I am also Tom and I own a Sam. My Sam has inverted Albas. See here.<http://www.flickr.com/photos/20853610@N05/10012872764/> It is my personal preference. They work well for me using Sam as an "All Rounder" country bike. Sam gets ridden on the road at a good clip, on dirt trails without issues, and even gets dragged up the Torrey Pines loop with Hugh, Mike, and Curtis.
I also ride drops on a carbon fiber, WTB drops on a Salsa mountain bike, and straight bars on a full suspension mountain bike. I try to set up each bike for its purpose and in a manner that benefits me most in using it. All of these configurations were derived over some time with change-outs to see what would work I would choose the Albas again, in either standard or inverted configuration for Sam. I would probably choose them for an AHH or Atlantis; I would have to test them to be sure. Oddly enough, I never would have dreamed that I could be comfortable over long distance on shellac cloth bound bars, but I am. My neutral position is usually with hands on the bars, just ahead of the brake levers. I don't seem to miss cork, gels, and gushy stuff, but I do wear padded gloves. If I need a more "aero" position, I move forward into the hooks. More upright is the cork grips behind the brakes. Hope that helps. ~Tom Albas set you apart On Sunday, November 17, 2013 6:26:21 PM UTC-8, Tom Mainelli wrote: > > I've been lurking for some time, so I thought I'd introduce myself as I > enter the home stretch of a long wait for my Sam. My name is Tom, I cover > tech for a living, and I live near Rivendell's now two stores (!). I have > been in to chat with Grant, Will, Jared, Vince and others on several > occasions (and Rich built me some sweeeet wheels for my current ride). I > even got to borrow a Sam for two days (which has got to seal the deal with > 99.9% of buyers). > > So the question I've been pondering--as so many Riv converts probably > do--is do I start with drop bars or should I cut to the chase and get the > Albatross (the clear fave of most staffers)? I'm also still debating which > tires since I expect to spend 98% of my time on the road. > > What say you, RBW Owners Bunch? > > Thanks, > > Tom > > -- 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 http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
