Bicycles
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The reverb is nice in that you could have a 420mm post and you can do all repairs yourself if you have some technical skills and are willing to buy the tools. I wouldn't necessarily call them unreliable, but they have a seal lifetime similar to that of a fork. The only difference is that a forks performance drop is less noticeable than the literal drop the reverb develops when the seals need replacing. Most people just ignore their forks until they have a major issue, as opposed to the oil change every 40hr and seal change every 80 that they deserve.
Also, seconded on the great build on that yeti dd
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Thanks for the kind words on the Yeti build.
Just finishing a work trip and heading home to pick up some King / Enve wheels for the Yeti, should make a nice upgrade. Running Enve's on my Jones bike and they made a noticeable difference, light, stiff and the bike feels like it accelerates much faster.
I think the Reverb gets a bit of a bad press because it has sold so many units. The MTB forums are where anyone with an axe to grind goes to tell their story. There are a heap of very happy reverb owners who don't post on the forums as they are happy with the product. I include myself in this, my Reverb was picked up second hand and has been reliable. I love the fact that it can be adjusted to any height you choose rather than pre-defined heights.
The new Nicolai is an Ion 16 in a 650b wheel size ( seemed daft speccing anything else due to the seemingly inevitable move to this wheel size ). Going onto the bike is the following kit, Avalanche cartridge Pike fork, Cane Creek DB climb switch shock ( custom Nicolai base tune ), Enve AM rims on I9 hubs, XX1, Renthal bar stem, Formula RO brakes, King Inset headset and Bottom Bracket, and Reverb stealth post.
New colours for the Ion build are "safe" rather than colourful. Went with a complete Titanium grey anodised finish with white graphic. Should receive the frame early August and then straight to Alps with it! Happy Days!
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I finally finished cleaning up and fixing up my bike as the very last step in a multi-year restoration in which I removed every last bolt and nut to completely clean, adjust, oil, repack bearings, etc…
So now its show off time!
This bike is such a pleasure to ride, everything on it is jewelry quality, hand painted decals showing some well-loved evo, wheels just keeps spinning with almost zero resistance, it absolutely glides with amazing road feel.
It’s funny I took my bike into a local bike shop that has 20k+ bikes to have the rear derailleur adjusted and just about everyone there (Including the owner) had to complement and take a look at mine…
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Lovely stuff. The Reynolds steel has a great ride quality. Don't know how you had the patience to wait a couple of years to get it sorted though. Enjoy that beauty
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4C
congrats, that is a beauty! I am from Nottingham where Raleigh bikes were built, so I have healthy bias for a classic Raleigh. Sadly while the name still lives on in the cycling world the Nottingham connection has now gone. The race frames like yours were normally all built at a small separate framebuilding workshop in a place called Ilkeston, away from the main factory which was located just outside Nottingham town centre.
When you bought the bike was it built with the same components or have you rebuilt the frame with carefully picked components to keep it authentic?
You simply can't beat old Campag components, stunning looks and made to endure.
I always wanted a late 1970's TI Raleigh road race replica, remember drooling over one as a kid when it was displayed in the local Raleigh dealers shop window.
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The steel defiantly has an amazing flex to it. Thanks DanielAFC, will do!
ddtrash, thanks! That’s an amazing history; its sad Raleigh is gone from Nottingham though. I actually got the bike with fully functioning Campagnolo Gran Sport! It’s a time capsule estate piece. The only things that are not stock on it are the pump (added a Campagnolo one), super record petals, and seat (previous owner changed the brooks saddle). When restoring it, the thing that was most surprising to me was the bearings in the rear wheel, they were like marbles!
Just had a look at 1970's TI Raleigh road race replicas and I see what you mean, they have such a purity of purpose.
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http://www.pinkbike.com/news/schwalbe-announces-details-about-dual-chamber-tire-system-2014.html
On the topic of incredible revolutions to mountain bike technology for improving ride quality…... I'm very pleased this will be coming out right in time for my move to north vancouver. The coastal roots can be slippery as hell!
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Went heli biking yesterday with some friends, started in the alpine, ended in the valley. No grizzly bear sightings, so it was a good day. Sorry for the cell phone photos. More images to come, when they become available
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Thanks Finn, I definitely felt pretty lucky that day, even when wading through a waist deep stream to get back to civilization
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Brooks x Levi's denim saddle.denim saddle. :o
Apparently if you bring along your old jeans then they'll be recycled into a saddle. I wonder if you could get one made out of your own pair?
Perhaps @Giles should arrange an IH run…
More at Rawr Denim and Brooks Saddles.
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2nd the Brooks saddle, Urb told me to get one. Really nice.
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love the front wheel
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Perhaps @Giles should arrange an IH run…
NFW. I love Brooks saddles, but why the the feck cover them with a bit of shitty indigo dyed cotton. Smacks of desperation by both Brooks and Levis…..
I would wholeheartedly agree if it meant covering a fine leather saddle with denim, but it’s actually a vulcanized rubber saddle which does have advantages over leather in some conditions. So it would make sense for some applications I suppose.
“The saddle will be a Limited Edition version of Brooks’ newest product, the Cambium C17, which uses vulcanized rubber pressing techniques to create a comfortable, waterproof, and long-lasting saddle”
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I looked at the cambium when I bought my Brooks. It was nice but, definitely wasn't nice like the B17
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I really love Fizik
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Ridden for quite a few years now and have always struggled to find a saddle that worked well for me, that was until I discovered the Selle SMP range.
SMPs pretty much all share the same anatomical fit design philosophy but they are designed in different families each with their own specific width.
I have sat on a few SMP saddles and I was able to tell the saddles from different width families apart quite easily. The 135mm wide saddle family that include the Forma, Dynamic, Drakon and Lite 209 all fit me nicely, however when I sat on the wider 153mm Pro saddle I was extremely uncomfortable very quickly.
Basically the bigger fatted padded saddle ( the Pro ) was nowhere near as comfortable as the lightweight non padded Forma saddle. This shows saddle comfort is all about shape and width rather than plentifull padding. I am now using a Forma on my road bike and a Drakon on my mountain bikes.
If you are really bored ( I mean really really bored!! ) and into the whole saddle fitting tech then check this link out.
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/09/all-about-smps/
