Touring - Rodriguez Bicycles? anyone have an opinion?

Considering having this small shop in Seattle make me a touring bike.

Does anyone own a Rodriguez bike and want to render an opinion?

If you are unfamiliar with them, maybe you should check them out...

http://www.rodcycle.com

Thanks,

Mickey

I don't own a Rodriguez but shopped them very carefully when buying one of my bikes, and if I were in the market for a custom touring bike I would seriously consider them. I have talked to them a number of times, visited the shop, seen how they build their frames, and visited with many Rodriguez owners around Seattle. They're very highly regarded; they work really hard to get the fit right; and for a custom/semi-custom builder I think their lead times are really reasonable.

One thing you should be aware of is that even though their website lists a number of standard configurations they will happily/easily put together about anything you want. For example, they have built a number of touring bikes w/Rohloff hubs, according to what they told me, and as you can see from their website you can do 700c wheels, 26-inch wheels, S&S couplers, etc...

BTW, there are a couple of Rodriguez touring bikes available right now on Seattle Craigslist if you're interested in buying used....I am always on the lookout for a used one, and I never see them on eBay but they do pop up from time to time on Seattle Craigslist.

(FYI, the bike I ended up buying is not a touring bike, but is from our other local builder, Davidson, www.davidsonbicycles.com (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com), who also builds extremely nice touring bikes. As far as I know, all Rodriguez bikes are Tig-welded steel; Davidson will build a frame in lugged steel, Ti or Tig welded. Saw a beautiful lugged steel touring bike at Davidson's shop just the other day.).

I wish I would have found this posting long ago so i could give you my impression of R+E cycles! Although I have not personally had the privilege of having a rodriguez custom fitted or built for me I do in fact own probably one of the oldest rodriguez on the road! I bought this bike from a gentleman in seattle who had it built for himself by angel rodriguez before R+E cycles had established their own shop. from what I gathered it was made at a time when Angle was still building frames in a space he rented from UW, in fact the frameset did not have a decals on it but rather have the name "Rodriguez" painted in bold, gold lettering. Although the gentleman i bought the frame from said he had it built in 1974 the guys at R+E believed probably closer to 76....hard to say with out angel verifying this. came with a complete

sorry! came complete with campy chorus group set, brooks b17 pro saddle, cinelli bars/stem, chorus hubs on araya? 1 x 1 1/8 rims (uncertain of make, I had to replace the rims literally days after purchase due to cracking) and of course to top it all off a complete campy tool kit with original christophe leather roll top bag! picked this bike up for the low low price of $400! I sold the complete campy group set with cinelli bar stem combo, wheels and tools and had enough to buy my pick up as well as pay for a few quarters of school! ca ching!

Wow! What a cool story! You definitely got that Rodriguez bike for a song. I read somewhere that the ones from the 70s/80s built similarly are collectible items now. They still continue the tradition of building amazing bikes. I happen to own one and their craftsmanship is outstanding.

Angel Rodriguez took an early retirement (in the 90s) and moved with his wife to the Boquete region in Panama where they grow exotic flowers.

Did you ever rebuild the bike? Pictures would be highly appreciated!

Last year, my quarter-century old custom tandem broke (sheared off the stoker seat tube at the bottom bracket). Since I had just waited over a year for the original builder to replace the forks (he chose to bore the head tube out to accept a 1 1/8 inch threadless steerer, but had to build what he needed to do this), I went looking for someone else to repair my faithful old steed. Some folks in the tandem subforum advised me to check into R+E. They did an awesome job on the repair and did some modifications that made it a better bike than it had been, all for something like $400.

I was so impressed with them that I decided to have them build our new tandem. The owner, Dan Towle, spent a lot of time bringing me up to speed on what they could/would do. We're not the easiest couple to design a tandem for; I ride stoker (6'2", 190 lbs) and my wife rides captain (5'6", 125 lbs). Most folks put the large male in the front and the smaller female in the rear. Dan was totally unfazed by this and easily designed a bike that would work for us and would also allow us to switch places. Everyone in the shop seemed to really know their stuff, especially regarding fit issues and the basement where the frames are built is definitely worth touring. Those guys are just plain clever.

As icing on the cake, we picked up the bike two days before STP, when every bike shop in Seattle is turning away business because of the mobs of cyclists with last-minute issues. Dan and the staff spent four hours working with us getting everything just perfect so that we wouldn't have any issues on our 380-mile ride home. We even changed out the captain's handlebars, at Dan's recommendation, for some very nice carbon fiber bars that my wife just loves (she was starting to have some hand issues and she mentioned them to Dan; hand issues disappeared immediately).

So, I guess I have an opinion on R+E. I like everything about them and will have them build my next bike as well.

MK, A friend of mine had one, lovely craftsmanship.

Brad

Wow! What a cool story! You definitely got that Rodriguez bike for a song. I read somewhere that the ones from the 70s/80s built similarly are collectible items now. They still continue the tradition of building amazing bikes. I happen to own one and their craftsmanship is outstanding.

Angel Rodriguez took an early retirement (in the 90s) and moved with his wife to the Boquete region in Panama where they grow exotic flowers.

Did you ever rebuild the bike? Pictures would be highly appreciated!

Sorry I'm unable to upload my photos right now but feel free to check it out at on my Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=470218593018250&set=pb.100000903392086.-2207520000.1353629745&type=3&theater

I've never owned a Rodriguez bicycle, but stopped by their shop on a regular basis. Great place to get a bike. Stop in if you're ever in Seattle and see if Smiley's still working.