I've only talked to Josh Muir of Frances for a few minutes a couple of times, but I really respect him, and his bikes hit the spot.
This may strike other people differently than it does me, but I love that his bikes have had the only Nashbar brakes I've ever seen at a bike show. They also looked, and I believe it may be true, that they were borrowed back from owners who actually rode them. If something horrible happened and I had to replace my bikes (Quickbeam, Ross low trail touring bike and Bontrager hardtail) with a single bike (and magically had the money), it would be with a Frances very similar to Blind Robert's (without the jacked up fender). Or a Matt Chester. Without the magic money, it would probably be a Sam Hillborne. Failing that, I'd just walk... Philip On May 19, 4:50 pm, Blindrobert <roberto.cipri...@gmail.com> wrote: > Of all my custom bikes, it's my favorite! And it get's the most > comment/stares of any bike I own except, perhaps my cargo bike, which > is like being in a parade every time I ride it. > > http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/09bicycles/bolognacargoRC2.html > > The interaction with Josh (at Frances) is very straightforward and I > think he's a really conscientious builder and decent man, though newer > than some of the big names out there in the world of custom bikes. I > have no complaints about the workmanship at all, and he was on > schedule for the delivery of the bike (trust me, that's rare in the > world of custom bikes). My expectations were met, there were a few > little things that weren't exactly like I wanted - for instance the > old style rubber slap guard I asked for was an invented system instead > of the (formerly) standard pin for a pre-made rubber band. I have to > make a slap guard out of a strip of inner tube or other rubber when I > need one - it's not hard, just not what I expected and he wasn't > familiar with the detail for the other system. No major complaints at > all, and like I said, it's my favorite bike. > > My advice to anyone getting a custom frame is to think hard about what > you want, don't sign off on production until you feel good about every > detail, including the braze ons...then DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING after the > order is signed off. It just leads to confusion and second guessing > yourself...and when you start changing things, it gets expensive and > mistakes get made. > > Roberto > > On May 19, 5:44 pm, Michael_S <mikeybi...@rocketmail.com> wrote: > > > > > just saw this post. I have been looking at the Frances Tourist > > Diffusible model. The one bike I would like to have is a travel bike > > and the Ritchey Break away system seems very innocuous compared to the > > more obvious S&S couplers. Are you pleased with the workmanship? did > > the builder meet your expectations? > > His bikes all look very well thought out and constructed. > > > ~Mike~ > > > On May 17, 10:02 am, "Frederick, Steve" <frede...@mail.lib.msu.edu> > > wrote: > > > > Blindrobert wrote, in part: > > > ...the fender was not effective once I got up over 14mph or so > > > > I similarly cropped the rear fender on my Rawland Olaf singlespeed/fixie > > > and found it similarly ineffective. Since I was using SKS fenders, I > > > just used the quick release attachments that comes with SKS front fenders > > > on the rear too and that works well enough for wheel removal... > > > > Steve > > > > -- > > > 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-bu...@googlegroups.com. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > > For more options, visit this group > > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > -- > > 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-bu...@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > 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-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- 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-bu...@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.
