Well Tia, Ernest Hemingway once said, "Never trust an adjective." Or as Paul Simon put it, "One man's ceiling is another man's floor." So one riders "sluggish" is another riders roadrunner. I find my Rambouillet very zippy and very much like my '88 Marinoni, which carries World Championship stripes. That said, someone with 10% body fat and used to a 16 lb CF frame would probably find them both sluggish.
The LHT was never intended to be zippy on hills; it's designed to be stable and comfortable, with or without a load. It is a low cost, tig welded version of the Atlantis. I suspect you will find the SH more zippy than the LHT, but if you are used to a full fledged, unloaded road bike, like a Rambouillet, then you should be prepared for some trade off for the added stability and load carrying capacity. My favorite commuter / touring bike is my Ebisu All Purpose which has geometry and steel similar to the SH. With 35 mm tires it is not too zippy going up hill, but on the other hand it will climb straight up a 10% grade between parked cars and passing traffic without raising my BP two points. Probably if I put lighter, narrower wheels & tires on, it would be more zippy and less stable. I am blessed, so when I want that zip I can go full out and jump on my beloved Ram. Bottom line, no one bike can be best at everything but as GP says, the modern ultra zippy bike has become a one trick pony. Decide what's really important and what isn't. In the end, happiness is wanting what you have not having what you want, because the ego likes wanting more than it likes having and that truly is the endless uphill struggle. michael in rainy, flooded northern Vermont On May 4, 10:53 am, TSW <tsesun...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi all, > I'wayve searched all over forum archives and can't seem to find much > discussion on this question: how does the Sam climb? > > I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a 52 (ideally I'd ride a 54, > and 56 is just a tad too big), my 26 yr old Trek 560 ready to retire, > and I'm used to a more aggressive geometry for climbing the hills > around here. I'll need to to test ride a Sam again, as Riv HQ isn't > too handy to a steep hill. I took out a Surly LHT (52/26 in) recently > up a fairly steep hill and found it sluggish. > > But in the meantime, I wonder what're folks' thoughts on how the Sam > does on hills. > > TIA, > TS > Berkeley -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
