Your story is very similar to my story. When I first started riding as an adult I was influenced by racing. I emulated what I saw on TV and pretty soon began the slippery slope of racing, group rides and always trying to beat the guy in the pack or be the person who doesn't get dropped. After seeing the light and buying a Rivendell my first bike was a drop bar Sam because that was the closest to my previously owned carbon fiber racing bike. After riding that the first year I never really felt as comfortable as I thought I should so I eventually went to upright bars with the Albatross bars. This was a big improvement and I eventually added racks and bags to my Sam and started to do some overnight camping trips with it. After that I decided that I wanted a full blown touring bike so I bought an Appaloosa frame. All the parts from the Sam went to the Joe.
Once I decided that I'd like to reinvent the Sam I had been enamored with some of the drop bar "rando" bikes that I saw on the internet. I added metal fenders and I once again had a drop bar Sam. Now I have reached the conclusion that drop bars are just not for me anymore and my ego is finally allowing myself to let go of them. A friend has loaned me the Albastache bars and dirt drop stem so I am now building up the fourth version of my Sam with Albastache bars. I have it set up with 40mm Clement MSO's without fenders. It has a front rack and Wald basket but I am trying to keep it to a minimum since the Joe does most of my heavy lifting. The Appaloosa is great but I am really excited about my latest version of the Sam. I too am no longer concerned with how fast I go. I just want to ride a good, reliable, practical bike. This is the essence of the Sam Hillborne. I'll post photos once I get passed the experimental stage with the new bars. On Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 5:34:44 PM UTC-4, Jonathan K. wrote: > > I just became a Rivendell owner last fall when I bought a new Appaloosa. I > was so impressed with that bike, and loved riding it so much, that I wanted > to replicate that super comfortable, smooth ride on my long-distance road > bike. I wanted to try a more road-ish Riv, and when the pre-sale for the > new canti-Sams opened up, I couldn't resist. I had intended Sam to be a > straight up replacement for my current drop bar road bike that I really do > like, but that I had struggled to get comfortable on. Sam had other ideas, > though... > > > I first built it with 44cm Noodles that I had on hand, but even with the > Riv-recommended 8cm stem (that I worried would be too short), I felt way > too stretched out and uncomfortable. The first few rides I took on this > setup were not fun. I thought the bike handled weird - the front end felt > sort of squirrely. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed. After a quick > mock up with some old Nitto moustache bars I had, I decided to order a set > of Albastache bars from Riv. > > Sam Hillborne with Albastache bars is the most comfortable, fun bike I > have ever ridden. (Right next to my Appaloosa, of course.) I love the more > upright position, the sweep, the angles, the width, everything. The curves > are great to sit and grind out the miles, but the ends offer a very > comfortable upright position to alternate with as well. I was nervous that > my enthusiasm would be squashed once the rides got longer, but I've done > enough long rides in the last few weeks to be confident that these are the > bars for this bike. I have no desire to go back to drops. These bars > changed the bike, and my whole outlook on bikes in general. I realize that > I don't have to have drop bars to ride long distances, or to be a "serious" > cyclist (whatever that means). This is such a big deal to me, because my > biggest struggle since I started riding has been fit/comfort on longer > rides. > > This bike was originally intended to be just another road bike. I feel > like what I have is so much more. At first I was worried, because I was not > as fast on the Sam as my lighter drop bar bike, but who cares? Now, I only > want to ride the Hillborne. When I ride this bike, I find myself not caring > how fast I'm going, or about anything except enjoying the ride. When I'm on > it, I just want to keep going. I can't think of a better compliment for a > bike. This bike (and these bars) have completed my transformation to > unracer. > > I realize after re-reading the above that it might sound like I am saying > Sam Hillborne is a slow bike. It is not. The Sam that I built, with heavier > touring style wheels, and upright-ish bars is definitely not as fast as my > more traditional stripped down drop bar road bike, but it's a heck of a lot > more comfortable, useful, and fun. How fast is Sam Hillborne? My answer > after putting a few hundred miles on it: Fast enough. > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2zow66nUWdA/WyGoWHD0lOI/AAAAAAAAI2Y/CZFyLe12ES0Wf6PV8ulnWKhwUhMzmiyyQCL4CGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_20180613_060732404.jpg> > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b1V_CfptcC8/WyGoWH4NVxI/AAAAAAAAI2Y/5Icf5TDtSGs92dH_IkGzCDVZyy5roW5kwCL4CGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_20180525_103238167.jpg> > > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qGaJKMqRvzk/WyGoWEmCLnI/AAAAAAAAI2Y/l9YfW-CJ_2keXQl10-WtPy8mTsqGcRGfACL4CGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_20180613_055247721_HDR.jpg> > > > > > > > -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
