dirtyphotons

as is the case for all flip flops (paired with track ends), any difference larger than a tooth is going to cause brake issues. i just adjust my rear brake for the ss freewheel and leave it disconnected when i run fixed. it rattles around back there but no louder than the rack and fender stays

darkmother

I built a pair of Open Pro's laced to IRO high flange hubs, 36 hole, 4X. As a big guy (200 lb) that rides a lot of miles on rough pavent, I don't like to screw around with cheap machine built wheels-they end up being too much of a hassle in my experience. These are very strong wheels, I have ridden them abusively with no need for truing-although the rear hub bearings will need to be replaced soon. Keep in mind that bigger tires go a long way to making wheels handle abuse as well.

8bitevolution

So for the price, can anyone think of any other SS/fixed bicycle that is a better "do all" than the RR?

shapelike

Niiice, new RR pics ... those are in too short a supply on "teh interweb." Anyone else have photo that hasn't been posted before?

8bitevolution

In my search for RR information, I found this guy's flickr set- https://www.flickr.com/photos/ehershe...7594204194160/

It shows it from out of the box to all together. A bit grainy but I liked seeing how the complete bikes were shipped.

JimmyMack

Cool! My bike has some Google rank.

The bike can race well. SS has a lot to do woth your fitness, and it can tax your running even more due to gear limitation. It felt solid all through the race, and I was glad to have it as a spare bike later on in the season. It feela bit heavy during a suitcase run or a sudden pitch in the road. It's very trust worthy during hard riding, and that can give you the confidence needed to hit a section really hard.

When riding fixed, the bike is geared 42x16. I have not had issues adjusting the brake pads using the thinline koolstops supplied with the Paul brakes. There is nearly and issue, but it is only close.

A friend of mine sent me the link below to a custom RR. Brothers of different mothers?

An Orange Rob Roy

jyossarian

Jeez, that's byootifull!

joshuastar

jimmy mack, are your RR stripes painted on, or what?

8bitevolution

The photos on IRO's site really don't do the RR justice.

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures and information on the RR. I think I'll probably have one of these on the way after the whole tax return thing is taken care of.

JimmyMack

Naw. There is local hardware store that sells a variety of 3M plastic tape in a multitude of colors and widths. The tape differs from electrical tape, as it does not stretch and and contract due to climate changes. It works well for finishing bar tape and or stripes to protect the frame from a pole during lock up.

Plastic tape

I like the "clear" for a top tube protector on a track bike.

joshuastar

nice.

i have no idea why that's so visually pleasing to me. so hot.

if you have any good up close pictures of the stripes, i'd like to see them.

Telix

Is the RR usable with 120mm wheels? I have 120's right now and am not too into the idea of getting a new wheelset if I went to a more relaxed geometry than my Mercier. And on the topic, is the Bianchi San Jose available as a frame only? I can't seem to the frame alone anywhere. It's 130mm spacing is definitely usable with the 120mm hubs, but I'm not too sure that the 132.5 spacing on the RR would work unless I compressed it down.

pinkrobe

I was really on the fence about getting one of these, but I'm being swayed. Especially that orange beastie! Oh my! For those that got the whole bike from IRO, how are the parts? I'm mostly concerned about the hubs and BB. Do they stand up to daily use through rain and snow?

jyossarian

Through rain, yes. No idea about snow since I haven't encountered any since I've had it. Just clean and lube the chain after riding in the rain a few times. The IRO hubs are good (Formulae) and the BB does the job although after driving the bike through 2 hrs of rainstorms this past weekend, I can hear some noises coming from that area when I'm cranking up a hill.

edit: I had a homeless guy tonight tell me he really likes my bike. That'd be the 2nd homeless guy to tell me that.

dirtyphotons

long answer yes with an if, short answer no with a but.

if your axle is long enough, you can just add spacers inside the outer locknut (the thing that presses against the inside of your dropout). some formula hubs have long enough axles for this, some don't.

or you can cold set (bend) the rear triangle to 120mm. this is what i did, and it's worked well. a bike shop should be able to do it for you cheaply.

JimmyMack

The spacing is 132.5. Squeezing down to 130 should be no problem since it's steel and it was designed with that in mind.

My current rig utilizes the Nashbar flavored Dimension hubs. The rear dimension hubs come spaced at 120 with a bearing preload nut and a serrated nut to grab the inside of the frame. Two spacers were added between the two mentioned nuts and on each side of the hub. This brought the spacing up to ~130mm. The Dimension axel is not a long like Formula, and there are two unused threads within the track nut when the wheel is mounted in the frame. I've ridden off road many times using this setup, and the bike has been raced 2 times also. The confidence level is very high for this setup, and I have no fear of a nut coming loose.

The biggest loss is the inability to add a chain tensioner due to the lack of axle length. On the upside, my "wheel walking" has improved. Now there is no need for a chain tensioner.

I figure the hollow axle will fail in shear before any other problems arise.

Telix

How did you bend the front fork? Or didn't you?

dirtyphotons

almost all modern front hubs are spaced 100mm (and the rob roy's fork is spaced 100mm as well). the only spacing issues you should encounter would be with the rear.

Telix

Thanks, I made the assumption that they were the same front and rear. I'm still learning.

dirtyphotons

no worries, we all start somewhere. compared to some of the people around here i'm just a baby too

pinkrobe

Thanks. Yeah, it looks like a standard cartridge BB. Pull it and grease the hell out of it, particularly where the cartridge meets the cup-thingy. Post-rain creak has been a design flaw in this type of BB since the 80's or whenever they came out.

Well, that clinches it. The dwelling-challenged never comment on my current bike.

Oh yeah, is it better to go with black or silver for the bars/stem/post/etc.? I'm thinking silver, but not if it's a cheap painted finish that's going to look like crap in a few days...

dirtyphotons

silver is way faster

pinkrobe

...and red is faster than silver, so I should get one, strip it, powdercoat it red, then I'm teh f45+@r!!!!

jyossarian

I have to say, I've never received so many comments/praise for any bike except for this one and not only from the differently sheltered. And to my eye, it doesn't look all that blingie or special compared to the beauties on here.

I went w/ silver cuz I thought black was too 90's looking. Plus I don't have to worry about paint chipping off. Looks good on Cromulent's bike though.

8bitevolution

The more I look at jyossarian's bike, the more I like it.

Did you wrap the bullhorns in Brooks' leather handlebar tape?

The Veloce is damn nice, too.