Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Nope, we did not.

The rack is attached directly to the mudguard in the entirely normal and typical way, and there is no additional support from the rack to the frame.

It's just that the mudguard (Gilles Berthoud fenders) are rolled steel and exceptionally strong in certain directions... we leveraged that, the mudguard is fully capable of holding the position of the rack... but not the weight of the rack or load.

The rack therefore carries all of the weight, straight down to the hubs, and the mudguard is purely providing the position. For the mudguard to have strength it needs 3 very fixed points... and it has them at 270' (bottom bracket), 315' (stay bridge) and 360/0' (rack)... this makes the mudguard really strong in that direction, with extra strength coming from the 90' fixing to the mudguard holder. The rack is providing the additional strength against any lateral movement.

We tested it... and it's really strong. So there is zero additional strengthening going on at all.

Further, those are small tyres on day on, but those are also 29er mountain bike rims, and the whole thing was designed for enough clearance to run the smoother 29er tyres... those pics were from 2014 and there were not many gravel tyres around, but that's essentially what it was built for.

Both racks are entirely bespoke and custom of course, and the rear rack angles matched the curvature of the rear stays, the front rack was about symmetry whilst accommodating the front light.

I still love the bike, it's actually in for a service right now and about to get some new brakes as the front one has failed after a decade of use.

Things I've changed since having it:

• Rims were de-stickered
  
• Chainset was changed to something more serviceable, and the BB changed
  
• Tyres are now gravel ones
  
• Presently changing the brakes to Hope Tech 4 E4 (in silver and red)
  
• Presently changing the grips to the cork variant of them
  
  

I've used it a lot... the stainless steel strips on the rack are very heavily marked with wear and tear, there's a few dings on the top tube, a few scratches on the down tube... but otherwise it's still in a very fine condition as it's well maintained and I have no spend limit on whatever servicing and parts it ever needs.

That rack design btw... is because I was obsessed with keeping the bike very clean, whilst allowing it to be incredibly functional. I see no reason for a tiny bar between the stay bridge and rack when a steel mudguard has far more strength in it.

Also... the bike tech was very surprised yesterday that the front disc rotor is 185mm... which hints at how insane almost every detail was on this bike.

Thank you, that bike is so great

Would love to see a ‘now’ photo of it to compare…

This.
Like I said, check out Herse and Singer bikes (and others) from the 30s onward, lots of racks attached to fenders in this manner.

Would love to see a ‘now’ photo of it to compare…

It will be a couple of weeks, the bike is in for service but only yesterday morning did we discover the front brake needs replacing, so the shop needs to order that and fit it before I get the bike back.

Similar conceptually to this posted recently by spotter

I've always wanted a bike with a constructéur rack. Although you never see pics of one with a Pannier and a riders feet going round... so I do wonder if they actually work. Especially when you compare and contrast with Velocio's.

Still a pretty way of stopping your rear mudguard rattling.

Knowing how good Hope is with aftermarket support and spare parts, i wonder why you'd have to swap out the entire brake instead of rebuilding it. Got some problems with non serviceable items?

It's a rebuild scenario, and the parts + labour puts it close to the price of new.

What I've offered the shop is: I buy new, but can you recycle these on one of your own bikes... to which the answer was an enthusiastic yes.

Lovely outcome!

✨💖✨

Yours? If so, top build.

Yours?

@NotDotMatt ‘s.

v. good. Easy on the eye and full function to boot.

Lots of great functional e-townies in Gap, hautes-alpes.

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Bag made by @Buildhigh is absolutely the best thing I've bought in a long time.

Great quality, great construction and design. 10/10.

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Good to know. I messaged this morning about bags myself.

Thanks bud :)

Ahh this is so nice.

Would love to see a ‘now’ photo of it to compare…

Have updated the Robin Mather thread with a few pics https://www.lfgss.com/comments/17465273/

As a long time fan of friction shifting, when my microshift advent 9 speed in friction mode started breaking internally, I've replaced it with an Uno.

It's got a lovely, and I mean lovely feel to it. It's glides between gears and is something to behold. It also was super easy to setup, didn't actually require anything more than just attaching to the bars and mech as you'd expect. (10 speed advent x mech on 46t cassette).

However it looks pretty industrial (they also have two spacers in the middle that don't seem to serve a purpose, but if you remove them then the cable doesn't line up anymore) and the little turny lever to keep tension rattles like anything. Going to have to sort that as it's incredibly irritating when riding.

All in all, I don't think it's worth the price they're asking, unless you really really want the 12 speed. I think I'd rather have just got another Microshift one for 20% of the price. Although it does feel lovely to use.

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Having recently purchased and put some miles on dia compe bar ends with the same ratchet guts as the Uno, I agree. They feel really nice.

Hmm actually pretty cool. I want to hate it but I can't