Great first-hand info, John. I'd love to see a photo of your bike. From replies in this thread, and the timing they relay, I'm kind of starting to wonder if I don't have the last Joe Starck AR frame. I missed the drama at the time but hope he's doing well.
On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 10:06:35 AM UTC-6 EverRed wrote: > I ordered my AR in 1998 and got it in 1999. Between ordering it and > receiving it the maker changed from Joe Stark to Match. GP wrote me a > letter asking if it was okay to change. I wanted to stay with Joe but > since it wasn’t possible I accepted Match. > > Mine is a 59 with 26 inch wheels but I think I would have preferred larger > wheels for aesthetic reasons. > > When I got it I was disappointed with the plain lugs (like on Plumber’s > red AR above) but I ended up liking them better than the fancier lugs. I > think the simpler lugs were more in keeping with how I used it - touring > and about town being the majority of my riding. > > It was also supposed to fit a front rack - Riv supplied but I don’t > remember which one - but it did not. They sent me a replacement fork but > the paint didn’t match so I ended up sending the rack and the replacement > fork back. I bought a Bruce Gordon lowrider from someone on the BOB list > and that fit. > > My only real complaint is that there is no provision for a fender > attachment at the chain stay bridge. I came up with a workable solution > but it would have been nice to have a straightforward attachment point. > Soon after I got it GP wrote an article about how cool it was to attach > fenders with wire ties and I’ve always wondered if that was because of the > missing chain stay attachment point. > > The frame is a little noodly when fully loaded but in a good way - I like > the way it feels. I have found that it shimmies when I use a handlebar bag > although this might be because of a longish stem. Having said that, the > handlebars are level with the seat. > > I still ride and enjoy it regularly but I have no experience of later Rivs > so can’t offer a comparison. I’ve used Mustache, Noodle, Randoneur and > Porteur bars over the years. The Porteurs are on it currently, I like the > upright position but the ends are too close so I’ll be making another > change sometime soon. > > I’ve recently got a purpose built touring bike (Rodriguez Phinney Ridge) > but I doubt if I’ll ever get rid of the AR. > > John > > On Monday, March 27, 2023 at 4:31:50 AM UTC-4 divis...@gmail.com wrote: > >> Bruce Gordon's mid-fork mounts are intended for Bruce's lowrider front >> rack, and for nothing else >:-P >> >> I built up my late lamented Raleigh International with BG front+rear >> racks, and had long intended to have contact points brazed on for them, >> along with pivot posts for centerpulls. I even sounded Bruce out once on >> whether he'd be willing to do the work ("only if I don't have to mess with >> the paint afterwards"). Bruce closed the shop before I got to it, then >> died, then I wrecked the Raleigh. >> >> Bruce's attachment principles were similar to Grant's. He used >> metal+rubber P-clamps for forks without properly located midfork braze-ons >> (i.e., any fork he hadn't made), and used the twisted Erector set metal >> diving boards to attach the rear rack to the seat stays. I found this >> attachment method unacceptably ugly, and replaced the ugly-o P-clamps with >> Tubus fork clamps in front (on the Raleigh) and Tubus >> turnbuckles+rails+stainless steel seatstay clamps (the Raleigh had no rack >> attachment points). Made the thing look far more purpose-built. The one >> disadvantage was that the Tubus fork clamps pushed the sides of the rack >> out about 5mm from each leg, as they're really intended as attachment >> points for Tubus' own front racks. The BG rack sides are further inboard, >> to get the weight closer to the centerline. >> >> I replaced the Raleigh with a Trek 720, which has midfork braze-ons. I >> was upset to discover that the attachment points on Bruce's rack were about >> 40mm above the fork's braze-ons, which were probably intended for the old >> Blackburn lowrider. I've got the whole mess held on with P-clamps now, but >> it ticks me off every time I think about it. Maybe someday I'll move the >> canti posts to work as centerpull pivots, and have midfork braze-ons put in >> the right location at the same time. >> >> The big question is: Why aren't more racks made like the Mark's rack and >> the Nitto UD-1/UD-2 from Rene Herse? There have to be more people trying to >> retrofit racks to older frames with idiosyncratic attachment points. I've >> bought four different handlebar bag racks trying to fit the center brake >> hole-to-canti post on the Trek (sized for 27"). None of them work, because >> they're all designed for 700c. >> >> Peter "arrrgh" Adler >> Berkeley, CA/USA >> >> >> On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 5:29:03 AM UTC-7 Steven Sweedler wrote: >> >> I wonder when Nitto introduced the flexible strut mounts (Mark’s rack) >> vs. the rigid struts of the rack on Robert Tilleys AR. The 700 c AR that I >> had came with the same rack as Roberts. Bruce Gordon’s mid rack mounts were >> not compatible with that Nitto rack. >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2e85062c-24b7-4574-9c42-1d49702a5cadn%40googlegroups.com.