Spyderco Roadie (comparison pics within)

Fred Sanford

Fred Sanford

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Sep 3, 2006
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3,132
Hey folks,

Just wanted to post some pics of a Spyderco Roadie with some other common knives. Hopefully it helps someone on the fence. The Victorinox is a Cadet and the other knife is a Spyderco Dragonfly.

I love the Roadie. The only problem I had was that the tip was just barely sticking out of the handle when closed. It was not covered by the handle enough. I took a DMT stone and took about 1.5mm off of the front of the choil where it hits the backspring and that allowed it to bury the tip in the handle sufficiently.

EXoH2R6.jpg


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I just received my red roadie and it's a great little knife! I'm just afraid to loose it. i almost lost it pulling my keys out of my pants yesterday. It's a great slicer but i won't be cutting fruit with it. I can't see how you could clean out the gunk fruit makes. This is definitely a true sheeple knife. The lockup is very firm for a slipjoint and the half-stop is a great feature. I love this knife, sadly it's pretty expensive here in Europe (full MSRP price in Euro's). If i don't loose it it will be part of my EDC for a long time.
 
I didn't realize it was such a stout little blade. The comparison shot looking down on the spines is pretty convincing...I just may have to get one of these ;)
 
Yes looking at that spine shot it does look stout... I doubt if the pivot is as stout.

I was intrigued by these, but I'm not sure if it would bump an alox Pioneer/Farmer from my pocket while I'm traveling though...
 
Wow, 1.5mm is a lot of material to remove just to get it to sit deep enough! :eek:

I'm still on the fence whether I'll pick one up or not. I'm liking the grey...
 
Kinda hope spyderco keeps messing around with the slip joint sgeepfoot idea.
 
Nice comparison pic's there, and yes that stock thickness seems a bit much for the size of the blade, surprised it's thicker than the dragonfly, I guess if you didn't care for the thickness you could always knock that spine down a little.

Thanks for the images!
G2
 
aesmith said:
Can you open it one handed?
Click to expand...
The Roadie was specifically designed not to be opened with one hand. In order for it to meet the TSA regulations it was originally intended to pass it needed to be a two-hand opener with no lock among other things (Note...the TSA did not go forward with the proposed new rules and the Roadie is still not allowed on a plane).
You certainly cannot flip one open, and I have not been able to Spydie Drop one open either.
 
I like Spydercos.

But the niche the Roadie is trying to fill "SAK" is a dismal fail.
 
uxo2 said:
I like Spydercos.

But the niche the Roadie is trying to fill "SAK" is a dismal fail.
Click to expand...

Not exactly sure what you mean..

Based on your grammar you've said the "SAK" niche itself is a dismal fail. If that's what you meant...OK..

If you mean the Roadie has failed to fill the "SAK" niche you might not understand the design intent of the Roadie. It was very specifically designed to meet the exact TSA standards that were being proposed at the time the knife was developed. Spyderco bet on the TSA regulations passing and prepared to be the first to offer a knife you could fly with, once the new rules took effect. Unfortunately, the newly proposed TSA rules have still not been implemented and so the niche the Roadie was created to fill does not exist...yet. The main point being, a knife can't fail to fill a niche it isn't intended to fill.
 
I will not call it a 'dismal fail' but I agree with Uxo that the Roadie plays in the same niche as the SAK, whether it was intended or not.

Compared to that alox Cadet:

Both are slippies, with similar size and thickness, but the Roadie has
- one blade vs 4...
- blade/ cutting edge is shorter
- spine is double as thick, so reduced slicing ability
- no point

I love my Spydies, but if I had to choose between the Roadie and a Cadet, the SAK wins every time.
 
First I should clarify, I am not trying to justify the Roadie to anyone that doesn't see a value in owning one.

I was just making the point that you cannot fail at something you were never trying to achieve. People can compare it to whatever they want and decide the outcome in whatever way suits them. I hope you understand though, that the Roadie "plays in the same niche" as the alox cadet according to you because you want it to, not because it was intended for that purpose or intended to compete with that knife. The length of the blade and fact that it has no point were part of the requirements it was built to meet. Requirements that have nothing to do with the design ideas behind the alox cadet. There is no other knife that was designed to meet the requirements the Roadie meets. In fact, the Roadie is a knife that hit the market without a niche due to it's highly unusual creation circumstances. I'll call it....ahead of it's time..?:confused:
 
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I like it. I was going to snag a red one, but ended up w/ a purple Dragonfly. I think they're cool.
 
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