Nevermore

[ahconway]

Thanks to everyone on the forum who have given me advice about the bits & bobs for the Raven AT I ordered last week. It may be a few more weeks before it arrives, but I've already decided to call it Nevermore, after the raven in one of my favourite poems by Edgar Allan Poe.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Of course, I thoroughly expect my Nevermore be altogether happier than the one that haunted Poe!

In any case, while waiting for it arrive, I thought I'd post all the bits I decided on in the end (I've only listed the deviations from standard spec, or wherever a choice is involved):

• Raven Adventure Tour with twin plate fork in new Mid Blue Pearl powder coat finish (frame and fork!)


• MK2 comfort bars


• Mavic EX721 ceramic rims


• Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 1.75


• Shimano Deore brakes


• Shimano PD-M324 pelals (SPD on one side, platform on the other)


• S-SUN front and rear lamps


• Cateye Cordless 7 cyclometer


• 2 standard alloy bottle cages


• Brooks B17 saddle (honey)


• Tubus Cosmo rear rack (stainless steel)


• X-lite Enduro bar ends (blue) (I ordered these from Wiggle and had them sent to SJS - I had originally specced the Thorn carbon ones, but they're just a bit too small for me)

I'm having it sent to Bicycle Workshop in Notting Hill for assembly - an excellent shop for repairs - they're quite happy to do this.

Of course I'll post photos of Nevermore when it arrives - in the meantime, here are some shots from my trip to Bridgwater:

http://homepage.mac.com/ahconway/cycling/PhotoAlbum18.html

Andrew

[femmcommuter]

When mine was delivered I only had to turn the bars and add the pedals. Why does your require assembly other than by SJS?

[Stijn]

Andrew,

You shopping list only has parts for half a bike.

The bottom bracket and crankset took quite a bit of puzzling when I spec’ed my bike, in order to get a straight chainline. Just to get you started, the the Rohlof chainline is 53mm and the BB needs to be 68mm. Make sure you swap out the pre installed (very cheap) Taiwanese bottom bracket which comes with the frame.

I hope you’ll put a picture on the forum, I’m keen to see the blue frame.

Cheers,

Stijn

[mactraveller]

Hi all,

Don't want to change the topic but with regards to the last post, can I ask you Stijn -

Myself and girlfriend are waiting on delivery of an EXP and a Raven Tour respectively (Both with Rohloff).  Plans of many years touring etc.  Are you saying that the chainline will not be straight on these as standard?  And that the BB is not of great quality?

Thanks
Mactraveller

[Andrew]

quote:Originally posted by mactraveller

Hi all,

Don't want to change the topic but with regards to the last post, can I ask you Stijn -

Myself and girlfriend are waiting on delivery of an EXP and a Raven Tour respectively (Both with Rohloff).  Plans of many years touring etc.  Are you saying that the chainline will not be straight on these as standard?  And that the BB is not of great quality?

Thanks
Mactraveller

Hi,

All Raven cycles for some months have been (and will now be) fitted with high quality Shimano UN52/53 bottom brackets.
If the Raven is bought as a complete cycle the chainline will be setup perfectly straight.

Regards
Andrew
sjscycles.com

[ahconway]

quote:Originally posted by femmcommuter

When mine was delivered I only had to turn the bars and add the pedals. Why does your require assembly other than by SJS?

Good question. I'm sure it isn't a daunting assembly job, but this is also the only way I can ensure someone will be on hand to accept the box when it turns up!

[Stijn]

I purchased a bare raven frame, one of the first to arrive from the Factory. Not having expected to have a BB installed in it, (it was branded: “Racer professional”), I never made a fuss about it, but I suspect the BB in frame was factory installed, since I didn’t believe SJS would fit something of such dubious quality. Mine was probably never taken out of the box at SJS and passed straight on from container to courier.

Anyway, I’m sure that SJS will deliver a high quality assembly with a perfectly straight chainline. But if you purchase a bare frame, like me, you might want to check the BB.

By the way, I'm off for three months, hopefully for a bit of cycling in China as well, so hope to be back on the forum in February.

Enjoy your new bikes,

Cheers,

Stijn

[ahconway]

Just spoke to Ross @ SJS, and it seems that the new Raven frames have arrived! My build is scheduled for Friday 26th November, and ready to ship next week!

[PH]

Achonway,
Have Nevermore say Hi to Big Red, though they’re probably well acquainted, having travelled from exotic parts together.
Being built on the same day[], though due to working away from home not being despatched for a fortnight[B)].
Should be easy to recognise, big and red (frame and forks) Only slight deviations from the standard spec; straight bars, Deore brakes, silver bottle cages, Brooks B17 and an extravagant Schmidt hub and twin Schmidt lights (I ride in the dark a lot)[][][]

 

[ahconway]

As my delivery date draws near (next week!), I'm still making changes to the spec.... it's all as I originally posted, with the following changes:

• I upgraded the front hub to the Deore XT (the shop rang me when they were assembling, assuming that I wouldn't want to mate the ceramic rims with the lacklustre standard hub, and I had to agree)


• Instead of the S-Sun rear light, I've gone with the CateyeTL-LD 1000 - it has more LEDs, and it should be mountable on the Tubus rack

I spoke to the proprietress of Bicycle Workshop (http://www.bicycleworkshop.co.uk/) today and arranged for the bike to be delivered to her, and I'll pick up on Thursday or Friday!

[ahconway]

It's here! Remarkable. Picked it up from the Bicycle workshop today.

Great 7-mile ride home, but I'm going to put it through its paces for real tomorrow!

See photos here:

http://homepage.mac.com/ahconway/cycling/PhotoAlbum20.html

[Jitensha]

Hi Ahconway,

Nice bike. Very very nice! More picks would be great! Getting very close to ordering two Raven AT's ourselves. What size is the frame? Enjoy putting "Nevermore" through its paces

[Jitensha]

picks?? i mean pics of course!

Jitensha

[Penfold]

Ahconway,

The 'nevermore' is indeed a beast of beauty.

Can I ask a bit of a cheeky question?

Would, if I were to purchase one of a similar spec get any change from say £1500 or per chance £2000?

[ahconway]

quote:Originally posted by Penfold

Ahconway,

The 'nevermore' is indeed a beast of beauty.

Can I ask a bit of a cheeky question?

Would, if I were to purchase one of a similar spec get any change from say £1500 or per chance £2000?

Penfold,

Your question is not so much cheeky but lazy, as I'm sure you could figure out exactly what I spent by adding up the base cost plus the options!  []

But to save you the trouble, what I spent was very close to your lower figure. Not bad, considering that I didn't compromise anywhere! A lot of bike for the money, particularly when you realise how easy it is to spend much more than that on factory-built Cannondale/Specialized/Trek.

(The hidden cost, of course, includes the hours I spent scrutinising component specs, posting questions to this forum, and the half-day I spent in Bridgwater - but that was all part of the fun!)

Andrew