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It appears that this thread is inspiring the building of grotty-but-fast bikes whilst simultaneously reducing the productivity of UK Plc.
Get back to work you work-shy layabouts, daydream about rat-bikes in your own time.
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At long last I've finished something.
Like a disoriented mole blinking in the morning light, here's some actual pics of the Roberts Race Rat...
Seatpost is a bit too short for me, front brake squeals, chain jumps on the 42T ring - I think the chain may be too long, but I won't be shortening it as @57Hawkes has kindly donated a more friendly sized freewheel, so I'll do the swapover before I leave the office this evening and hope that rectifies things (I panic purchased a 14-19 block on the ebay on Friday night but I don't think it'll work for me in the Mendips...
It's pretty amusing to ride - way more toeverlap than my Duratec and Bob Rat, and the super steep headtube means you need your weight on the front end when descending steep hills!
Light, smooth and lots of fun! -
^Very nice, is that seatpost intentionally laid back?
It looks well loved too, and up until quite recently judging by the tyres.
What is it? and what's the story - have you been chatting-up old men on the highstreet again? -
Cheers, glad you like it.
Although build progress was very slow, I put in a lot of thought on how to do the frame justice without being impractical or too enslaved to period correctness.
For me, the Shorter wasn't really practical for anything other than sunny commuting, and EroicaRat was only good for L'Eroica, and there was no way It'd end up being used as a winter bike or anything like that - This is a bit more of a long term thing which is why I steered clear of a single chainring/drillium binge etc. If I find I use it a lot, I'll consider a paint-job, and after seeing those pics of your mate's Gillott, I may even powder coat for maximum practicality... -
It's a 1948 (?) paris Tour de France.....the old guy only gave up riding it 5 years ago.
It's a random find on gumtree.....but a good story!
I think the post is meant to be like that.....it doesn't look deformed on the bend, as you would imagine it would look otherwise...
I'll do a CP when the cricket is finished :0)
rob Rat looks cool though! -
Shakedown report...
@57Hawkes' 14-28 6spd freewheel (Mendips friendly) fitted on Friday night.
Reading Dura Ace AX datasheet on disraeli gears showed 26T max sprocket so I'd planned to use end-stop screw & restrict to 5spd.
After fitting 14-28 I discovered there are 2 types of 6-spd - the most common of which is for 126mm OLN hubs.... I'd got lucky with the 14-19 Maillard (without realising that "Compact" stamped on bearing cover refers to sprocket spacing - not the fact that it's bloody small!!)
14-19 went back on & I headed home, discovering en route that jumpy chain was a stiff link. Sorted that on the roadside and rode home in petrol station plastic gloves to avoid marring ice white bar tape!
By the 2nd climb of the Wiggly Mendip, the rear mech cable had stretched/settled sufficient that I could no longer access 19T and did the remaining 80-odd miles on 42/18 max.
After the first feedstation the rear tub (70's wolber) punctured, but Stan's sealant did the trick leaving things a little flaccid, stupidly I pressed on rather than stopping for re-inflation and during the full tilt descent to Cheddar in pissing-rain the tyre walls finally gave-out - innertube emerged from a 1" tear in the silk sidewall and was immediately guillotined by the chainstay.....
New tub fitted and I rode alone for 15miles - but no further drama.
All good in the end, and an acceptable time given crap weather, and inappropriate ratios
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^Cheers,
Nice to know the Gillott looks good close up - That was Armoutex wasn't it?While I've been riding these last couple of days I've been thinking about how to create a permanent place for the Roberts in my stable in a way that's reasonably sensitive but also practical.... I think the answer is winterbike. My thoughts at the moment are:
Open out dropouts to 130mm & remove siezed stopper screws
Get frame powdercoated white and fit 70's Roberts decals in Black
Route rear mech cable via original braze on's & procure chrome cable clips for rear brake (i.e. no extra braze-ons to be added).
Run 7speed (or 8speed if Dura Ace AX mech will allow) on a single 48T drillium chainring
Build 2 sets of wheels (I have everything but the sunday best hubs in my shed):
Practical: Wolber Aero Clinchers (grey with big WOLBER stickers) on Athena hubs
SundayBest: Ambrosio Metamorphosis (also with big lairy stickers), hubs tbc, probably screw-on.
Have 2 pairs of pedals (I have these too):
Practical: Look Delta
SundayBest: Zeus track pedals.
Accessories: Keep the REG clip-on bottle cage for long rides and a pair of Raceblades for the winter.
Flame me if I'm going to kill the puppy.......
Note: Pwder coating is fine for nice lugs isn't it.....?
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Yep, that photo looks more like plastic dipped! I think it's a very special case
Armourtex on the other hand have obviously honed their skills over the years and know what their doing.
I've been so impressed with the powdercoating on the Duratec - completely lock, railing and drop-proof, still fresh&clean after 18months & 7000miles- pretty good considering it's only been cleaned twice!. -
Actual pic of actual bike being ridden...
The other rider also keeping it real with steel (653 Argos) is big bro from Kenya - you may note a passing resemblance. Sadly I don't have his high altitude lungs! -
By the way, is you doing some ebaying?
:0)
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Bikes run so deep in the family you appear to be bleeding graphite grease from your left knee.
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^^ That's genius, and well deserving of every penny made - Wish I'd thought of it myself.
I'm not that keen on slapping my face up on the interwebs, and as a child I purchased a few of those "secrets of SAS survival" manuals at Bargainbooks so it seemed the most amusing way to retain anonymity!!
^It's actually Continental rim cement that I'm bleeding in that pic, proper oldschoolUpdate on the build:
Today I've been mostly riding 1*8 (52 x 12-25)
DA mech was fine on 8-speed and the ratio's were perfect for riding around these parts and I can swap it out for a 48T for longer/hillier rides.
I think that settles it - I'll do a proper cold-setting of the rear triangle and the "RSPCA rehousing" will go from there...
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Just thought I'd revive this thread after nearly a year - I'm just embarking on another crop of budget ratbieks.
Since the previous post I've sold most of my bikes to fund the building of a new super-shed (pics to follow)So I sold the Chas Roberts above, & then the Dave Lloyd
Then I sold my Commencal and finally the Bob-Rat.
I also culled the parts-bin and shifted my 90's Cosmics, ITM Dual CX2s and anything remotely exotic.
So today, other than my De Rosa & Duratec, the collection is literally just a pile of shit.With that in mind, I replaced the Commencal with an early 90's rockhopper - much fun.
Since I'm still toying with the idea of returning to timetrialling*, I also bought this rather nice 853 Donohou for 99p on ebay last week.
Obviously there's a catch - the forks are for 27" and the rear dropouts are hanging off....
More infos here: http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/237352/?offset=250
- Question on whether or not to build a TT bike for use next year
Pros:
Convenient - H10/10 passes the end of my road
Provides adequate justification to build this bike
Useful - It'll be sufficiently humiliating that it'll be a good reason to get fast quickly
Cons:
I'm genuinely shit at it so it'll be total humiliation. - Question on whether or not to build a TT bike for use next year
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Quick musical interlude - What's on my headphones right now -splendidly crafted yet ludicrous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dotxEJHRpSg
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Do it!
99p? I hope you haggled.
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I've just been admiring your Sonic - it's become my "reference build"
Although I intend to maintain the cost model - a "poundshop" build as it were, so it won't get carbon blades or fancy wheels! -
When you collected did you actually give them the 99p?
I once sold a PC case for 1p on eBay and the bloke was desperate to give me the penny.
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Didn't know you were in my ends. Definitely TT.
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I let him keep the change
I felt it reinforced the fact that demonstrated how happy I was with my side of the bargain.In hindsight I should have requested the penny ....
Being a bit impatient I wanted to get cracking and stick the dropouts back on...
Since I'm a died-in-the-wool cheapskate This bike ain't going near an actual framebuilder... Below my lab we have a little workshop area which has some natural gas/compressed air torches.
I'm not exactly Ricky Feather when it comes to torchmanship and barely know which end of the torch to put in my mouth, Not done it since school etc - (#excusesexcuses).Anyway at lunch today I found some flux and solder sanded the paint off and started filling the crack with silver solder. It was all going well when I noticed the frame was on fire....
The inside of the frame burned merrily away and when the flames died down I observed that everything that wasn't cracked steel been filler, not 853...
It looks like the little drainage hole inside the seatstay had got blocked, the frame filled with water and rusted from the inside out... someone has then filled the absent metal with plastic padding
I'll get some photos of the war zone once I've recovered from my disappointment....
Then it'll be time for some gussets
Regal
stedlocks
dapthechap
Scilly.Suffolk
fizzy.bleach
umop3pisdn-
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^
so it isn't a working day (like mine) :)