Thinking of getting one for the commuting duties.

Bump, There must be some out there

I do have some pics of mine, but I can't post them from work.

I'll just say one thing – Horizontal dropouts with a rack and mudguards is an absolute pain in the arse. It's a good part of the reason I got rid of mine, getting the back wheel out at the side of the road to fix a puncture can be a real struggle.

Racks yes, but haven't got round to fitting mudguards yet.

Oh, actually I can post pics today!

Is that front disc mount on the front of the right fork leg..? Presumably to allow front guard mounts?

Badgerpoo – correct. It puts the caliper in front of the right fork leg, well out of the way of racks and mudguards.

With the disc mount being on the 'wrong side' of the fork, does this preclude the use of most dynamo hubs?? With my LX one, the dynamo only works rotating in the 'normal' direction, so putting the disc tab on the other leg means the hub is effectiely rotating 'backwards', no? Fairly niche question, I know….

Cheers for the pics now I just need to decide on a medium or large frame.
I'm 5'10 what do you think I should go for?
And an interesting question from bristolbiker as I was also thinking of fitting a dynamo hub.

I'm just a tad under 5'10" and went with the medium-long.

It was more an observation – building a Pompetamine at the mo and have gone for Kinesis DC19 forks as it's carbon and loverly, the disc tab is on the right side and I only need mudguard mounts (not front rack mounts as well) which are well out the way of the dropouts, half way up the fork blades.

Cheers epic, how do you find it rides loaded up with panniers front and rear?

So far I've only ridden it any distance with a heavy load in the back and it was fine like that. I put the front rack on as I'd been planning some weekend touring but haven't got round to doing that yet, so haven't ridden further than up and down the street with front and back panniers loaded.

Cheers for the pics now I just need to decide on a medium or large frame.
I'm 5'10 what do you think I should go for?

Medium. I'm 5'8" and a medium was a tiny bit on the large side for me.

Roadrat, great frame, super versatile, great commuter bike. but definately not designed to take bags as a touring bike.

Horizontal dropouts with a rack and mudguards is an absolute pain in the arse.

+1
And also with disc brakes and a qr. If you use a bolted axle you can't get a spanner fully roundn the bolt as the mudguard gets in the way.

how do you find it rides loaded up with panniers front and rear?

Did 3,500 km tour from beijing through central asia and some of the 'stans on mine. With any weight on the bike that lovely steel 'twang' turns into energy sapping flex. Riding up steep hills you can look down to see the bottom bracket physically swinging from side to side. There are NO pannier mounts on the front fork, meaning you have to use some sort of brake post mounted high rider or clamp on racks, which is frankly a bit of a bodge. I used clamp on racks and had problems with the fact that they didn't have a brace and would rotate leading to broken bolts.

If you're needing to carry heavy panniers more than a few times a year then get something else. If it's only an occasional thing then this frame is lovely.

I'm 6ft (hieght is all in my legs) and riding a medium long with 80mm stem

With any weight on the bike that lovely steel 'twang' turns into energy sapping flex.

Yeah, true enough. It was a bit wobbly twing a trailer full of shopping back from Tesco I'll admit! It was a heavy load, granted, but my replacement Carerra Subway doesn't even budge. (Well, it shouldn't. It's very tough MTB frame!)

the dynamo only works rotating in the 'normal' direction

Really? Surely it generates AC?

FWIW any tourer will flex a fair bit fully loaded, and any idea that the frame flexes more due to pedalling is simply nonsense.

Really? Surely it generates AC?

I'm looking at the hub right now, and there is a dirty great yellow arrow on the removable packaging attached to end of the hub saying "rotation direction"…. I think they want it go that way…. 😉

EDIT: Having just leafed through the (as always with Shimano, considerable) instructions, they are very clear that the hub must be mounted so that connections are aligned with the right fork leg (i.e. – the hub is fitted 'normally') or the hub will not work properly. Helpfully, not further desicrption of '…not work properly…' is provided.

any tourer will flex a fair bit fully loaded, and any idea that the frame flexes more due to pedalling is simply nonsense.

Proper tourers are built to be significantly stiffer than other bikes so that they can be it's racks loaded fully without issue. My point was that the roadrat is a do-it-all bike, it has mudguard and rackmounts but if you're going to be carrying large loads regularly then it's not the best choice. Too flexy.

The dynamo hubs will unscrew themselves if mounted backwards. So I'm told.

I have a set of Singular steel forks with disc mounts and pannier mounts (half way up) which I might be selling with my small-short roadrat soonish…

Horizontal dropouts with a rack and mudguards is an absolute pain in the arse.

That's my only gripe with the frame, whilst riding back from work in the pouring rain at 1am a couple of weeks back I found there were a lot of bits to keep track of working roadside in poor lighting. I'm a year round cycle commuter, and I wouldn't get another, even though flats aren't that common an occurance for me. I only occasionally ride it well loaded for weekend camping trips, and don't really find flex any worse that previous steel road frames. I do really like the bike, so it seems odd to say I wouldn't have another, but any extra faff on a bike I use every working day and more puts me off. Size wise I'm 5'9, and on a medium short with drops, and it fits like a glove.

Got one in May for commuting. So far so good but then I don't run mudguards, rack is no problem either and carry a fair bit to work inc. laptop etc. Have the Alfine, short version. Small fits me well and I'm 5'7".

Roadrat by cnarborough, on Flickr

I'm 5'11", riding a medium long with a 120mm stem. Currently setup with 37mm tyres, 42×18/20 fixed and flat bars. Soon I'm going to swap to 36×16 fixed/18T free and some butterfly bars. Nutted rear axle works just fine with rack and guards on mine but it is one of the early ones.

Brilliant for commuting – bombproof and very stable. When off touring I use the Nitto front rack for sleeping bag and thermarest and I use a mahoosive Carradice saddlebag on the back. Strap the tent to the back of the rack, behind the saddlebag.

If your struggling to set-up rear gaurds on horiz dropouts see this thread… Blimming mudguards

I just have to make sure that I am always carrying a kooltool, otherwise if I get a flat I'll be screwed as the back is bolt-up on mine. No great shakes, but having just added a rack to it (Blackburn EX-1), that just adds another thing that'll have to be unbolted to get the back wheel off, as that bolts through the bolt-up (does that even make sense??)

Anyway, it was cheap for me to buy and has been faultless for daily commuting for well over a year now, so shouldn't complain too much.

Holy flex-tastic though – just stand over it, brakes on and put pressure down through one of the pedals! You'll easily get the BB moving about 10 – 20 mm.