the long road to my first Rivendell
Earl Grey
I bought a Hillborne a couple of months ago, built it up for commuting
and mixed road/off-road riding, and have been loving it. I feel like I
have found my perfect bike, even though as recently as a year ago I
never seriously thought of buying a Rivendell. Here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/y8ay6gg
The following is the history that led me to buy a Sam, and I thought
it might be of interest to some of you (I sent a version to Grant as
well).
The funny thing is that the Hillborne is almost exactly the bike I
have wanted for the past 20 years, although at times I didn't quite
know it. And the bike I have been riding for the last 19 years is a
lot like a Sam Hillborne, only not nearly as nice a bike. So here is
the back story:
Back in 1991 when I bought my first "real" bike, I looked at
Bridgestones, but wanted neither a road nor a mountain bike, and the
RB-T was still too much of a road bike for me. I also had a Shimano
bias (since cured), which made at least some Bridgestones less
attractive. I wanted a bike that could do anything, and in my college
student's $600 price range, the Fisher Sphinx (basically a rigid 29er
with drop bars, or a proto monster cross) was almost exactly it.
I still consider the Fisher Sphinx a ground-breaking bike, but it
never gets mentioned in discussions of the origins of all-arounders or
whatever you want to call them, and I've only ever been able to find
ONE photo of it on the web: http://tinyurl.com/yhlo7jy (with all
stock parts excecpt the tires: it came with 38mm semi-knobbies; note
the "it's so hideous it's almost good" 'sharkbite' paint job). I'll
put photos of mine up on cyclofiend at some point.
I did admire the Bridgestones though, still have the 1992-94
catalogues, and even bought a long sleeve wool jersey with tagua nut
buttons from Bridgestone. I particularly liked the XO-1, and if it had
had a triple crank and 700C wheels, I might have bought one and sold
the Fisher. In the late 90s I tried buying an MB-1 off a friend who
wasn't riding it, but he wasn't selling, either. :) The Fisher is
still my main ride (well, was, until the Sam arrived), but it bugs me
that it has a 1 1/4 headset and 88mm bottom bracket shell, which mean
it's going to be a pain in the butt to maintain long term. The frame
is also not of terribly high quality, with a chainstay bridge that
runs diagonal, and some subpar welds.
Even though I vaguely knew about Rivendell from early on, I somewhat
strangely did not think of buying a Rivendell until fairly recently. I
still remember my first conscious Riv sighting, at a critical mass in
San Francisco around 2000. I was very intrigued, but also mystified. I
talked to the owner for a while, admired the burnt orange paint job
( a lot like the orange Sam) and the SON dynohub, but thought it was
trying a bit too hard to look retro. Another part of not thinking
about buying one was the high price, not wanting to own a bike that
precious and unusual, and partly, since I already had a very sensible
bike, I wanted something a bit racier for fast club rides. In '96, I
had bought a NOS 1995 Bianchi Veloce, the last lugged steel bike with
steel fork they made, I think. At the time I remembered being a bit
sad that the Veloce didn't come with a carbon fork, but over the years
I became glad it was all steel. I also considered buying an Ibis
Hakkalügi cyclocross at one point (I already had an Ibis Uncle Fester
tandem, which I loved), but wasn't quite ready to build up a frame
myself, and also thought it too precious/expensive. The Bianchi was
stolen in 2003 or so, and in 2006 I replaced it with a used
Independent Fabrications Planet Cross (http://tinyurl.com/yduufyx)
that could do double duty as a fast road bike and an off-roader
(though the rear can't quite fit 42 mm knobbies). My Sphinx meanwhile
wore fenders and got me to school and back. I even went so far as to
buy a silly aero wheelset for the Indy Fab so I could switch it back
and forth from road to off road quickly, and was thinking of replacing
the dowdy Sugino triple with something sexier and lighter-weight (I
hadn't yet reallized that there isn't anything sexier than a Sugino).
But then it started bugging me that the Indy Fab couldn't take fenders
or racks (no braze-ons) and slowly the things that initially turned me
off a bit about Rivendell (why do the MUSA pants have to be two-tone?
Flat pedals? Without toe-straps, even? Mud flaps? In California?
What's up with the ridiculously high stems? [I still don't understand
why Riv doesn't promote Periscopa type stems more, I think they would
look much better than a Technomic raised to the max]), well, those
things didn't bug me so much anymore. I still didn't want to/couldn't
spend $2000 on a frame, the Atlantis seemed heavy and 26" wheels look
wrong to me on a medium-sized drop bar bike, the AHH didn't have
enough tire clearance and I like cantilevers, and for the last couple
of years I was thinking of getting a Surly Cross Check or a Soma
Double Cross and just moving the parts from my Sphinx over. But then I
saw the Soma Speedster and thought why can't someone make a sub-$1000
cantilever bike with lugs? And then along comes the Hillborne. And in
my favorite bike color ever, burnt orange. And not with (to me, on a
bigger frame) ungainly 26" wheels, yet with good clearance, although
by now I was enough of a retro grouch that the up-sloping top tube
bothered me. :) So I started leaning towards the Velo Orange Rando,
but then I realized that the Hillborne had a much better chance of
being well-thought out in every little detail than the first
production frame from a new company. Besides, the VO Rando still isn't
shipping, and its clearances will probably be smaller than the
AHH's...
So here I am with my first Grant-designed bike, almost 20 years after
his sensibilities started influencing my bike thinking. I have only
ridden it for a couple of months, but I have the feeling I will ride
it for as long as I ride bikes. I can't imagine outgrowing it or
wanting something different, with the possible exception of an
Atlantis for serious 3rd world touring (though hopefully any touring
will happen with my wife on our tandem), or perhaps a single speed at
some point down the road, or a 650b porteur for running errands, or...
Thank you, Grant. The Hillborne was worth waiting for.
Gernot
Chiang Mai, Thailand
cyclotourist
Like the Catcher in the Rye, minus the rye and the catching and with more bicycles!
And I really, really, really like how your Sam looks built up all monstercrossy.
Just perfect!
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Cheers,
David
Redlands, CA
"Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym." ~Bill Nye, scientist guy
jpp
have seen! Just when I thought I was over getting a sam!
doc
issues with the tire clearance. thx.
On Jan 4, 11:22 pm, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I bought a Hillborne a couple of months ago, built it up for commuting
> and mixed road/off-road riding, and have been loving it. I feel like I
> have found my perfect bike, even though as recently as a year ago I
> never seriously thought of buying a Rivendell. Here it is:http://tinyurl.com/y8ay6gg
> The following is the history that led me to buy a Sam, and I thought
> it might be of interest to some of you (I sent a version to Grant as
> well).
>
> The funny thing is that the Hillborne is almost exactly the bike I
> have wanted for the past 20 years, although at times I didn't quite
> know it. And the bike I have been riding for the last 19 years is a
> lot like a Sam Hillborne, only not nearly as nice a bike. So here is
> the back story:
>
> Back in 1991 when I bought my first "real" bike, I looked at
> Bridgestones, but wanted neither a road nor a mountain bike, and the
> RB-T was still too much of a road bike for me. I also had a Shimano
> bias (since cured), which made at least some Bridgestones less
> attractive. I wanted a bike that could do anything, and in my college
> student's $600 price range, the Fisher Sphinx (basically a rigid 29er
> with drop bars, or a proto monster cross) was almost exactly it.
>
> I still consider the Fisher Sphinx a ground-breaking bike, but it
> never gets mentioned in discussions of the origins of all-arounders or
> whatever you want to call them, and I've only ever been able to find
> ONE photo of it on the web: http://tinyurl.com/yhlo7jy(with all
Earl Grey
with it. It requires severe overshifting to go from granny to the
middle ring (ramped, brand-new Sugino rings) regardless of which gear
I am in in the back. Anyone know if I can tweak the setup to improve
it? Pretty much followed Sheldon's installation instructions...
What tire clearance issues do you have? Interference with the front
derailer?
Cheers,
Gernot
doug peterson
What ring sizes are you using?
dougP
> > > Chiang Mai, Thailand- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
JGS
Hillborne just as heavy as the Atlantis? I thought it was made out of
the same gauge tubing and the "which bike for what" .pdf on the riv
site says it's just as tourable. Just curious as to whether this is
true or not. Thanks!
On Jan 4, 11:22 pm, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I bought a Hillborne a couple of months ago, built it up for commuting
> and mixed road/off-road riding, and have been loving it. I feel like I
> have found my perfect bike, even though as recently as a year ago I
> never seriously thought of buying a Rivendell. Here it is:http://tinyurl.com/y8ay6gg
> The following is the history that led me to buy a Sam, and I thought
> it might be of interest to some of you (I sent a version to Grant as
> well).
>
> The funny thing is that the Hillborne is almost exactly the bike I
> have wanted for the past 20 years, although at times I didn't quite
> know it. And the bike I have been riding for the last 19 years is a
> lot like a Sam Hillborne, only not nearly as nice a bike. So here is
> the back story:
>
> Back in 1991 when I bought my first "real" bike, I looked at
> Bridgestones, but wanted neither a road nor a mountain bike, and the
> RB-T was still too much of a road bike for me. I also had a Shimano
> bias (since cured), which made at least some Bridgestones less
> attractive. I wanted a bike that could do anything, and in my college
> student's $600 price range, the Fisher Sphinx (basically a rigid 29er
> with drop bars, or a proto monster cross) was almost exactly it.
>
> I still consider the Fisher Sphinx a ground-breaking bike, but it
> never gets mentioned in discussions of the origins of all-arounders or
> whatever you want to call them, and I've only ever been able to find
> ONE photo of it on the web: http://tinyurl.com/yhlo7jy(with all
CycloFiend
> Congrats on the new bike. I have one question though. Isn't the
> Hillborne just as heavy as the Atlantis? I thought it was made out of
> the same gauge tubing and the "which bike for what" .pdf on the riv
> site says it's just as tourable. Just curious as to whether this is
> true or not. Thanks!
My understanding was that the Hillborne tubeset was a bit lighter _in_
_places_ when compared to the Atlantis - that it was designed to be between
the Hilsen and Atlantis, functionally.
One tube thicker here, one tube thinner there, it may weigh the same, but
the tubing choices were different.
- J
--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net
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They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a
desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a
one-hour bicycle ride.² - Tim Krabbe, "The Rider"
Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
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EricP
would be meaningless due to totally different builds). But my
Hillborne definitely "feels" lighter. Not only in picking it up but
also while riding.
And, in theory if not actual fact, my Hillborne should be a touch
heavier. They are both the same size frame (56). However, the
Hillborne is designed for larger riders than the 56 Atlantis.
Eric Platt
St. Paul, MN
Earl Grey
speed chain, also brand new.
Gernot
Earl Grey
insignificant (it has a lower weight-limit if you follow the chart).
Though I do think it may be more "sprightly" in its handling. I am not
saying that my reasons for not getting an Atlantis were all
reasonable. :) In the end it came down to price (and color!): what I
can afford, what I feel justified in spending on a bike, and what I
can lock up on the street without worrying too much about it... :)
Gernot
Earl Grey
"The Sam Hillborne is [...] a cross between the Atlantis, our
cantilever-braked touring bike, and the A. Homer HIlsen, our roadish
country bike. "It's a cross..." means it has tubing halfway in between
the two (in wall thickness...); has the canti-brakes (or V-brakes) of
the Atlantis, and the 40mm max tire clearance of the A.Homer Hilsen."
Both thinner tubes and less tire clearance should reduce the weight
marginally...
kps
> the tubing choices were different.
ok, so i'm curious....just what does a fully built (regular setup,
nothing extra heavy OR extra light) Sam Hillborne weigh? also, the
AHH?
no racks, with fenders.
kim
Michael_S
cranksets? That may be the issue. You probably should get a front
derailleur designed for a triple.
I'm building my new Hillborne with a NOS Suntour XC pro front
derailleur but I'm still awaiting my new Paul canti's so I haven't run
cables yet.
Speaking of tubing... I would assume the Hillborne has the slightly
thicker tubesets because it a slightly lower grade non-heat treated
tube.
BTW... great story about how you got to Rivendell.
Mike
Socal
Steve Palincsar
> Isn't the IRD front derailleur designed to work with compact double
> cranksets? That may be the issue. You probably should get a front
> derailleur designed for a triple.
IRD does in fact have a front derailleur designed to work with compact
doubles. I tried it on my Velo Orange Randonneur, which has a 26/36/46
XTR M900 crank. It would shift to the big ring, but it wouldn't move
far enough out to properly center over the big ring, and the chain would
rub when I was on the smaller 4 sprockets.
I ended up using the adapter shim from the IRD to make a Campagnolo
Racing T work. The Racing T works splendidly, in fact shockingly, well.
Best front derailleur for this type of gearing I've ever tried, and from
Campagnolo of all makers. Almost unimaginable. If you can find one,
get one!
cyclotourist
--
I use the nine speed Racing T on my eight speed triple and it works flawlessly.