30 November, 2011

Complete Rando Special


We have a new offering in our Prototype and Specials section. It's a complete 57cm VO Rando with a Shimano 105 10-speed derailleurs and brifters. This bike was used for testing and a magazine review and has very very few miles on it. It's $2000 including the rack and front bag; considering that the maxi build kit $1220, that's a pretty great deal. It would make a wonderful fast randonneur or credit card tourer.

6 comments:

  1. I'm having a little trouble understanding your frame sizing (maybe because I'm old enough to remember when it wasn't ambiguous). Is it 57 cm center-to top? "Including extension" is a term I don't understand in this context.

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  2. It's 57cm center-to-top. That does not include the little seat tube extension with the seat post clamp (which some manufacturers recently started including). In other words, VO's measurements are just like those in the good old days.

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  3. Question regarding the levers. If the bars were a shorter, compact modern version, do the levers contact the bag during shifting at all?

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  4. Alex,

    The bag is 28cm wide, so if you are using very narrow bars, it could interfere, but probably not. the bars would have to be very narrow:

    Maybe fudge it a bit to give room for fingers, 30cm? Remember that bars are measured c-t-c, so add.5mm, and don't forget that flare will narrow the area where the brake levers go, so also add that, on a modern road bar, maybe not much, 2cm, but this depends a lot on your bars.

    So now we're at 32.5cm for the minimum width of the bars, looks like we've got tons of clearance for all but the very smallest handlebars.

    But, measure yours and be sure you've got 28cm in the right place.

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  5. oops, sorry, Brifters, right.

    Alex: add 3.5cm for each brifter's inward travel, putting the minimum bar width at around 39.5cm

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