Vindis Bikes

Involves getting your arse off the sofa, apparently!

Vindis Bikes

Postby Vindi (Russell) » Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:51 pm

My name is Russell and I'm a bikeaholic

I was going to do a history of my bikes up to this point, but I don't have a week spare, so you'll all just have to accept that I have probably owned a lot of bikes, have probably changed lots of bits on them, changed my mind lots, have lots of spare bike bits strewn across the garage and have spent more time talking about them than riding them ...

Which gets us to today ... I'm not going to go into all the bikes I've got as most of them are too obscure so I'll just go with the main ones ...

A few years back I was sponsored to ride Rotwild bikes. They are not so well known in the UK, but they are a German brand of top end racing bikes. In the same way that I like Mazda MX5s, Rotwild kind of clicks with me as well ... can't really explain why, the geometry just works for me and I like their thinking.

I was sponsored to ride Downhill and Cross Country, but they gave me a road bike as well for training, and the main 3 bikes I use at the moment are these 3.

I'll cover each bike in a bit more detail, but the rest of the bikes I have sit in 2 camps. Some are current bikes I use a bit but not much ... a tandem, a unicycle, a BMX, a cruddy going down the shops and I don't care if this get nicked bike etc. The other group are a mix of bikes that I've collected over the years because I think they are important bikes in the history of the development of MTBs ... maybe I'll open a museum one day? Some you might know are a GT RTS and a Muddy Fox Courier ... others are a lot more obscure!

Then there's the rest of the families bikes!

Russell.
User avatar
Vindi (Russell)
Can't stop buying cars!
 
Posts: 7179
Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:24 pm
Location: Under the car in a pool of oil in Hagley

Re: Vindis Bikes

Postby Vindi (Russell) » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:06 pm

I'll start with my favourite, in my eyes the best bike in the world, ever.

My main bike is my old downhill bike, its an RFR-01. Rotwild actually did a more downhill orientated bike, the RDH series but as the UK courses weren't that serious at the time, I used what they classed as a freeride (I.e. messing about) bike for my racing. Less suspension travel, but better for sprinting and quicker in the turns.

It's an absolute masterclass in engineering, as an example the shock is mounted on a platform that can be adjusted in 2 planes. The one adjusts the travel of the rear shock from 3 to 5 inches (I have a second extended shock made for me to give from 5 to 7 inches). The second adjusts the way the shock moves from rising rate through level to falling rate, so essentially you can have the shock getting harder as it compresses, or remaining the same all the way through the stroke, or you can have it getting easier as it compresses. Then there is the adjustability on the shock itself, the preload of the spring and then separate dials for compression and rebound.

I could go on (and probably will if asked), but for the rest I'll just list the spec

Rotwild RFR-01 frame, Rock Shox super deluxe rear shock
Manitou Millenium Suspension fork (5 inch travel, carbon and Titanium), Chris King Titanium headset
Race Face stem, seatpost, handlebars
Wheels - Hope Titanium hubs, Mavic D521 rims, Ti skewers, IRC tyres
Brakes - Hope 4 pot disc brakes F+R
Gears - Shimano XTR throughout, Race Face cranks, Royce titanium B/B

The crazy thing is, in about 2001 when I was racing it was probably a better bike than the world champion was riding at the time, and yet if I tried to sell it today it would probably not attract any attention on ebay as no one would know what it is!

I'll add some pics later, not sure I have any on this computer.

Russell.
User avatar
Vindi (Russell)
Can't stop buying cars!
 
Posts: 7179
Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:24 pm
Location: Under the car in a pool of oil in Hagley


Return to Healthy Stuff!

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest