the most recent changes; R. Sachs story

modified the description on the right there to reflect the way the design has progressed. low-trail bikes aren't especially common these days so it seems right to point out that aspect of this one.

in the latest Rivendell Reader (#38), Grant Petersen mentions that their new A. Homer Hilsen has braze-on mounts for the Nitto Mark's Rack. this struck me as a great idea for my bike, as i'm likely to frequently use it with a handlebar bag, when a full-blown lowrider rack would be overkill. i emailed Grant to find out the correct placement for the braze-on, and his reply came the same day:
The Mark's rack is adjustable. We put the braze-ons about 145mm down the blades from the top of the crown, but you can be off by inches and it'll still work. But 145 looks good, I think. It's a great little rack, really useful..
So it looks like the fork will have two sets of rack braze-ons: one for Mark's Rack at the aforementioned spot and another for a lowrider rack at 165 mm from the bottom eyelet, which appears to be the standard from what i've read in the archives. both will be the somewhat-garish hourglass kind, which one brazes to the front side of the blade.
At least for now, i plan to get an Ostrich handlebar bag from V-O.

finally, this email exchange with Richard Sachs made my day.
I wrote to e-Ritchie one August afternoon:

It's hot like a freshly brazed frame here and I'm working (inside) on
cleaning up my frame parts. Went outside to grab the WD-40 to keep
everything shiny, sanding one of your fork blade stiffeners on the
way. Got to a particularly sticky part, sanded a little too hard, and
that combined with the heat (?) caused the thing to bend in half right
at the club cutout.

Is it possible to get a replacement for it--or, why not, a pair?

e-Ritchie replied 4 minutes later:
address?

He sent them a week later, and a few days after that the box arrived. inside: not one, not two, but five blade stiffeners. he even took care of postage. hell of a guy.