I own a 60cm single top tube Sam, '09. Maybe because my main two rides for the last 20 years have been 59cm Ribby's, an RB-1 go-fast and an RB-T commuter/light tourer, The flex of the single top tube Sam feels perfect to me under my 226 lbs. for day riding on paved or gravel roads and overnight inn to inn trips. I start to notice a bit more flex, not yet objectionable, with a large saddlebag, med. basket up front, camping gear from my ultralight backpacking kit and 4 days food. For longer trips with rear panniers instead of the large saddlebag and adding a small seat bag the flex is more pronounced and I wish I had a stiffer frame. Jay at Rivendell, who is a 200+ pounder, started out with a single top tube Sam and latter had a second top tube fillet brazed on. He told me the bike still has the same springy- ness on day rides yet is stiffer laterally when loaded...which sounds just like what I'm looking for when I'm touring on my Sam. I don't have any need for a super stiff touring bike since after 11 years of experimentation I feel totally confident with my ultralight camp gear and would not want a bike that is capable of carrying an elephantine fully loaded touring setup. So this winter I'm stripping my Sam and sending it off to Rivendell to have an undertube added. In that configuration I would have no reservations about riding the Sam and my usual tarptent, quilt, torso sized sleep pad, alcohol stove based gear kit on a trip of any length given the change Jay related in his bike due to it's single to double top tube transformation.
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