Strengths: Reasonable price for a custom frame. It is nice to be able to spec crud catcher bosses, two sets of bottle cage mounts etc.
There are not many other ways you are going to be able to lay your hands on a single-speed and a geared frame with identical geometry.
Weaknesses: Delivery time was eight months rather than the eight weeks stated. And they had my money all that time.
The rear disk mounts on my single-speed frame didn't allow for the back-and-forth wheel movement needed to tension the chain. I had to mill slots in the mount myself!
The transfers started to fall off very quickly.
The stick-on head tube badge is low quality.
Overall: Looking at that list of weaknesses you might think I would be unhappy, but after I'd been through the disappointment of the delivery time and resigned myself to a long wait it's turned out OK in the end.
Setavento have offered to build me another frame at cost to make up for the brake mount debacle.
If you are patient, know [b]exactly[/b] what you want and can spare £600 for six months then give them a go.
Strengths: Light weight and low-rolling resistance makes for a fast tyre. The fat casing increases comfort and reduces snakebites. Good on boulder fields and loose rocks. Better at pure mud-plugging than you might expect (but see 'roots' below).
Weaknesses: Expensive, not very durable, slippery when wet.
Overall: If the ground is hard and conditions are dry then Racing Ralphs are a fast and grippy tyre. But, when it starts raining you had better stay out of the woods and off the roots or you'll be encountering more of the undergrowth than you'd like.
I was going to give this tyre 3 out of 5 but it has to have 5 simply because when conditions are favourable it is really, really good.
It is *not* an all round tyre. If you want a 'fit and forget' att-year-rounder then look elsewhere. But if you are looking for the ultimate dry weather performance then even at a hefty £35 RR's are worth the money.
All I need now is a sustained spell of dry weather!
Strengths: Light and springy. Climbs like a demon. Looks beautiful. Guides in all the right places for 'straight-through' winter friendly cable routing. Light. Sorted geometry for rigid or short travel suspension fork. It's Ti, so no aluminium fatigue worries and no steel corrosion problems. Big mud clearances. Did I mention light?
Weaknesses: It's so good I don't want to ride my other bikes. Also, the frame is so light it is very tempting to seek out equally light and obscenely expensive components to see just how lightweight you can go. Triple-Ti eggbeaters anyone?
[Update 25/09/07] It developed a terrible creak around the headset which turned out to be an ovalising of the headtube so I gave it to a friend who now uses it for road duties.
Overall: I thought £800 was a bit steep for what was going to be a 'back to basics' rigid bike (but if I was really going back to basics why was I looking at a Ti frame?) and I was going to give it 3 or 4 for value. But... even at £800 (plus £250 for the Ti forks - gulp) it is excellent value. And if you're into showing off (and of course I'm not!) there is nothing quite like overtaking a full-susser on a rocky downhill and then waiting casually at the bottom while they clock your totally rigid setup. And if they they overtake you, well - they're full-suss aren't they, whatdya' expect!
[Update 25/09/07] While it lasted it was great. And it did better than the single-speed version (not reviewed here) which snapped!
