This topic is interesting to me. I have had my side pull brake Sam for a good decade or so, I have it setup with 38’s, fenders and this past couple years I am back on Albatross bars. I also have a Heron Road with drops and 32’s. I know that a lot is subjective but the Heron feels much lighter, faster. The Sam feels sluggish as compared to the Heron. The drawback to the Heron is that 32’s are just about the largest tire you can fit, I feel like for where I ride, if I could fit 38 or even 42, the Heron would be perfect… Long story short, it has led me to look at the Roadini, but I keep coming back to the thought that it doesn’t seem too much different than my Sam and is there enough difference to make a difference. I would consider the Roadini as my all road bike and set the Sam up sans fenders with larger more off road tires. The Heron would be my go fast with the roadies bike.
On Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 7:48:07 PM UTC-5 Ted Durant wrote: > On Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 8:32:09 PM UTC-6 dane...@gmail.com wrote: > > The 48cm Sam is 650b and I'm wondering if I'll be giving up any of the > more road-ish feel of the bike with the same build but in 650b form on the > Sam? Seems the Sam would be a little more versatile and have better > braking options, but a degree slacker STA and the HTA down to 71 from 72 on > he 650b Homer. Wheelbase is about 10mm longer on the Homer. Anybody > have any experience here? > > > I don't have a Roadini, but I have a Heron Road and Rivendell Road, which > are pretty similar, and I have 3 Sam Hillbornes. I bought one Sam, not sure > what I would think of it, and ended up buying 2 more, with 2 of them living > at my daughters' homes. I've posted a few times about this, so for those > who've heard it before, feel free to skip this one! > > The Sam is the heaviest bike I have at this point, and I _love_ riding it, > and I don't think it slows me down in any significant way. I ride ~48mm > tires on all three of them, maximizing the all-road utility, which I have > used to great advantage on dirt mountain roads around LA, gravel roads in > Maine, and lots of bumpy tarmac in Wisconsin and Ireland. The handling is > certainly different from my road bikes, but I have never thought "gee, I > wish I was on one of my other bikes" while riding a Sam. I haven't tried, > say, 38mm tires on a Sam, but I expect they would significantly sharpen the > handling (along with lowering the COG by 10mm). > > Don't underestimate the impact of the 71.5 degree seat tube angle, which > compares to 73 on my Heron and Riv (and 73.5 on my Waterford ST). It puts > the saddle 18mm farther back than a 73, at my saddle height of 715, without > making any offsetting changes to the saddle position in the seat post. You > have to take that into account when calculating what length stem to use. > I've noticed some hand issues, especially on my Waterford, and I'm > realizing now that the steep seat tube angle is probably a contributing > factor. Whether a slacker STA is good for you, only you can decide. I > would note that, in general, the faster you ride the steeper a STA you'll > tolerate, because you're putting more weight on the pedal, which unloads > your hands. My hand issues on my Waterford are particularly noticeable if > I'm loafing along. I can loaf more comfortably on the Sam, without any > apparent loss of ability to put my (limited) power to the pedals. > > Interestingly, I was recently measured by a bike builder and his design > for me uses a 71.5 STA. > > Ted Durant > Milwaukee WI USA > -- 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 view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1f2e4e39-0dce-4b16-ab65-dcc13df41ccen%40googlegroups.com.
