You are reading a single comment by @Bonj0ur and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
Getting excited about your rourke?
This has turned into a monster for me. What was once a bike to ride to work, I think it might end up a museum piece.
I must say Gareth has been unbelievable. He's been so friendly every time I've called for a chat. I've made a couple of changes, mainly sending bling accessories and finishing kit to him.
Roll on feb
Bonj0ur
Ecobeard
Maybe not strictly the correct place to put this, but after chatting to @Bonj0ur about the process of getting a @Rourkie sized up for you, others may find it useful.
I went up on the 29th of June and got myself firmly in the queue for a frame.
The first thing I would say is make definetly an appointment with Gareth and give as much information about yourself, your current bike, what you want the new bike etc. I'd be as honest as you can here. [seems obvious I know :) ] Gareth is a lovely, lovely bloke and seriously knows his onions about fitting a bike to you and he uses your current bike set up, as a base to see where you are at at the moment, and where you will be on your Rourke.
Take your gear with you - I took my shoes, bike and kit up with me, as requested and its great, you go straight on the turbo and you're away. I had always suspected that my TT was too long and my stack a little high, despite various fettles and a bike fit (that I regretted at the time and do even more now) I was never entirely happy. Within two minutes of seeing my bike Gareth informed me that he could see I was using it regularly and that it looked good in the main (saddle height, bar width, saddle angle etc), but that he'd only seen TT's that long on bikes they had made for folk 6'10 and upwards :) Now I've got long arms, but at 6"1 and a bit, it was clearly too bloody long........kidding my self clearly.
The point I'm trying to make here, is that when they say "this may take all day" it actually might. My bike only needed minor adjustment but Gareth wont let you leave until you are comfortable on your current bike. I was there from 9am until about 2-30. You drink a lot of tea, try a lot of different set ups, talk a lot about bikes/cycling/Legro/Sean Kelly/Reg Harris/Guy Martin/Brian Rourke/etc and spend a huge amount of time looking at the amazing pictures, bikes and memorabilia in Kelly's Bar (where you get the fit done). There are WC jerseys galore in there, inc Tommy Simpsons battle scarred one.
Materials - I went with a relatively open mind on the frame material, I was keen for (and ordered) 953 OS, but had I been told that 953 SOS or 853/Deda would have suited my needs better, I would have gone with what the experts recommended. like wise with the forks, the are lots of options to choose from and you can see and touch everything. I think the only forks that weren't on display or on a bike were the 953/853 ones, which are made to order I think. They have a panel of bikes up on the wall so you can get an idea of the choices from them.
Paint - well you can have everything and anything, so best of luck there :) luckily I had a specific idea incorporating the BCC colours so it was pretty straight forward....
Finishing kit - I'm transferring my groupset over to the new frame and there was no pressure to buy a new one from Rourke. The prices seem pretty reasonable if you do though. I did add a headset, seat pin and stem to my order though and I may go back for a fancy crank early next year. They are going to build the bike up for me as a whole and are happy for me to send my bits up when they were needed.
Fit process - As alluded too previously you get on the turbo on your bike (or a shop one if you don't have your own) and Gareth has a good look at the bike and you. All of the measuring is done with a big metal ruler and a shop made wooden, er, 'angle measurer'. its all done by expert eye and you even get the story behind the old jig that was used for a bit and then discarded (by Brian) as it didn't cut the mustard. having had a fancy bike fit with lasers and everything, I much preferred it done this way. Everything is explained to you and you have a lot of input. the bike is fitted to last your lifetime, not the next two years. If you want it long and low you can have it, but the idea is that if you want a bit of flexibility for the future it can be built in now without compromise, rather than bodging a fix with a tiny stem etc later. I really like that long term approach.
Random bits - If you ride from the station plan a route as they've changed all the roads in Hanley since I were a lad and its a mare to find on homing pigeon mode as the one way streets constantly seem to take you away from where you want to go. This is the same for the return journey, I ended up doing a lovely tour of Stokes finest dual carriageways.... (Also Virgin trains require you to have a bike reservation to get on the train)
Sorry for the ramble, I hope its useful info if you're thinking about getting one. So much happened in the day that I've probably missed out a load of stuff. I had a cracking day, one of the best actually and I cant wait to go back up.
Roll on Jan 16 :)