I’ve finally got this finished

It’s taken ages but luckily the weather was rubbish so it wasn’t too much of an issue

So show me yours just in case I get inspired to do more to mine 😉

just building mine, BUT

Tried to fit the Alfine crankset and the bloody chainring just hits the chainstay.

sent some piccies to Cy and will have to ring him tomorrow.

Plus I broke the blue cable guide as well. 😳

not a good bike building night 🙁

looking good ken, going to try mine with V brakes, 1 x 9 and flat bars at first, but got some disc wheels and K18 brakes to put on it.

Then I may see what drops are like.

Are you keeping yours SS?

I’ve had canti’s, V’s and now cable discs.

The canti’s looked spectacular but were absolute poo. The V’s worked loads better but the rear stays seem quite close together so with the Tektro V’s I used the rear ones were quite angled out even with the small spacer.

Mine will be staying SS as that’s all I need. I got some v cool tensioners from my local BMX shop so the rear end looks v neat

If you want any pics let me know

Strange about the alfine. I thought that was an out-the-box build for a roadrat?

Mine is an Alfine and I’ve had no problems with it.

Strange about the alfine. I thought that was an out-the-box build for a roadrat?

me too, I’ll see what Cy says, it’s probably a numpty mistake on my part somewhere, but I can’t see where at the moment

Hi Ken, What bars have you fitted, they look quite shallow but with a decent length on the drops. I’m currently using midge bars but my hand feels cramped when in the drops.

The front end is currently slammed with Sunline carbon risers.

Anyone running their’s with external gears? I’ve heard that getting a rear mech running properly with the jack-of-all-trades rear hanger can be a bit of a mission?

I’m seriously close to convincing myself this is the commuter / tourer that I need – anyone around 5’11 and running it with flats? What frame size did you get?!

Seamus

The bars are 3T Ergosum Pro alloy (44cm)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/3t-ergosum-pro-alloy-road-handlebars

GrunkaLunka, Im 5’11.5 with a long frame and 80mm stem, low carbon risers cuz I had em spare in garage, used to have flats.

Cheers Scruff – did that feel stretched at all or pretty comfortable? (Was it a medium frame or a large) Don’t worry if you can’t remember off the top of your head, I figure a call to Cotic is in order…

Anyone know if there’s a stockist in London that has them in store?

Feels just right ! Mines a large long, I had a large Soul before so knew I wanted the large, having a longer wheelbase also stopped any toe overlap which I hated on my old commuter.

Cheers Ken, I’ll check them out.

Mine is a large/short with a straight Thomson post and a 110mm stem

Anyone running their’s with external gears? I’ve heard that getting a rear mech running properly with the jack-of-all-trades rear hanger can be a bit of a mission?

Been running mine mostly with gears for ages, not an issue, though the hanger thing bends relatively easy if you’re clumsy / insist on hammering through rocky things, so it’s worth keeping an eye on it. But I don’t think it’s an issue.

The other thing people complain about is rear wheel removal, but it’s honestly not that difficult – remove skewer completely, slide wheel out to remove, reverse with added hanger faff to re-install. I run a chain tug on the other side to keep the wheel reliably in line btw.

My girlfriend has a small/short as her commuting/touring bike. It’s great, as long as you run it with disks. The V brake pivots are really close together and it’s hard to set them up perfectly as a result.

She’s probably going to sell it though, as more and more we are carrying heavy loads on our bikes, and the Roadrat is really flexy when you have a couple of large panniers on the back. Flexy, in a way that my girlfriend describes as “articulated lorry levels of bend”!

It’s not really designed for heavy load lugging, so I’m happy enough with that. For it’s purpose as a fast commuting bike, it’s great. This is just something to bear in mind anyone considering buying one.

Gunkalunka – London dealer is Brixton Cycles. They usually have one built up in stock. Size depends on what they’re selling. We have a new shipment arriving in a couple of weeks along with Alfine wheels (finally!!) so we’ll be good to go with hub gears v soon.

Rear mech works fine. Getting wheel off is a bit trickier than other dropouts, but as BWD says, it’s not the end of the world. The trick I think is to have a couple of practice runs in the garage instead of the first time doing it being a dark, wet roadside. That seems to be the issue with most people who get upset about it. We’ve beefed up the mechtug this year too, so not as easy to snap and no longer with a separate washer to hole the skewer. Easier and better.

Vortex – sorry to hear about the chainset. Sounds odd, but I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.

No worries Cy all sorted.

Spoke to Paul and found out what was wrong.

Love mine! did a huge tour through central asia on mine, along with a few audax rides and used it for 2 years of bike courier work. now been relegated to being used as a polo bike.

I will reiterate the comments above
Yes, it is VERY flexy. fine for commuting but not touring. Works best with discs, the V posts are annoyingly placed. is a pain to use for singlepeed/fixed with full length mudguards due to the eyelet positioning. BUT it rides a dream.

Bought it because of my love for my sadly departed mk.1 cotic soul… Cy does good things for frame geometry.

Alfine crankset and the bloody chainring just hits the chainstay.

The stock build comes with the same crankset, and it runs real close to the chainstay – about 1mm.

I’ve got various scratches where it’s touched.

I’ve queried this before, but decided against doing anything about it – you could probably make use of some shims, but that might affect the chain line.

In anycase, been running mine for about a year and it hasn’t caused any problems.

*edit – just noticed you fixed the issue – what was it out of interest?

2 years old. perfect winter bike. never knowlingly cleaned. Looks wrong without mudguards, clearances are too big.

large short so I can run bullhorns
Fixed 40×16 – long wheelbase and high BB makes it stable when spinning out and keep the spectre of pedalstrike in the corners at bay
BB7 front/Paul Racer rear using centre mount (mate had the racer going spare, ran it front BB7 only for a year no problems)
Goldtec hubs/open pros
Brooks for the 200k winter audaxes

Will have to dig out some photos of mine. Large drop bar version with cross tyres and mini Vs. For a while it was my weapon of choice for pretty much anything. Surprisingly good fun offroad.

May be getting 1×9’ed with discs in the near future as going to be using it for a commute over Dartmoor.

If I do, it’s going to have to be with bits I’ve got in the shed as I’m on a budget. How much shorter is the short version, and will I feel like a Dutchman if I run it with flat bars?

Drop bars and a penchant for vile conditions.

mine now finished with Roadrat wheels and cable discs

P1030364 by eastham_david, on Flickr

P1030365 by eastham_david, on Flickr

the chainstay was out of tolerance so the chainring touched it.

Cy sorted a new one out and all is sorted, I also used a hope 1mm spacer on the drive side cup as an extra spacers. works well.

Next to try are drops and SS

This was mine but i don’t own it anymore 😥

A very steady build for all my commuting and miserable winter wet training miles, just keeps plodding on. I love the way it rides, but why do I only get rear flats when it’s raining and dark 👿

I did try some midge bars to be a bit more stw, but meh!

How many running fixed?

Just me and retrodirect (courier/polobike must be, right?)?

My point: I 1×9’d mine for a bit of cyclocross in september, and the horror of rear wheel removal with the mech hanger things…well, it would prompt me to buy a vert dropout bike! Did many of you buy a bike with track ends knowing you’d always run it geared? If so, why?

I keep changing mine
Mary bars, 1.8″ Bonty tyres:

Set up for a bit of lightweight touring:

Midges and studded tyres for winter commuting:

Did many of you buy a bike with track ends knowing you’d always run it geared? If so, why?

1 – 2nd hand and cheap, and I’d had some wine.
2 – quite a versatile frame; had it set up for more cx type riding over summer, and my previous commuter road frame didn’t have the tolerences for such dalliances.
3 – I’ve only had 3 flats in the last 18 months, and it’s used every working day and more. One was my own fault for not checking the tyre properly and I left the tyre pierced, but they have all been at night in the rain!!!!

Had I researched/ thought about it more, I would have preferred a frame with the flexibility and vert drop outs, but mainly due to the fact I rely on it for the commute. If it were just a second or third bike, I wouldn’t consider it such an issue.

Here’s mine. Drops, mini Vs and Smart Sams. Love it!

How many running fixed?

Yep. 58″-ish off road, 60-65″ on.

Just come back (well before tea) from my 2nd ride on mine, really like it. Not sure if it’s that new bike sensation or not, but it sits just nicely between my Cotic Soul and my Road Bike.

Rode down some pretty crappy and rough back lanes that I would have not been too keen to be going down on my plastic road bike, but the Roadrat felt spot on.

Drops and SS for me to try next.

It’s the versatility that sold the frame to me.

Roadrats Rock!

My point: I 1×9’d mine for a bit of cyclocross in september, and the horror of rear wheel removal with the mech hanger things…well, it would prompt me to buy a vert dropout bike! Did many of you buy a bike with track ends knowing you’d always run it geared? If so, why?

You unbolt the skewer, slide it out, pop the hanger to one side and pull the rear wheel out of the slots then reverse to reinstall. It’s really not that hard. I’ve run my Rat singlespeed and geared and it’s never been an issue either way. Does your Rat work differently?

It’s my first bike with horizontal drop outs and I find it a bit annoying having to undo the mudguard stays to get the wheel out but I expect that’s not unique to the Roadrat. Can’t see that the extra work in sorting out the dropout/tug thing is here or there really.

You can set your rear mudguard back a little so the wheel pops out without having to undo it.

I find it a bit annoying having to undo the mudguard stays to get the wheel out

Can’t really see it on my Roadrat photie, but I’ve got the quick-release ‘SecuClips’ on both the front and rear stays. That means I can yank the rears out when I need to remove the wheel. Not my idea, but a good one (although my rear stays are pretty bent from it).