New instantly old RT

[Hoodatder]

Following on from my RST post, here are a few pix of the RT. The wheels are CSS Andra Rigida with Son 28 and 2" Dureme tyres. It's a 42 x 19 set up with XT brakes.

I specced polished cranks and A530 pedals. I have taken the handlebar, spacers and seat stem from the RST and tried to lighten the look of the bike. I 'm not an aficionado of all black bikes - or cars for that matter. Apologies to those of you who have an all black set up.

I had the same disappointment again, as I had when I bought my first RT Adventurer. What a Clydesdale of a bike, what a plodding Shirehorse!!! There was a distinct lack of thrill and any anticipated excitement evaporated within 50 yards. But loaded? Loaded, it's a magnificent machine. it does what it says on the tin. it sits there and soaks up the cargo weight and returns to me, a very stable, soft and comfortable ride. Yes, it was deja vu.

I have put some thick clear tubing on the racks and covered them with black spinnaker tape. This has allowed me to completely remove the insert hooks from the Ortlieb panniers.
Result :- No rattles, no abrasion, no slap and prolonged longevity of the racks. Last year I used the new Ortliebs on the front and they had 12mm inserts, 1mm bigger han the rear inserts. The result was quite a lot of abrasion to the front rack and even the rear rack suffered where the lower arm engages over the rack. Admittedly, I had taken in some the Canal du Midi c/w boneshaking roots, but I was brassed off with the outcome. That problem has now been eradicated. i cannot take credit for this. Here is the link.
http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=104661&sid=16a3d92f4b5d2b2753baff410916b073#p996427

I then put on the new arm attachments to the rear panniers thus allowing me to tube out and protect the rear rack. The ne attachment are also more versatile and allow a greater range of fitting different racks. Here is the link
.http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s74p2780

I will take credit for the "Lower Rack Protective Conduit ^TM Patent is now pending. A word of warning to any of you who dare intimate that it is a piece of  yellow Hozelock  hosepipe will find themselves in court for misdescription.

So there we are. All rigged up with Oregon 600 and Cinq 5 charge and slave battery. B&M lights front and rear and ready to go - which is more than I am

Adios and see you sometime.

Hoot

[Andre Jute]

Saddle leather (what Brooks calls "honey") and black is truly a classic combination. With those Ortliebs, it doesn't look like you'll have to borrow a dinner jacket when you're invited to eat at the castle.

[Danneaux]

Hi Hoot!

Your RT is as nice a loaded tourer as I have ever seen. Don't know what I could add, as you've really done it up so well.

Can't think of a better mount for your journeys.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Very nice looking bike.

The black and yellow is a pretty good combination in my opinion too.  Photos of my Sherpa attached.  But unfortunately I did not have the matching handlebar bag.

I have the Tubus Ergo, not Tara on my Sherpa.  The Ergo will mount with the horizontal bar much closer to horizontal than the Tara.  There are two sets of threaded holes where the forward ends of the horizontal bars attach to the hoop on the Ergo, but only one set of such holes for the Tara.  I think that is the difference.  I bought a Tara to put on my Nomad and discovered that the Tara does not fit as well on Thorn forks as the Ergo does.

A side note:  Your chain looks too tight.

[rualexander]

There's something weird about that Tubus Tara rack mounting, I wouldn't be happy with the horizontal rails being so far off horizontal, from an aesthetic point of view.
It's strange because my Tara is as near to horizontal as makes no difference on my Sherpa, with similar forks, and also on my buddy's  Raven Tour which is at the opposite end of the frame size range.
Have the mounting points changed on the fork design? It doesn't look like it. Or the Tara design? My Tara about five years old, my buddy's Tara is just over a year old.

Here's mine

[mickeg]

Interesting, the Tara horizontal bar on my Nomad was about as far from horizontal as it is on hoodatder's bike, I decided to use a different rack.  I got the Tara at an unbelievably low price for a used one, I have no idea how old it is.

The Thorn forks have the mid-fork attachment points welded to the front of the fork blades where virtually everybody else has the mounting points mid-fork blade.  I assumed that was the problem, as that effectively places the horizontal bar more forward.  It is nice to see a Tara work on one of the Thorn forks.  I never tried the Tara on my Sherpa, only on the Nomad.

[Danneaux]

There seems to have been one more change in recent Taras: The three adjusting holes under the top rail have been replaced by a longitudinal slot (at least on the set I bought for my tandem last November).

Best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

My Tara has three holes in the horizontal bar to choose from for the mid-fork attachment.  Only one choice of where the horizontal bar attaches to the hoop piece, and only one hole for the lower dropout mount.  As I noted above, I bought my Tara used, I do not know how old it is.

My Ergo has a choice of two holes for the lower dropout, two different threaded holes in the hoop to attach the horizontal bar, and two holes to choose from to use for the mid-fork attachment.  I bought my Ergo new in mid summer 2012.

I think the rack attachment points on my Sherpa fork, and Nomad fork are essentially the same configuration.  There is a very slight difference from the Sherpa having M5 bolts and the Nomad is M6, but otherwise the two forks appear to be about the same for rack mounting points.  The fender mount is slightly different however, it is lower on the Nomad than on the Sherpa.

[rualexander]

Here's another shot of my Sherpa/Tara combination, maybe my head tube angle is more acute?

[mickeg]

I give up, can't figure this one out.

[Hoodatder]

Rual / mickeg,

I tried and tried to get the rail horizontal, but it will not have it. Dan has hit  the nail on the head regarding the mountings on the forks being the problem. if I try to use the rear holes of the rack, the front holes interfere with the mudguard mountings. Ha, you would have laughed if you had seen me originally fitting it to my RST. I had it in my cycle stand at an angle and was so immersed in fitting the rack that I forgot the whole bike was at an angle already. I was cursing and cursing and cursing - then I looked up and realised the situation. Anyway, it is what it is. I admit that I would have preferred horizontal rails, but that's just the nature of the beast.

Thank you all for your comments.

Hoot