[MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION] is underselling himself. By the time he got them, the stays had a slight curve to them - yet one has to look closely to see the joins where he spliced in additional tube on the stays.

The rack I purchased is a VO v1.0. Ironically, it appears that the VO v2.0 replaces the static center post with an adjustable version (Think: Jim Blackburn rack.) Anyhow, the new version would probably have minimized or entirely eliminated the leveling out issue that v1.0 presents. I point this out in case anyone else decides to monkey around with a VO front rack.

Alls well, that ends well though. And once my Berthoud bag arrives tomorrow I can simply chalk the VO rack experience up as one more blog posting on the Early Morning Cyclist.