[Closed] Show me your cotic roadrats

Aren't they a little too flexible at the back for larger gentlemen?

Oi Who you calling larger 😉 ? Im 6 ft 3 and ok im a stone heavier than my racing snake 500k a week figure im still only 12 stone.hardly clydesdale 🙂 i carry very little too and from work , mostly a change of clothes and a lock.occasionally ill ride the last 2 miles with a road of shopping. Which kills me on the fixie as its all up.

Also with a rohloff you learn to sit and spin , they aint happy when you mash uncontrolably 🙂

The compliance is whats drawing me to the roadrat .ideally id like to test one but given so many folk commend and rubbish the road rat for that flex i figure thats a good thing

Heres the one i used to have,its got flat bars but no racks or guards.

[IMG] [/IMG]

I'm really *not* trying to put you off, honest 😉 , but isn't fixing a flat with guards + rohloff going to be purgatory?

*is just jealous cos im too biffer for one 👿

Shouldnt be any worse than what i have just now The tricross, what i want is my tricross with cable disks and the ability to stick hub gears in - the tricross is 120mm spacing and alloy so no cold setting. The tricross has rear exit drop outs , all you do is leave the tail of the mudguard a little more than the length of the drop out away from the wheel.

[img] [/img]

Tricross on the end. The thorn is gone but it was a horrible frame - on paper it woulda been ideal for this job being designed for the hub but me and that frame just hated each other - twas long enough but too low for me and angles were all derived from an 1942 specialized rock hopper.

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mrs trail rats day one with full guards and hub gears and even she can change a flat on that 🙂 although we tried to negate this afterwards with some conti touring plus? Must admit as much as i dont like the ride of the frame i really like the 8spd alfine action so im tempted to get the alfine roadrat on c2w and just be done with it.

Selling one cheap if your interested. got about 90% of a build.

Cheers for offer jambo but only considering it through c2w atm

Sold this now because it was too flexi under load... I'm 12 stone. But I had stupidly put some (mtb)carbon forks on.

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6170/6166433835_1566e3d9a8_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6170/6166433835_1566e3d9a8_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Springiness in the frame made for a fun ride unloaded but with those forks and full panniers it was actually dangerous with fairly violent speed wobbles. Which in fairness is not what it was designed for.

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Sweet Jesus, sort that gravel pit out man!

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4003/5126269272_7c040d468e.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4003/5126269272_7c040d468e.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/10286353@N03/5126269272/ ]SDC10264[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/10286353@N03/ ]jcabuckley1974[/url], on Flickr

Gone and forgotten.....didn't like it much 😆

That was my old land lords gravel pit/ dog shitting ground i think judging by the shite all over it.

I like that brown , shame its black only now ah well.

Hearing you on its no touring bike and id be keeping the steel fork for sure.

Definantly looks better with hub gears than with deraileur jca 🙂

nice bike, I've got a dismantled drop bar orange one, something different to other stuff out there. no pics, sorry.
just don't fix it - like riding with elastomers in your chainstays.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Here's a pic I took about an hour after being splatted by a dizzy cow on the way to work, with a classic 'oh sorry, I didn't see you' comment.

Nice bikes unladen - very nice to ride, springy and comfortable. PITA to change a rear puncture with rack and guards though, and rode like a bendy-bus with a single pannier of daily work stuff when I rode it SS.

Don't have a picture of mine, but its a great bike. Never used it for carrying loads mind, but I am sure it would do a good job.
Must have done at least 30,000 on it within 2 years. These days it just gets ridden 4 miles into town 🙁

Keep thinking about getting it resprayed and tarting it up. One day.

Do the Roadrat frames give plenty of tyre clearance when used with 700c road bike wheels?

I'm really tempted to use my Boardman road bike as a donor bike for a Roadrat build.

Do the Roadrat frames give plenty of tyre clearance when used with 700c road bike wheels?

Absolutely loads.

[img] [/img]

and like that it was ordered ......

thanks to mark at the bikechain for accomdating a fussy customer !

Cheers Terry.

Pleasure etc

What is the logic with the disc brake being on the front of the fork, is that the load is being pushed into the fork and not pulled.

major bonus for the end user is mudguard fitments easier

anyone stuck drop bars on a current model flat bar model ?

thinking woodchippers with versa vrs8s (i have both already)

- picking the bike up tomorrow 😀 - got BB7 upgrade in place of the tektros as cotic were out.

Thinking about an alfine Roadrat on C2W myself at the moment.

I'm 6'2" and about 14.5 stone though. And I want to carry my stuff on a rack/pannier

I'm afraid to ask but... will I die?

From the sounds of it the frame will flex so much that it will send me under the wheels of the nearest oncoming bus.

Biscuit Powered - Member
Thinking about an alfine Roadrat on C2W myself at the moment.

I'm 6'2" and about 14.5 stone though. And I want to carry my stuff on a rack/pannier

I'm afraid to ask but... will I die?

From the sounds of it the frame will flex so much that it will send me under the wheels of the nearest oncoming bus.

I'm bigger than you and have had no issues riding mine singlespeed.

i doubt it.

ive ridden with panniers/carradice on lightweight racing bikes with no issues - i doubt this can be much flexier than them.

One of the old dropbar frames, run fixed with bullhorns and a BB7 on the front for a couple of winters
[IMG] [/IMG]

I never had a rack and panniers on it, just a saddlebag at most, but what others would call flex you could also call comfort...? 6ft2 and 13 stone so no lightweight.

Sold it last year as I realised I could all the same things plus loads more with a Singular Swift (SS not fixed).

Top tip: use secuclips on the rear mudguard stays as well as the front to assist getting the wheel out for punctures etc.

"Top tip: use secuclips on the rear mudguard stays as well as the front to assist getting the wheel out for punctures etc. "

further top tip - leave the mudguard about 1.5 times the length of your drop out away from the tire - the wheel will slide back and dropout the drop out easy.

works fine on the mrs genisis day one and my spesh tricross, saves the mudguard flapping about loose when trying to get the wheel in and out

Top tip(s) With sks guards I made a shim from a felt tip pen body and a long bolt to attach at the bottom bracket.
If running gears dont forget to un tension the chain before taking out the qr/wheel or the whole thing can explode with one's hand in the middle.
Although I dont generally do this but I make an exception for the rat. Turn the bike upside down to remove rear wheel; Prise the stays apart(nice flexy steel) so it drops out(or up!), thus avoiding the slot and no need to remove/unclip the mudguard.

further top tip - leave the mudguard about 1.5 times the length of your drop out away from the tire - the wheel will slide back and dropout the drop out easy.

Yeah, but that looks even worse than mudguards with a nice even gap all the way round (which still doesn't look great I know).

For the couple of rear punctures I had a year I figured the secuclips and flapping mudguard was acceptable.

I once did a CX race on mine and changed it to 1x9 for a couple of weeks up to the race. God help anyone trying to get the rear wheel out with the mech hanger only held in by the QR!

Dyffers - how did you get on with time trial levers and cable discs? It's something I'm mulling over but not sure about short vs long cable pull in the system without resorting to problem solvers..

[url= http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/dia-compe-reverse-brake-levers-1063-p.asp ]A Dia Compe metal brake lever[/url] and a [b]road[/b] BB7 was absolutely fine.

In fact, I used to be a bit disappointed with the feel (not the power) of my SRAM dual pivots when I went back to the road bike.

I've since found the cheap metal CX bartop levers in the same position on bullhorn bars to be just as good.

Ah, road BB7, of course! Ta 🙂

My old medium long Roadrat with racks and 'guards:
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2721/4394555085_4ab84e7d15_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2721/4394555085_4ab84e7d15_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/26008756@N08/4394555085/ ]Roadrat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/26008756@N08/ ]cnarborough[/url], on Flickr

My new large short Roadrat (it's actually Dyffers' old one) in monstercross mode:
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3148/5850417978_4fba8a04ea_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3148/5850417978_4fba8a04ea_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/26008756@N08/5850417978/ ]Roadrat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/26008756@N08/ ]cnarborough[/url], on Flickr
Loads of clearance for big 700C tyres, up to 46mm wide.

and in bikepacking setup with Small Block 8's:
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7303494128_25240bd16f_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7303494128_25240bd16f_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/26008756@N08/7303494128/ ]Loaded 'rat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/26008756@N08/ ]cnarborough[/url], on Flickr

no rack on mine, just changed the Alfine oil, new sprocket & chain, riding like new 🙂

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Summer:
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6988799462_5f7e7f64f6.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6988799462_5f7e7f64f6.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/egg_n_bacon/6988799462/ ]Roadrat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/egg_n_bacon/ ]jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Winter:
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/6988817244_5834fd642b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/6988817244_5834fd642b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/egg_n_bacon/6988817244/ ]Winter Roadrat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/egg_n_bacon/ ]jwrfooo[/url], on Flickr

Ok wow

Makes my tricross feel as awful as i felt it was.....

THought i was just getting soft with my ti td-1 feeling so much comfier but it wasnt just the big tires the tricross really was just hammering my back hard.

tis a bit flexy when standing climbing hard but i can live with that.

Be better once i get a rear brake on it - misjudged the cable outer length 🙁

Cheers mark and the guys at tbc for the bits.

I've just picked up a Roadrat yesterday and need some advice about it.

First off, what cogs do I need for a SS Roadrat? Mines running the standard 16t on the back and I'd prefer something like an 18t but don't know what type of sprocket to get.

Secondly, when refitting the rear wheel, what's the best way to ensure it's fitted squarely and how much chain tension should I have?

Mines an alfine so cant help with that front

But

Rear wheel tension . Just pull it back and straighten it by eye then nipp it up

Or for precision get a pair of good chain tugs and fit em

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Have to say im still very happy with it , might shorten the stem slightly more to compensate for the long tt as its meant to be a flat bar model.

Done about 250k on it now.

@wisepranker, i assume yours must be second hand cos mine came (from 18bikes) with both 16T and 18T cogs (18 fitted), and a chain tug of sorts on the drive side for adjusting the tension...

Yes, mine's secondhand and only came with the 16t. It's got the Cotic chain tug fitted, I was just curious about the actual movement I should have on the chain, at the moment it's got about 1/2" up and down on the lower chain run.

Jwr;

What tyres are you running in winter mode? I see you have a full front guard, do you also have a rear? I fancy some cx ~35mm tyres for my road rat but I do lots of commuting road miles so don't want I ditch the full length mudguards; trouble is I'm unsure what fits!

I fitted 45mm sks chromoplastics to allow me to fit 700x35c winter marathons in

Commuted on mine for several years and loved it. Running a Kinesis now and 'rat is in cx mode with flipped Marys. A tad over-braked though with hydraulics!
[img] [/img]

I've got another stupid Roadrat question, am I right in thking that if I decide to run it geared I can set it up as 1x9 or 1x10 with MTB mechs and shifters?

Yes

Mine is in the mail A brown med-short. Looking forward to it

Yes

Excellent. Good answer 😀

Another crap question from me, in typical STW style, what tyres are good on the Roadrat?

It's currently running 23c Continental GP Four Seasons as I'm commuting on it but I fancy something a bit wider for a more comfortable ride, possibly a 28c or thereabouts.

Any suggestions for something that'll roll we'll on the road and ride well through the winter with a bit of comfort?

Something punctureproof....

Ive just ordered 4 winter marathons for winter for our commuting bikes.

In spring ill likely put something sensible on , thinking i might try narrow twin rails in black...... Or a conti touring plus.

I hate punctures. Mrs is running conti touring pluses atm and ive had one on the tricross for 4 years and it hasnt punctured or worn much .... And much better grip than the nutrak things stock on the roadrat

i was wondering the same thing; so far i've persevered with the nutraks (for the last 2 weeks!) and tbh i find them okay, but they've lost grip a couple of times on particularly rainy mornings and i'd prefer to not have to mess around repairing punctures too. some people have recommended conti gator skins to me- anyone else? ideally similar to wisepranker's requirements, reasonably fast rolling but with enough grip to last through the winter months?

I definitely need something puncture resistant.
Did my first commute on the Roadrat yesterday, riding home just after midnight in the pouring rain and got a puncture! Not the best of commutes.

I used to run big Specialized Boroughs on mine, kind of semi-slicks. The Armadillo versions are very puncture resistant and they roll reasonably quick, are happy on tow-paths and easy off road. Nothing exciting, but they worked fine for me. Road slicks are quicker on the road though.

I'm almost scared to comment here, as I'm sure to have a puncture now...

I've been running Land Cruisers on mine for 2 years or so, including daily commuting for about a year of that. I think I got the 28mm versions, but they fit fine with SKS full-length guards. Good grip on road, with a slick central rib, but enough grip at the edge to cope with light CX stuff. Cheap too.

Anyone got an Orange roadrat ? .... Id like to see an orange frame built up before ordering a frameset 🙂

Mrs has an orange day one alfine .... I dont really likeit

Wish i coulda got a coffee brown one but no ... Black it is in that case

I really like the day one`s in orange 🙂 ..... also really like the day one single speed in blue

my roadrat's orange, but i bought it as a bike so it's the standard cotic flat bar SS build.

my old one in various guises

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5005/5377801355_171a2de974_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5005/5377801355_171a2de974_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/5377801355/ ]P1030349[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5176/5400183679_1b0207312a_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5176/5400183679_1b0207312a_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/5400183679/ ]P1030364[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5175/5502136939_3a0f03b985_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5175/5502136939_3a0f03b985_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/5502136939/ ]P1030477[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6184/6136738759_1c6e554734_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6184/6136738759_1c6e554734_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/6136738759/ ]P1030967[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6202/6159154508_c626e49b93_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6202/6159154508_c626e49b93_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/6159154508/ ]P1030986[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6180/6185604954_1c4ddf747d_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6180/6185604954_1c4ddf747d_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/6185604954/ ]P1040006[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

@vortex ...... loving the different options the rat has to offer 🙂 ... just weighing up maybe getting one as a commuter for road and canal duties 🙂
what size is that ? .... looks pretty small which is what i need 🙂

They are very versatile that's for sure

That one is a small/short

@ vortex .. cheers for that ..... see Cotic only doing small /long now 🙁

yip, thats correct. I think I got the last one

I have a small/ long. Soon to be off-loaded as I have bob-all chance to commute on it anymore. Shame, as it does the job lovely.

@ spud ... pics and price if you do please 🙂

Will drop you a mail @stumpy

Dont be put off by length ... Mines a large long and is about 2cms longer than id normally ride drops on .....butni also wanted more uprightposition so i have stuck ona short high angle stem and despite thinking i wanted shorter the end of my first week has come and im at 300 k plus on the bike and ive grown to like the position.

I've got a small/short one (fnarr fnarr) for sale

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/fs-smallshort-roadrat-frame-headset-marz-55rs

Email in profile if interested 🙂

Since its a sunny day and I can't go anywhere on it as I'm waiting in for a delivery of logs, here's a snap of my roadrat.

[img] [/img]

Flat bar alfine model, swapped to the black chain set as I thought the silver looked odd. I have a topeak mtx rack that I use for commuting as well as full guards.
IMO the roadrat is great, not being a road cyclist but needing something to commute on and for general rides where the 160mm FS is a bit overkill it's perfect.

Oh, and my Oury grips from the USA. Granted they're a little marmite but I like them 🙂

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]
Flat bar alfine model, swapped to the black chain set as I thought the silver looked odd. I have a topeak mtx rack that I use for commuting as well as full guards.

That looks [i]exactly[/i] what I'm after for my commute.

I really like the convenience of the mtx rack and bag but I do find it does the handling no favours having the weight that high up and far back. Almost tempted to give some traditional panniers a try or possibly fit a frot rack to balance the load.

No experience with front panniers; what's out there and how easy are they to fit?

Roadwarior does that mean you have experianced the speed wobble when going no handed ?

Mines does that , but any old flexy steel frame ive ridden does it ....

Recently put a Surly Crosscheck fork (courtesy of a mate who had it kicking around) on my Roadrat to replace the original one which I bent slightly.

Much better. Simultaneously sharper, quicker steering and more complient. How does that work?

Ive got a roadrat in orange and its very very orange....SMIDSY drivers have absolutely no excuse with this one!

Ive absolutely loved the frame and havent experienced 'flex' and i weigh 16st. I cant comment on wobbles when loaded as ive never tried it. Tyre clearance is pretty ample (i run 35mm marathon pluses with plenty of room either side)

I have only ever run hub gears on it and have had the Alfine 8, Alfine 11 and now ive finally took the plunge and put a rohloff on it. My advice on this one is simple - save yourself the cost of upgrading and just get the rohloff. Alfines do work fine on a roadrat but the axle kept slipping until i put a chaintug in.

One thing to consider if you want to put a rohloff in this is the speedbone goes right across the mudguard/pannier mountings meaning a bodge of some kind is required to fit full mudguards ( i have sks chromoplastics). The one good thing about the setup is even with a QR rohloff, the way the oem2 mates with speedbone means that the disc mounts will break before the wheel will slip forward. However the whole setup looks and feels plenty strong enough to me.

See i have a rohloff in the garage .

I much prefer the alfine.

Te alfine behaves as multiple singlespeeds. You always know your ridimg a rohloff imo.

Ony thing thing that will swing it for me is if alfine 8 proves unreliable.

Axel hasnt slipped at all on either my roadrat or my mrs genisis day one

I was having axle slipping problems with my alfine 8- but I found murdering-on the 15mm bolts sorted it 😉

Not had any speed wobble- more just that for cornering I have to shift my weight a long way forward to counter the weight of the bag so the bike feels balanced- there's no weight on the front wheel other wise.

Does anyone with the SS Roadrat find that the drivetrain is noisy?
Mine seems to make a bit of a noise, it seems that the side of the chain is catching the chainguide on the chain set. Is this normal?