newsletter number one, slated for delivery by Friday afternoon.

Until then, get out and ride

It is a tough job, but somebody has to do it.  I believe there is an added element to products that are tested by their designers, a level of commitment, that they demand firsthand feedback.  I will be getting plenty of outside feedback as well, but there is something inherently good about being willing to push your own designs.  There are plenty of products out there including bikes that have never actually been used by the guys selling them.  Here at Ocean Air, I will be testing everything we produce under our own label.

If you were wondering, today’s test was light load and softish fat tires to see if I could induce shimmy.  I was ale to get it to oscillate a few times, but it would settle right back down on its own, and that is a good thing.

Also of note, it has been scientifically proven that red shirts will not only help you go faster, but be more attractive and possibly feel stronger too.  The best part is that I still have plenty of said shirts available to satiate the incredible market demand.

The first up for review are the new Dia-Compe ENE shifters.  These are mechanically identical to the Silver friction shifters that Rivendell helped to bring back to market a few years back.  The difference is in the look and shape.

The Silver shifters have a more modern like the later Suntour down tube shifters.  The ENE shifters shown here are styled after more traditional or older Campy style.  They offer the same silky smooth ratchet mechanism that we have grown to love over the years.  For those not familiar with friction shifting.  Unlike indexed shifting that you “click” from gear to gear, friction allows you infinite freedom to shift across the range of gears.  For the initiate thee may be a short learning curve, but once you have the control back you will not likely want to give it up.  Friction shifting allows the rider to shift smoothly across a range of gears, mix and match drive train components to you heart’s delight and trim a shift as needed without touching a barrel adjuster.

I prefer this shape to the silver model.  The slightly wider and textured tail of the lever has a better feel.   I also like the look, while not a complete retro-grouch, sometimes the classic styling just works.

The ENE shifter are available as a pair in both a down tube model and bar end configuration.  Both will be offered here for sale in the coming week.  Down Tube shifters will be $44, and Bar End $79.

Thanks for taking a look.

It fits near perfectly over the cable stop, everything works like it should and the way the hammer strike bells work there should be no Auto ring from bumps.

I have seen this done before with the spring strike bells to dress up a naked shift boss, but as far as I know I am the first to piggyback a hammer strike bell like this.  If you have seen it out there let me know.

Now back to work, oh and Happy Friday – Play outside!

The bikes in this size range, 56 and smaller, will be constructed with 8/5/8 double butted tube sets to provide a lively, yet secure ride for a combined rider/bike/load total up to 240 lbs or so.  It by no means rides stiff, but things could get a little disconcerting if one were to push the load to the outer boundaries.  The sweet spot for total load is probably close to 190 lbs

On to the detailing.  There is plenty of room around the current 38mm tires, and tires up to 42mm and appropriate fenders will not be a problem.

I was able to capture some better shots of the detailing on the light wiring provisions: Fork wire guides Upper DT port and lower ST port.

All sizes will have the rear brake cable routed along the top tube at 6 o’clock.  This will work just as well as any location on the tube for most, but will play well with a frame bag should the rider choose one.  The weight of the bag will not cause any loading or friction on the exposed run of cable, and thus no binding of the brake movement.

I rode the bike around a bit this morning, and other than being small for me, it was a everything I hoped for.  Handling was smooth, with or without hands on the bar, no shimmy, comfortable etc. etc.

As for the two-tone color scheme?  lets just say it is a wonderful way to demo the red and yellow options, and a lesson in the level of direction and clarity needed when coordinating the color for future runs.

The next step is getting the components swapped out, fenders installed and the bike back under a rider for a couple weeks of commuting and after work rides.

As always the fit and finish is incredible on these finely crafted US made components.  I will be setting two of the bikes up this week with the 46/28 wide range doubles, and all place holder seat posts will be replaced with the new Tall and Handsome from Paul.  I am not sure I will need all of the Tall part, but will resist cutting them short for now.

If you have had a Rambler on your mind and wondering what you were going to hang on it to transform it into a complete bike, I should have plenty of options soon.  For the “American” build I have accounts in place with Paul Components and White Industries.  For the bits and pieces you may have a hard time sourcing I can get what you need from Compass or Velo Orange.  I have access to many of the other bits add pieces as well.  I am working on sources for saddles, wheels and lighting.  There are custom racks and bags still in the planning phases as well.  Never a dull moment at OAC lately.

I have used many of these products for years if not decades, some are new.  I will be sharing all of my impressions as I press them into service.  Those that make the cut will be available through my upcoming eCommerce site to build up the Rambler you have been waiting for.

The Paul Racers pared to the Sram levers were the best brake set up I have ever used.  The range of modulation is wide and precise, stopping power was easy to fine tune, and there was no fade or degradation at any point.  The oddest part was that I could stop on a dime in the pavement, but it was hard if not impossible to initiate a skid, this is probably a good thing.  The bonus was how easy they are to set up.  I know people tend to squirm a the price of Paul brakes, but I will have a hard time going back to other brakes.

Shimmy is the unintended harmonic oscillation of the entire bike, and an issue that often comes up with this style of bike, particularly on the larger bikes with light tube sets.  My first round build up of the two bikes was intended to give shimmy every chance it could to show up (within safe reason).  The bike is what it is, 62cm with 9/6/9 tube set, I built it up with a King headset and my floppiest handlebar bag.  loaded with random gear and a sloshing 1l bottle of water the shimmy never came.  Only when riding with no hands and tapping the bar would it oscillate a few times and stop.  Rambler No.3 had similar results, by my uncoached tester.  It is a size 56 with 8/5/8 frame tubes and a Cane Creel 110 headset.  At one point there was what he described as a little shake, he naturally loosened his grip and the shimmy stopped immediately, and did not return.  While shimmy is and will remain a bit of a mystery as to its exact cause, I excited with the initial results of my testing.

I am pretty happy with the outcome of my design.  It worked equally well for me at my experience level and a rider out for his first time on a true road bike.  I have seen it debated that bikes with a low trail geometry require some sort of mystic skill level  to handle well, and in my experience this is just not true.  Saturday proved that again.  The ride was double that of what my friend had ever done.  He was able to maintain the pace of the group, handle the bike well, with day trip load, on a bike he had never ridden, not even that style of bike, and he had a blast.  I my mind this is pretty solid proof that the bike worked as it should.  Frosting on the cake is that he was not sore at all the next day, and I attribute that to a good fit and tubing spec.  He was on the 56, with 8/5/8 DB tubes, and rider plus load was around 180lbs.  He is naturally inclined to a high cadence, and even with long 175mm cranks there were no issues.

In the coming weeks I will be shifting the builds around a bit, to test different aspects of the bikes as well as confirm component figment for different brands, models etc.  I will share detailed reports as I move through the process.

One area of detailing that keeps coming up is the provisions for light wiring.  There are wire guides on the right fork leg to accommodate safe wire routing from the connection point of a dynamo hub to the top of the fork.

There are also reinforced wire ports at the top of the down tube and the back of the down tube just above the bottom bracket.  I feel this should allow plenty of options for wiring up head and tail lights to the dynamo hub should you choose that as a lighting option.

Thanks for reading, and stay posted, the reports will be come more quickly.

The weather was perfect, warm not hot, light breezes and not a cloud in the sky.  The hills had some green thanks to the recent late season rains.  And the dirt conditions were perfect.  There is an 8 mile warm up on the Ventura river trail before we set into the work of the 10 miles or so of dirt road climbing through the cattle ranches and countryside.  While only about 1/5 of the mileage, this is where we spent the largest percentage of the time.

Here is a shot of the whole group;

Here is Mike F rocking the Trek I had converted to 650b a few months back with some downhill pedals and sanuk sandal shoes.  With a low gear ratio of 40/32 he was still leading the pack throughout the whole day.

The fog was well offshore, obscuring the islands, but there were still full panoramic views of the entire Santa Clara and Ventura river valleys.

With the time spent on the dirt, the road sections went pretty fast by comparison.

For me the ride had a few highlights.  First and foremost was sharing the loop with friends.  I have done this ride a bunch alone over the years, and hands down it is better with a few buddies.  Everybody had a good time, not too much suffering on the steep sections and the closest thing we had to a mechanical was a couple of slow tire leaks that needed topping up along the way, and Errin hit some gum.  A giant Thank You to all who were able to come out for the ride.  I am looking forward to doing this again soon.

Mike’s trek was flawless, not a squeak or rattle on a bike that has seen months of use since I restored it for him.  My Rambler No1 met and exceeded all of my performance expectations, both climbing and descending.  My friend Aaron was on Rambler No3.  He had never ridden it before that morning, never ridden a bike with drop bars, never ridden more than 30 miles or so and surely not with 4K feet of total climbing and  two wicked fast twisty descents.  He was able to hold strong with all of us, the whole time, excepting a slight bonk, but that was right before our planned lunch stop.  While riding a bike of my own design and having it go well was rewarding, having it go that well for your friend is far greater.

Wiring port for internal routing of lighting wires.  Crown mounted rack bosses.  Tons of room around the Jack Brown 33mm tires.  The Paul Racer brakes are so freaking awesome.

On a side note, I went with the SRAM brake levers on this build.  After years of wrestling with Shimano and Tektro levers, these things practically set up themselves.  The cables just floated through the routing ports without even having to twist, fiddle and hold a flashlight in your teeth to find the little hole.  I really like these.

I am really stoked after a couple of quick rides.  It is everything I expected.  There will be a bit of refinement on things like bridge and boss locations, but only a few mm, nothing that makes you scratch you head and go back to the drawing board.  The colors are fantastic.  Today number 3 and 4 are on their way.  Next build is No.3, then number 2.  It is going to be a crazy weekend.

Stay tuned, way more pictures to come.