I think Doug VC got it pretty right---about this being an alternative to carbon bikes. It is specifically and intentionally from conception to production a club-rider's bike. I know it's easy to see the steel and lugs and think "Ahhhh, Bob Jackson-ish" or "Just like my old Raleigh Competition," but those aren't the target with this one.
About 98% of club riders don't ride downtube shifters, and this is a club-rider's bike. Another thing is that with our higher-bar bikes and our up-sizing, the dt shifters are much lower down and less accessible than they are with a low-bar bike. The other thing is the thin tubing. It's better to keep the footprint smaller and closer to the lug so the thinner tubing is left more alone. DT weigh more and require more heat to braze on in a thinner part of the tube. As for Wford's influence--this is our bike. It is an ongoing thorn of sorts that we don't hide our builders, and then our bikes are thought of as their bikes. If we want the DT shifters, we can get them---but for the reasons above, we don't want them. However--if anybody on this list wants the bike with DT shifters, we will use a different down tube and do that for a $50 upcharge. The upcharge isn't the pure, physical price of the shifter bosses. That's about $17. But then we round the bases to reduce the stress riser; and that's labor. And then there's the special handling of the different tube. Anybody who has worked in a shop knows that setting up a machine for a five-minute operation can take 40 minutes; and that introducing exceptions increases the risk of a screw up. Our cost on this is about $120, but we'll split that cost and charge just $60. I stll wouldn't recommend it. I know DT shifters are fine, but they aren't a perfect fit with the concept of this particular bike. Still, we can do them. We've worked a lot on the Roadeo, and that work disappears as soon as the bike shows up. Nothing on the frame landed their by default, and nothing left off was overlooked. There are lots of forks in the road that present two or three or four good options, but the bike has room for only one. Hey--the headbadge sample should be here in about 2 weeks. It's made in Rhode Island, and is coming along pretty nicely! Best, Grant --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
