Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Raleigh Rush Hour

Just about every time Tom and I go out to ride we break something, although this is becoming less frequent. The conversation eventually digresses into what we have invested into making our bikes capable of taking the beating we put on it. Then the conversation always ends with what a great frame the Raleigh Rush Hour is.

I believe following Tom's first conversion that he had he received a Raleigh Rush Hour as a gift for his birthday or something. We all know that no one beats up a bike like Tom does. He rode the shit out of this bike until he finally moved on to the Gangsta Track. When I first met up with Tom and Wilis, I was pushing a Fuji Track and a Pake. I had ridden a Charge Plug for a little bit and a IRO Jamie Roy. I kept breaking and bending things which I will blame solely on the fact that I didn't respect the fact that these bikes weren't meant for my 240lb frame to be riding the way I was.

So at the time I basically didn't have a complete bike to ride. All my parts were shot so I picked up a Surly fork and Tom let me borrow the Raleigh Rush Hour. Tom had beat that frame into submission for a year and a half. I was scared to death to even crank down on it. We were all getting better at riding, trying bigger things and the Rush Hour kept on ticking. The end all of this little rant is I rode this frame for close to 8 months, Tom put in about a year and a half on it, our buddy Josh is riding it now. The top tube, down tube, and seat stays are dented. The frame is rusted, but it is still going strong.

As far as I am concerned this is the most sturdy production frame for tricks. The 4130 steel is so much more durable for tricks than the "nicer" steels people lust after. When it comes to tricks its 4130 or bust for the frame and fork.

I know Sam Miller beat on one of these frames for a while until he got his Masi then gave it to his brother, but its safe to say that this is the best economy frame for people looking to get into tricks.

2 comments:

beeteestudio said...

AMEN AMEN AMEN
well said...it astounds me to see all the super expensive aluminum track frames out there getting beat to shit. i'm a little surprised that the fuji and pake frames gave ya problems though, considering they're also 4130... either way, my steamroller has yet to let me down for well over two years now. she's a trooper.

dre said...

i agree.
i've had my rush hour for two years now and aside from a couple new paint jobs out of choice and some rust on the drops outs, i haven't had an issue with the frame. been looking to put the bmw fork on it for the clearance, so that may be the only addition i make to it. generally, its my tank.