What's In The Box? (Brad Pitt Voice) An Early Bontrager OR! **Finished Photos Page 11**

[benjabbi]

Haha, they always seem to multiply, usually after riding the first one though!
Bigger and later?

 

[pw_pw_la]

Haha, they always seem to multiply, usually after riding the first one though!
Bigger and later?

Well, the thing is Ben, I'm an addict and you lot are all enablers!

But to answer your questions:

Yes, a lot. And yes, a little!

So here's the thing...

A week or two on the Brodie has really cemented what I already knew deep down in my heart: I should be riding bigger bikes.

I can ride a 17-19" bike, it's fine. But a 19-21" bike is probably better.

For the OR, that puts me squarely in the XL range.

However, those don't really come up all that often, or I haven't seen many, anyway.

And at the same time, a friend of mine here, John, has a lovely, slightly later Race that he built a while ago as a rider. I saw it a few months back, out near Ojai, and although it's technically the XXL size (21"), it didn't feel too huge on the once around the parking I gave it when I was out there visiting him and his bike shop:



Pretty great build, right there!

And I kind of like the more relaxed, slack geometry this size gives the bike too...

Anyway, a week or so ago, all of a sudden John needed to sell it.

While I couldn't justify or afford the whole bike, not when I'd already accumulated two thirds of the build for mine already, I could convince myself that taking a punt on the frame, fork and seatpost, for a very, very fair price, was a pretty great idea!

Which is now where I'm at.

Which is one bike either side of the size I really need!

That said, here's how I've made my peace with it: between the two, I'll know for sure whether I really need an XL, or not, and, if I do, I'll have the trade bait I need either side of it if I ever find someone with one too big, or one too small for them.

Oh, and meanwhile I have a nice silver Race fork as a build option or a spare for a future bike.

Could be worse, I suppose!

 

[pw_pw_la]

Right shall we have some updates?

I decided, based on my time on the Brodie, to abandon the smaller of the two frames and go ahead with building the XXL size.

I think I'd rather have something a little too big than a little too small, at this stage in my life.

I'm going to think on what to do with the lovely large that this thread was originally started for. Maybe it'll rear its head as a different build some day (I have a fair few perfect dirt drop build parts in the bins, after all) or maybe it'll show up on the For Sale section.

For now it's in storage.

Anyway, back to John's XXL...

Here's the frame as arrived:



And in comparison to the large I already had:



Serial stamped on the rear dropout (which I've been told is largely useless in terms of dating anything): 1599

Well, here's one bummer:



Ouch!

Luckily there's an anti-suck on the Large that (one stripped bolt aside) will be easy enough to transfer straight over.

Otherwise, the frame itself is in great shape. The decals are the one thing I really debated. I'd always planned to go the classic yellow and white route, as that's the combination I've always loved the most against the black frame. I'd even ordered two sets from Gil already! But, having cleaned the bike up, and spent some time getting all the grease and grime off the original red and white decals, I'm sort of in love with them as they are.

The more I do this, the more I like to keep as many original elements as I can from a bike's previous life. And sometimes I'd rather show-off the war wounds rather than repair or replace them. So, with that in mind, I've decided to keep the old, scratched and scared decals, knowing I have replacements on hand should I ever change my mind.

After all, the reason Keith designed them this way in the first place was to have the appearance of a cool paint job, without needing to be too precious with your bike. You could use and abuse it, and replace the decals as and when you saw fit. It's nice to show the abuse the bike has suffered and survived over the years, I think. It's had a hard, happy life. You can tell! But every single part of Keith's design has withstood and absorbed it.

Anyway, here are the cleaned up decals (I find paint sripper after wash is strong enough to remove the grime and dirt without doing any damage to the decals themselves, or fading any of the color), and the seat binder clamp and rubber sheath moved across from the large:





We'll talk forks next time!

 

[slackboy]

Not jealous. At all. Especially as I could do with a larger frame too.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Not jealous. At all. Especially as I could do with a larger frame too.

How large?

I think the sweet spot for me would probably be that elusive XL size. That said, when I get to the final pictures of this build I plan to chat geometry quite a bit.

There's something about this XXL that just looks right, I think. The question is: will it feel just right?

 

[slackboy]

Yeah, probably an XL. I'm just over 6' so the standard large should fit me. I think the problem(?) with bonty's is that the stack doesn't actually increase until you get to the super-sized sizes.

My travesty of a restomod bonty is actually beautiful to ride - the wide bars and slight rise are just about right - but the race lite on its non-sus corrected forks is way too low. So low, that in fact its now on turbo trainer duties

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Just thought I'd have a nosey in here and see whats happening......
Mmmm yum ...yes...and yes again
Carry on!

 

[benjabbi]

Looking forward to this Phil
Are you still going down the Suntour off the Marin route?
I have always found it slightly odd that the head tube doesn't change between XS-L and top tube lengths are so close between sizes, at 5'6'' the medium is bang on for me, I can see why Matt would find the front end too low on a large, same length head tube and only 10mm longer.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Yeah, probably an XL. I'm just over 6' so the standard large should fit me. I think the problem(?) with bonty's is that the stack doesn't actually increase until you get to the super-sized sizes.

My travesty of a restomod bonty is actually beautiful to ride - the wide bars and slight rise are just about right - but the race lite on its non-sus corrected forks is way too low. So low, that in fact its now on turbo trainer duties

Same boat here. I'm bang on 6ft, but I have a short inseam and long arms. Which means I'm always making one concession over the other when it comes to frame size.

I have always found it slightly odd that the head tube doesn't change between XS-L and top tube lengths are so close between sizes, at 5'6'' the medium is bang on for me, I can see why Matt would find the front end too low on a large, same length head tube and only 10mm longer.

Right!

Because the head tube doesn't change until the largest sizes, and the top tube only barely, I too sort of figured the Large would probably work, but that an XL would be the ideal. When this XXL became available, on double checking the measurements, there was clearly no reason it wouldn't be worth a try, as the size increases were all in pretty useful places!

Those extra mm's certainly change a lot of the overall geometry of the bike, in quite interesting ways. Most notably it slackens out the whole frame, which I actually quite like. I'm running probably the lowest seatpost I ever have, which bothers me only aesthetically, otherwise the higher front end, and the slightly downward sloping top tube, paired with the Composite fork, actually feels really comfortable and still highly responsive.

@slackboy I reckon keep an eye out for an XXL, too. If it works for me at 6ft I can't imagine you wouldn't gain some benefits from it as well. Unless, of course, running a large-looking and feeling frame bothers you? Admittedly, that used to be bother me, too.

The other thing going up in size did, was mean my choice of cockpit actually made riding, rather than only aesthetical, sense! But more on that later...

 

[pw_pw_la]

Just thought I'd have a nosey in here and see whats happening......
Mmmm yum ...yes...and yes again
Carry on!

And we haven't even got to any of the really good stuff, yet...