southpawboston

Rawland's new Stag is a Tawianese-built TIG-welded low-trail 650B bike designed with ultralight, standard size tubing (7/4/7 on smaller sizes, 8/5/8 on larger sizes) with a horizontal top tube and nicely curved, high-rake fork with lugged twin-plate crown. Designed specifically for Hetres, fenders and a front rack, it appeals to the randonneuring crowd as well as 650B aficionados who want a purpose-built 650B frame on a budget. The frameset has been a long time coming. I got in on the pre-order way back in October before the specs were even finalized, which got me a reduced price, a set of Pacenti PL23 rims thrown in, and a promised ETA of early 2013. June came around and still no Stag. Then I got notification the week I was leaving for vacation in the Catskills that the first batch of Stags had arrived in California from Taiwan and would be shipping that week-- just as I was away. So, no Stag for all my Catskill dirt road adventures that I posted about earlier. The Stag is replacing my Shogun 650B conversion as my go-to bike for any kind of gravel or mixed terrain riding, as well as any riding that involves a lot of climbing.

I spent the last few weeks building it up with a modern yet classic (to my eye, at least) set of components-- mostly Dura Ace 10-speed drivetrain but with TA cranks, and a mix of titanium and alloy components chosen to help bring in the final weight below 25lb-- a lofty goal given that my Shogun clocked in at 30lb. with dynamo lighting, fenders, bell and rack. The Stag, equipped the same, weighs in at 24.1 lb... a full 6 pound savings! I took it on its shakedown ride on Thursday, a 25 mile hill climbing route close to my house. I'm happy to report that the bike feels great. I bested my previous times on one particularly hard climb. And sprinting out of the saddle was more inviting and less tiring than on my Shogun. Interestingly, I was able to tackle the same hills in a higher gear than I could manage on the Shogun. JPTwins joined me for the ride with the plan to grab some food afterward, but after the 25 mile warmup, I wanted to keep riding! It felt that good, and this was before dialing in the finer adjustments. (But that didn't keep us from the planned food and beer).

On to the pictures:

Grand Bois bars and M13 rack, VO stem, Cane Creek headset, Shimano Dura Ace 7800 10-speed bar-end shifters, first-gen Shimano 105 aero levers (the oldest parts on the bike)


Bunch or random spacers, but as it turns out the bar height is perfect, so these will stay


Dura Ace 7800 long-cage RD, 7900 11-28 cassette, 7900 chain, KCNC Ti Q/R skewer. Had to replace the b-screw with a longer one to provide extra tension to allow the RD to work with the 28T large cog. Worked great.


44/28 TA crankset (later version), Phil Ti-Mag BB, Ti crank bolts, Suntour Superbe band-clamp FD. Still has my greasy fingerprints from building up!


Grand Bois "Extra Legere" Hetres, ultralight tubes and Pacenti PL23 rims make for a wheelset 2 lb lighter than my Shogun's 650B wheelset! Headlight is an "Electricalites A.T."-modified Cyo, on a modified Weinmann brake arm mount.


White Industries rear hub


Acorn boxy rando bag


Making a derailleur b-tension adjustment after learning that the small ring/large cog combo was making some undesired chatter.


Cresting the hill that I bested all my previous times on. (I should point out that JPTwins was already at the top waiting for me for a good minute!!!)


And after another 20 mile post-shakedown, post-adjustment ride this morning, happy with my tweaks, I wrapped the bars. Ready for D2R2 next weekend!

Shp4man

Nice metallic blue paint. Interesting crank.

acoffin 

Thank you for the ride report! I've been interested in these since I saw the first prototype. It's not really in my budget right now unfortunately. Maybe if I sell a bunch of stuff this winter...

DiegoFrogs

Amazing! Were you able to run the wiring from the dynamo hub inside of the fork blade? Because the wiring looks really neat.

gomango

Holy smokes, you build a beautiful bicycle.

I have been waiting to see one of these built and this was worth the wait.

Looks like you really thought this through. The DA bits should be light and bulletproof for you.

Looking forward to reports down the road.

Thanks for sharing.

southpawboston

Thanks! No, I didn't bother trying to internalize any of the wiring. I urged Sean to include internal wiring provisions in the frame design during the prototype croudsourcing discussions, but that fell on deaf ears. I ended up gluing the wiring against the fork leg, and down tube. For the back fender, the wiring runs through little aluminum tube guides glued to the fender, like I also have on the front rack. I have shots detailing this process:

DiegoFrogs

Thanks for the pictures.

I had an idea about doing something similar recently with glued-on tubing but just ended up using inelegant zip ties to get her up and running. I actually spent a day trying to put the cable through a Tange fork after reading your account, but mine was too full of caterpillar cocoons! I actually just used duct tape (in this case actual duct tape, used on ducts) in the underside of the plastic fender to keep the wire from dropping onto the wheel. I'm thinking about going back and doing something similar, possibly even with aluminum or stainless steel tubing.

Those plans are a bit up in the air right now because I might be selling all of my stuff and moving to Sweden.

Italuminium

A fine steed, southpaw. Enjoy. I really love that gearing up front, seems to make a
lot more sense than the standard 52/42 or that half-arsed compacts that are all the rage now.

whatwolf

Woohoo! The first one I've seen built up.

Chrome Molly

Wow what a nice ride, with very functional yet great looking choices all around. Really dig the biplane fork. Let us know how you like the gearing once you get some time on the saddle. I've been interested in what a 44/28, 11/28 would be like.

Orrery

Man, that is nice! Great work. Any other details on your customization of the Cyo? I'm thinking about getting a Cyo for my rando build and I'm wondering what you did to it.

ColonelJLloyd 

Southpawboston builds up some of my favorites bikes. Top notch again, sir! My size and everything. . . I need to visit Boston!

YoKev

dammmmnnnn

that is hot

4Rings6Stars

Excellent build, as always. It will be right at home at D2R2!

Seriously. I think you give him good competition. I don't have the patience or attention to detail that you two have. One of these days I will try to commission one of you fine gentleman to build me a rando bike...

And drop me a line when you come to visit, first round is on me.

Chris W.

Well done Sir! Yours is the prettiest Stag build I have seen (must be the C&V in me). I have been waiting to see this for some time, thank you for sharing!

Cheers.
Chris

redcaymatt

I love my RSogn. I built it up with first gen XTR cranks, xt/dura ace drive train & brakes. I use it more as a mountain bike than anything else. One thing to beware of is the derailleur hanger is not super sturdy & not replaceable (why? it would be so simple) I twisted mine & needed to use the torch to get it straight again. Otherwise, a great and versatile bike. Your's looks great. Those White Industries hubs are fantastic.Enjoy!

mkeller234

I love everything about it. Congratulations! It is a little sad to think of that shogun being retired, such a great bike too.

RosyRambler

I agree with the 'Colonel' about Southpawboston's bike builds. Very nice indeed!

Are all those boxes and containers behind the bike full of bike stuff?

southpawboston

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!

Ha, some are bike-specific, some are family crap. I live with my wife and two girls in a tiny house. The basement gets everything that doesn't fit anywhere else.

Matt, don't worry, the Shogun will get reincarnated and come out as something completely different, and will be better than ever. It might take awhile, but it's already in the works.

No kidding, right back at the Colonel, his builds are top-notch, where do you think I get some of my inspiration?

The cyo cabling was just replaced with 3-conductor round cabling, for looks only; functionally it's no different.

Duly noted! I do dislike dainty hangers, they do seem to bend easily.

gerv 

What type of glue are you using? [BTW, great build!]

southpawboston

Goop!

gerv 

Goop? So if you want to get the wiring off the fork, perhaps a little Goo-gone and a credit card will remove it and the Goop without ruining the paint?

southpawboston

Goop is great because it binds tenaciously, but if you pull it hard enough, it will peel off in one piece and not leave any residue. Kinda like that stuff they use to attach credit cards to paper when they mail you credit card offers, only stronger.

rowebr

Really impressive build, looks awesome and its great to hear that it rides so well. I'm helping a friend to plan a fast 650B randonneur bike, and as far as I can tell, your Rawland sets the bar for what can be achieved with a production frame. Especially after hearing your ride report, I think the Stag would be a great choice. It must have been nice to build it up knowing in advance that the Hetres with the fenders would fit! Conversions involve a great deal more work and uncertainty.

I'm also interested to see what you do with the Shogun. Set it up as a touring bike?

VintageRide

Normally I would not post in C&V but since southpawboston presented his Stag and I doubt there are too many I thought I would add a few images of the large ( 57.5 cm ) frame I recently received and just put together.Still sorting a few things out, such as getting a new shifter cable and installing the front derailleur.I had two Rivendells, a Bleriot and Romulus, both of which I sold to purchase something else, well, one of them was the Stag and I also decided on something more vintage and I found a early '80's Raleigh Gran Tour. The Romulus was a good riding bike but the Stag and Raleigh are more fun ( and the Raleigh takes 35mm tires although fenders are going to be a bit tight ) and as much as I liked the look of the Bleriot it just felt too stiff and a bit on the twitchy side with steering feeling a bit too light - the harsher ride was the main issue. Back to the Stag I am very glad I decided on it as it really feels together. It does a pretty good job of absorbing bumps etc. and handles great too, it might become my favorite bike - although I only have three.