Anyone riding an R J.ACK?

[russ.will]

Disc or Caliper, I'm interested in what you think of it, why you chose it and what you changed from, or bought it to compliment.

Any thoughts on other Titanium sportive geometry bikes welcome too.

Russ

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Nice looking bike.

They are fairly close to me and I was intending on test riding one of their bikes a couple of years ago when I was attempting to scratch the ti itch. They didnt have such an extensive range then. 10 year warranty is better than some as well, always useful on a ti frame.

In the end I was tempted by a good discount on the Kinesis GF TI Disc frame and forks and so built my own. I really love riding the Kinesis and don’t regret going down the ti route at all.

Here she is...

 

[vickster]

I thought about it but at the time the then 5 year warranty and high price tag put me off. I ended up with a rather cheaper but just as lovely AR1 Sabbath disc from Spa (I also considered Enigma, Reilly, J. Guillem and Van Nic very strongly - I visited Enigma, Reilly, Fatbirds and a local J Guillem dealer as well as Spa)

 

[russ.will]

I've looked at most of the To options and finding I'm a bit limited not so much by the requirement for discs, but by needing internal routing for Di2.

Russ

 

[vickster]

Do Enigma not have anything?

 

[vickster]

Dolan do a Di2 option (no discs though)
https://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-adx-titanium-int-road-bike-ultegra-r8050-di2-se/

Ribble have an Adventure option
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-ti-pro/

And my favourite LBS if you want different and have a flexible budget
https://www.pearson1860.com/product...MI5andrdLY6QIVhrTtCh2EqgaOEAQYAiABEgKVRvD_BwE

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

The Kinesis GTD (which is the evolution of my bike) has internal cable routing and is a few hundred cheaper than the R J.ACK (stupid name alert), but only has a 5 year warranty.

https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Racelight/GTD

Personally, if they both ride the same, I’d pay the extra for the longer warranty. It seems to be pot luck whether you get a ti frame that cracks or not.

I just took the risk (my frame only came with a 3 year warranty) as I managed to get frame and fork for £1600.

 

[HLaB]

The Kinesis GTD (which is the evolution of my bike) has internal cable routing and is a few hundred cheaper than the R J.ACK (stupid name alert), but only has a 5 year warranty.

https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Racelight/GTD

Personally, if they both ride the same, I’d pay the extra for the longer warranty. It seems to be pot luck whether you get a ti frame that cracks or not.

I just took the risk (my frame only came with a 3 year warranty) as I managed to get frame and fork for £1600.

R J.ACK is an name that has developed.
Ollie Laverack who owns the company named it after an uncle who taught him to ride J. Laverack. A bit of a mouthful and the bike he designed is all round capable, 'a Jack of all trades' however when customised can be a 'master' too. The R J.ACK is the more road racing geometry version.

@russ.will
I love my caliper R.Jack, it replaced a Ti Kinesis GF and equally good bike, just the R.Jack is a bit lighter, more aero, more bespoke in geometry and labelling/ etching and more refined (cleaner welding). I find it comfortable and agile (hopefully because of the bespoke fitting and have set a number of longer distance PR's. I went with Calliper mainly because I know where I am with calipers maintenance and control, its lighter too but that's another debate.

I hope Kinesis have improved their warranty but the reason I got my Ti Kinesis was my first Scandium Kinesis failed (cracked chainstays even though it never had more than 60kg on it) just out of its three year warranty but it had done 25,000 miles and Kinesis did give me 25% off a new Ti frame. I never really bothered about the messy welding on the Ti kinesis (and only a few have raised it) and it was comfortable and robust for 40,000+ miles. The RJack is more refined but the Kinesis is good too

 

[jamin100]

@HLaB
What’s the weight like on the r.jack
I’m seriously considering coming away from the usual aluminium/carbon bikes, for something different

However I only ever do club runs and sportives up to 100miles so I’m wondering if spending £4K on a titanium bike is going to give me anything over a lighter carbon bike.

the r.jack is at the top of my list too

 

[HLaB]

@HLaB
What’s the weight like on the r.jack
I’m seriously considering coming away from the usual aluminium/carbon bikes, for something different

However I only ever do club runs and sportives up to 100miles so I’m wondering if spending £4K on a titanium bike is going to give me anything over a lighter carbon bike.

the r.jack is at the top of my list too

According to this: https://road.cc/content/review/214035-jlaverack-r-jack-iii
7.5kg for the 56cm Caliper Version (mine's 54cm)
and
8.1kg for the 56cm Disc Version ( https://road.cc/content/review/243505-jlaverack-r-jack-disc )

(Not 100% accurate, but doing my (weigh + bike) minus my weight on the scales, with wheels and cages my R.Jack is 8.35kg)

 

[russ.will]

@HLaB
I’m seriously considering coming away from the usual aluminium/carbon bikes, for something different

This. I'm also looking at 931 steel.

Russ