Finally.......A Rourkie

That 600 EX Chainset is certainly mid-eighties, perhaps the other bits have been retro-fitted?

I'm glad I'm not alone in really liking Rourke frames, old and new. They seem to be a sadly underrepresented brand here in retroBike-world.

We visited their stand at Bespoked in Bristol and I had a good chat with Jason. My 24 year old roadie fanatic son was in absolute awe at their 2012 SRAM equipped stealth black / red display bike. A hand made steel road bike, right up there with anything made in carbon.

As for your bike......NICE!

Have you read "It's all about the bike" by Robert Penn ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo2EodFXJPg

Rourke gets a small mention

Shaun

Tel":2j220j9o said:

Absolutely stunning! So whats the plan? You going to run it all as Campag?

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Thanks Tel, not sure what to do yet, the main thing is it rides really well as it is. First change though will be the saddle for my comfy Brooks

Think I'll have to look at rebuilding the wheels after that. They seem to be plain steel spokes as there's a bit of surface rust all over them. Bit strange not to have used stainless steel.

A nice mirror polished Campagnolo chainset would look good though Tel

NeilM":2ev2wztd said:

I'm glad I'm not alone in really liking Rourke frames, old and new. They seem to be a sadly underrepresented brand here in retroBike-world.

We visited their stand at Bespoked in Bristol and I had a good chat with Jason. My 24 year old roadie fanatic son was in absolute awe at their 2012 SRAM equipped stealth black / red display bike. A hand made steel road bike, right up there with anything made in carbon.

As for your bike......NICE!

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Rourkie is a legend, I saw a feature on building their bike at Bespoked. He's always been highly regarded in racing circles and yet you don't hear that much about them elsewhere.

Anyway, any guy who has a bar in his shop gets my vote http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwPyLgIeoo

Thanks for all your comments. Still heard nothing back from the man himself but I agree with the comments above that it does seem to be more early 80's.

The guy I bought it from mentioned changing the chainset and the wheels from the originals. I think custom built bikes had a very pick and mix system so its not easy to say what else is original.

I felt quite guilty buying it as the owner obviously loved the bike and was quite competitive in his day, a good hill climber and descender. The reason for the large flange hubs was because he kept breaking spokes! Unfortunately, he'd had to give up cycling because of heart problems. He's not the first older cyclist I've known who's stopped because of heart issues, makes you wonder if cycling is any good for you!

Midlife":3uoabb53 said:

Have you read "It's all about the bike" by Robert Penn ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo2EodFXJPg

Rourke gets a small mention

Shaun

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Somewhere on youtube, there's the full version of the documentary. Confusingly its not called 'Its all about the bike' but a title it was given earlier.

Never quite understood the trip to the USA for his wheels though.

Lovely bike, I really like that!

I agree that I think it's earlier than 1987. By then, bikes were starting to get that 'high tech' look with anodised aluminium parts, brazed-on shifter mounts and brighter lurid paint jobs.

First change though will be the saddle for my comfy Brooks

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A leather saddle is completely wrong for this bike, IMO.

Very very nice, love the colour.