I own a Hillborne and a Homer Hilsen, and used to own a LHT which I replaced with a V-O Campeur for heavier touring. The Hillborne, LHT, and Campeur all ride like I expect a touring bike to ride, and ride similarly. I know the Hillborne and Campeur do, and I know the Campeur and LHT do, 'cause I compared them head-to-head. The Hilsen feels sportier then the Hillborne, Campeur, and LHT. All 4 bikes were set up similarly except the touring bikes had racks and the Hilsen didn't, so I think the difference is in the frames and not in differences between builds.
Whether the Hilsen would feel as sporty with a 15-pound load on it, I don't know. Last tour I took was on the Hillborne with an 18-20 lb load in back and a 4-lb load in front, and it rode very nicely. If I were gonna carry that kind of load routinely I'd opt for the Hillborne or the Campeur, but with only several pounds of load I'd opt for the Hilsen 'cause it's a bit more spritely and fun. They're also less expensive and are available now, if that matters. As far as your concern that concerned that you'd "be trading one heavy steel bike for another," I don't think so. On Thursday, December 28, 2017 at 1:36:07 AM UTC-5, Drew Henson wrote: > > I currently own an LHT and it's been a great bike, but it's "too much" > bike for me. I'm looking for something that would be snappier than the LHT > but still able to carry a 10-15 lb commuting load. I've liked to looks of > an AHH for a long time but am concerned that I'd be trading one heavy steel > bike for another, without much difference in the ride when it comes down to > it. > > Then there's the AHH vs Sam Hilborne debate I guess, which Rivendell > brought up themselves when I emailed asking about AHH availability.. So if > you've owned a Sam and an LHT I'd be interested in your experience as well. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
