It's always a happy & exciting time when you receive a "care package" from a bike shop or company. It's a bit like Christmas even though you know exactly what's in there and exactly how much it cost.
So what's in the box this time? A variety of Velo-Orange goodness
These will go on the Roadrat, which is slowly being converted from an urban runabout to a touring bike.
On the front we have some Chris's Rando bars - a little different to regular road bars with an upward sweep from the stem, a longer section before the hoods and a slight flare on the drops (which I can use without my belly bouncing gently on my knees). These are very comfortable - so far they feel the best drop-bars that I've used, although it gets uncomfortable with your hands either side of the stem. This is mounted on a shiny VO stem and holds a 'baguette 'handlebar bag.
The seat is a leather 'Model 3' saddle, modelled on a Brooks B17 but made from Tasmanian cows. Leather saddles are traditionally used by long-distance riders (not racers) as over time they apparently shape themselves to the individual shape of your backside. This is known as an 'arse hammock'. The break-in time is supposed to be painful but I'm not finding it too bad, possibly because I'm only riding 20km at a time. It's mounted on a shiny VO seatpost, and suspends a 'Croissant' saddle bag. This is large enough to be useful but small enough to theoretically not be noticeable when you ride. Unfortunately the buckles on the fine-looking leather straps keep knocking into the seatpost with a distinct and incredibly irritating 'tick' every time I hit a bump - I need to do some masking with tape.
Finally there are Sabot pedals. I'm a big fan of flat pedals and most of the ones I ride are BMX pedals. These look a little more understated but still have a massive and very comfortable platform. Although the combination of flat pedals, no straps and narrow handlebars means wrestling the bike up hills is hard work.
As it's a Friday I was able to pack a complete change of clothes in the bags today - a carefully rolled and surprisingly wrinkle-free t-shirt and some undies in the front bag and a pair of trousers in the saddlebag. Flat pedals meant I was able to wear the shoes I rode in in around the office without walking like a constipated gazelle, and all I needed was a hip-pouch for essential tools and a camera.
So what's in the box this time? A variety of Velo-Orange goodness
On the front we have some Chris's Rando bars - a little different to regular road bars with an upward sweep from the stem, a longer section before the hoods and a slight flare on the drops (which I can use without my belly bouncing gently on my knees). These are very comfortable - so far they feel the best drop-bars that I've used, although it gets uncomfortable with your hands either side of the stem. This is mounted on a shiny VO stem and holds a 'baguette 'handlebar bag.
The seat is a leather 'Model 3' saddle, modelled on a Brooks B17 but made from Tasmanian cows. Leather saddles are traditionally used by long-distance riders (not racers) as over time they apparently shape themselves to the individual shape of your backside. This is known as an 'arse hammock'. The break-in time is supposed to be painful but I'm not finding it too bad, possibly because I'm only riding 20km at a time. It's mounted on a shiny VO seatpost, and suspends a 'Croissant' saddle bag. This is large enough to be useful but small enough to theoretically not be noticeable when you ride. Unfortunately the buckles on the fine-looking leather straps keep knocking into the seatpost with a distinct and incredibly irritating 'tick' every time I hit a bump - I need to do some masking with tape.
Sadly at some point I'm going to need to bite the bullet and put those new-fangled gear things on though.
We can mount the rear bag better and then it won't make the irritating noise. I went through the same problem.
ReplyDeleteGordy
Interesting bars, great pedals, handsome seat post (makes me realise how uuuug-ly the zero setback post on my Trucker is), OMG disc brakes? On the front wheel? WHY HAVE YOU WRAPPED THE TOP TUBE IN PRECIOUS PADDING? Also I don't know how I feel about sloping top tubes. I quite like VO but you know, I'm a Rivendell girl so yeah, I mean as far as buying a VO bag or anything that would never happen because I would have to buy a Rivendell bag because that's just how it is for me... wow I have a lot of thoughts about this bike. I like the big wheels. They're big wheels, right? I am getting really sad as I write this because I want to go touring now. Oh my God yeah you need gears. Are you gonna put a triple on it? I mean, what sort of load-carrying to hill climbing ratios are we talking about here? I WANNA GO TOURING AGAIN!!!!! Oh wait where are your rear rack braze ons? I guess you could rig something up with those hose clamp things... wait don't listen to me I actually don't know anything about bikes, I just like talking about them. I give this bike five stars on Trip Advisor!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Kitty, glad you like the bike :). It's got big wheels - currently running 700x38s with a fair bit of clearance, it will almost take 700x45 knobbly MTB tyres but not quite. I like the slopey top tube myself, but I always like that look, that may be my mountain biking heritage showing. And this was also my 'nipping down to the shops' bike so the top tube pad is to stop the paint from getting scratched when I lock it against something and it rolls - yes that is a bit precious I know :). I'm a big fan of Grants bike setup ideas and you'll see I've based the 'rat build around 'Just Ride' principals, but the VO gear is half the price! I'll be using a Freeload rack so don't need braze-ons, and finally I have a triple to put on it (46/34/24), but I need to rebuild the rear hub on my casette-ready wheel first. Phew!
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