Hey Jeff, 4.3cm is not a lot of fork rake. I think a lot of the low trail bikes have 6cm or so. I am pretty sure the Heron Randonneur was Tod Kuzma's project and that the geometry was not tweaked to account for the front rack. I think he basically spec'ed the frame with racks and fenders included and that is what made it the Randonneur...
Regards, Doug On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Jeff <newbe...@mail.utexas.edu> wrote: > > I'm of the same mind as Benz. I don't think what I'm looking for will > conflict with GP's design philosphy. The frame I'm basing my requests > on was (I believe) a Grant designed Heron with Jan Heine's input as a > consultant. One of my favorite features is the 80mm bottom bracket > drop which seems to be right up there on Rivendell's list with keeping > your bars high. > > I'm also going for the post mounted Paul Racers. I rode with guy on a > red custom Rivendell who had the posts for Mafac Racers. Fire Chief > from around Seattle named Andy-- great guy and a strong rider! > > Doug, you make interesting points about French constructeur forks > designed for low trail so as to handle well with a front load. The > fork rake on my Heron is 4.3 cm. What do you think about that with > regard to trail? The bike handles fine both with and without a > Berthoud bag. I do get a little bit of shimmy while riding no hands > with rear low rider panniers added, but that's not my standard set up. > > I've got a NOS Suntour V-GT Luxe rear derailleur (which Frank Berto > speaks highly of in The Dancing Chain) for the 7 speed drive train. > > Jeff > > > > On Oct 26, 10:45 pm, benzzoy <benz...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > On Oct 26, 9:34 am, Bruce <fullylug...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Grant says exactly that in his notes on custom bike ordering. He > suggests that > > > you look at Rivs carefully to be sure that your interests align with > the RBW gestalt. > > > > > "I absolutely listen to your wishes and input, and in fact require it, > want it, and use > > > it. But ultimately it is our name that goes on the bike, so certain > consistencies and > > > standards must be met, for it to bear our name. For that reason, before > ordering a > > > Rivendell custom, it's important to familiarize yourself with our > values and style, > > > and make sure we're a good match. " > > > > I'm familiar with that entry, and that's why I stated that I'll see if > > I can fit my nice-to-have list in. > > > > I do want a Rivendell fitted to me but I also have a preferred list of > > features, as a custom bike should. If the items on the preferred list > > clashes with the Rivendell design, then I'll definitely go with > > whatever Grant is recommending since I do want the bike to handle, > > look and feel like a Rivendell. Otherwise, why bother? > > > > Nevertheless, except for the PegoRichie tubing bit and maybe the front > > rack bias*, I believe the items on my list are quite aligned with the > > Rivendell philosophy. In fact, I've already spoken to Grant a while > > ago about most of the items and he seemed quite agreeable to them. > > However, the longer the wait, the longer the list grows! I'm certain > > and in fact expecting that Grant will remain his steadfast self and > > filter out that which will compromise his design. Yes, this will be > > Grant's design for me. :> > > > > Cheers, > > Benz > > > > * this may be nothing at all since I'm not asking for a porteur > > bicycle! I only want to carry a small front bag like a Berthoud > > GB2286, Acorn Boxy Rando Bag or Guu-watanabe Retro (if the CFO goes > > raving mad, LOL!) > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
