Re: [RBW] Love my new blue Sam

[cyclotourist]

That color looks realllly nice!

On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 9:14 PM, John Stowe <stowe...@gmail.com> wrote:

It's been sitting around in various (slow-moving) stages of completion since the summer as parts trickled in, many liberated from members of this group. I got pretty busy once the semester got going, but I managed to finish off the wheels (and several trips to the hardware store for bolts and bits) over the turkey holiday and ride it for ~60 miles this week. Enjoying all the qualities that folks here know, and were the reasons to upgrade from my cyclocross city bike: smooth, even ride, comfortable handling, inquisitive head-turning, and a smile on the rider. And no toe overlap (barely) on my size 14s, to boot!

The other huge, major, wonderful upgrade over my previous bikes is the dynamo lighting. Such a huge difference when night classes are 12 mi away, mostly with no street lights!

One cell phone pic to prove it can carry packages to the UPS store (and later cupcakes to home, by request of the spousal unit). More will surely follow, once I figure out how to work the new DSLR that appeared on my birthday. Mr. Hillborne is likely to be the most patient model I can find to practice on.

Coupla tweaks still to be made: 

- the Bosco Bullmoose bars are great for riding around town in a suit, and will be fantastic in about a year when a child seat gets added to the cockpit area. But I might need to swap them out for drop bars for the longer ride to school. The wind along the river chooses to be a friend one day and a foe the next. Usually when I'm already running late.

- the wire that came with the taillight, for connecting to the headlight, was designed to reach the fork crown, not the front of a rack, so for the moment it's somewhat inelegantly running along one of the top tubes until I rig up a longer one.

- stainless steel fenders are sitting at home waiting to get installed, but the stays are way too long to be mountable and my hacksaw wandered off to the home of a relative and has yet to return. Also needed for cutting the kickstand down to size. Of course, I've never passed up the opportunity to get more tools - maybe it's time to add a bolt cutter to the collection!

- still looking for a toolkit to mount on the back of the saddle or somewhere else out-of-the-way-but-always-there. I like the idea of Acorn's roll bag, but they seem to be impossible to actually purchase. Maybe someone with a sewing machine will be looking for stocking stuffer ideas.

Overall, though, I'm just happy it's ride-able, and that the gamble of sinking in all the time, effort and money with no test ride has paid off with such a fine machine. And of course finally packing away the workstand is good for intra-household relations! I have enjoyed lurking and collecting advice on this forum, and the influence definitely shows in the final product. Thanks, all!

-John

Washington, DC

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Redlands, CA

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[Mike]

Congrats on the new bike John, it looks great. Is that a Pass & Stow rack?

I put a dynamo hub on my randonneuring bike this year and love it and am thinking about getting one for my commuter, a Shimano one as opposed to a Schmidt which the randonneuring bike has.

Definitely post more images of the bike when you have them.

--mike

[Michael]

I like that new Sam smoky blue color. Very nice!

What kind of tires are on it?

[Marc Irwin]

Try the Riv Roll up, I was in the same quandry, couldn't get an Acorn no  matter how patient I was.  The Riv model works great!

Marc

[Joe Bernard]

Keep an eye here and on Ebay for a Mark's Tool Wrap, too. I love mine, and think it a shame Riv stopped making them. It straps to your saddle easily, but in my case usually gets tossed into the saddlebag of whatever bike I'm riding. A most excellent product.

 

Joe Bernard

Vallejo, CA.

[SeanMac]

Great looking bike.  I hope that you have a smile on my face whenever you and Sam are out on the town.

Sean

[Mike]

On Dec 1, 11:38 am, Joe Bernard <joerem...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Keep an eye here and on Ebay for a Mark's Tool Wrap, too. I love mine, and
> think it a shame Riv stopped making them.>

> Joe Bernard
> Vallejo, CA.

According to the RBW website they still have them in stock. In olive
and tan. They do look nice.

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/batw.htm

--mike

[John Stowe]

I like the Acorn for being able to access tools while still attached to the bike, and for having zippered pockets to contain small fally-outy things. I think that for those reasons I would probably do an XS SaddleSack before the Tool Wrap, but I'm not totally sold on either (funny the things we can justify to ourselves spending money on, or not - it would certainly be a small percentage of the bike's total cost to get both and experiment!).

Mike: Yes, it is a Pass&Stow rack. Took some careful bending of the Y-shaped mounting bracket to get it to fit without rubbing on the headset and/or brake.

Michael: The tires are Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, 700x35c. Black seemed too harsh against the nice blue and cream paint job. Very smooth riding, and quite quick. Reflective sidewalls are a huge bonus in the city.

-John

[Michael]

[Michael]

John:
Did it come with Schwalbe Marathons? If so, I'd love to take them off your hands if you want to sell them. Email me at:

John1...@gmail.com

I live in Maryland near DC and could pick them up from you.

[Zack]

Beautiful bike!

Great stuff.

I noticed your comment about Boscos - have you tried riding with your hands on the flat bar?  It is a decent hand position on the bars when is windy.

[Will]

Nice looking set up John. I am really enjoying my Sam too! Here's a shot of mine in your neck of the woods. I live in New York but my parents live on the Maryland shore. I ride down there a lot. Enjoy!

[PATRICK MOORE]

Will -- nice build. How do you like the Kojaks? And what are the cranks, the bag, and the front and rear light?

Patrick "inquiring minds, etc, etc" Moore

On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 8:25 AM, Will <wrom...@optonline.net> wrote:

Nice looking set up John. I am really enjoying my Sam too! Here's a shot of mine in your neck of the woods. I live in New York but my parents live on the Maryland shore. I ride down there a lot. Enjoy!

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[qwerty]

Hi Will,

I think this is the first time I've seen down tube shifters on a Sam.
Can you tell us where you sourced the clamp-on mount?
Thanks,
Mike G.

On 12/2/12, PATRICK MOORE <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Will -- nice build. How do you like the Kojaks? And what are the cranks,
> the bag, and the front and rear light?
>
> Patrick "inquiring minds, etc, etc" Moore
>
> On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 8:25 AM, Will <wrom...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>> Nice looking set up John. I am really enjoying my Sam too! Here's a shot
>> of mine in your neck of the woods. I live in New York but my parents live
>> on the Maryland shore. I ride down there a lot. Enjoy!
>>
>>

>> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1Ss_juSGnRc/ULtyd0SEkOI/AAAAAAAAABM/Jb64ad3w9hE/s1600/IMG_2798.JPG>

[Will]

Hi Patrick. Thanks. The cranks are SRAM apex, the bag is a Zimbale. Can't remember what it's name is but it's their smallest saddle bag.

I love, love, love the Kojaks. Those are the 35s that measure out more like 32 when new. I've been riding them exclusively since May (over 3500 miles) and they are still going strong. Super smooth, fast, light, tough and supple. Now that they are stretched out they measure 34 and still feel great. They just keep going. I've got a pair of 38 Marathon Racers ready to replace these with but they just keep tough and feeling great. I was first turned on to the Kojaks here, reading your high praise of them Patrick.

[Will]

Mike: there is a guy on the bay named Paddy The Peddler who makes these custom clamps for down tube shifters on bikes that don't have bosses for them. He tack welds the bosses onto a nice, stainless Norma plumbing clamp. It's a nice looking solution that works great. Here's a photo that shows them close up:

[Will]

Oops: forgot light info: the headlight is a Nightrider MiNewt 600. Taillight is an old Vista Light tail light that I noodled to attach to the upper rear rack mount. It works.

[charlie]

Here is my Sam thought you all might enjoy seeing how white tires look on one. I'm interested in down tube levers also but may try to use some old Campagnolo levers.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4127885401683&set=a.2522635871448.2142301.1419870581&type=3&theater

[Mike]

Hey Will, that's a great looking SH. Is that a 60cm? What size stem
and what width bars are you running on it?

--mike

> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1Ss_juSGnRc/ULtyd0SEkOI/AAAAAAAAAB...>

[RJM]

Will, Charlie and John, nice Hillbornes, each and every one. I love my Hillborne.

 

The lack of downtube bosses is a bummer for the frame, it is the one thing I don't like about the hillborne.

[Will]

That's a nice looking Sam Charlie.

[Will]

Yup, it's a 60. 110 stem. 48 Noodles. I can't imagine a bike fitting me better.

[Tony Lockhart]

Good to know....looked up paddythepeddler on Ebay and (s)he has a full shop with a number of downtube clamps. Incidentally, that Pass and Stow rack looks amazing on the front of a Hillborne. Congrats to the original poster.

[Peter Morgano]

I used to get vintage campy stuff from paddy, good ebayer.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/pDcLXcdF7ZYJ.

[Mike]

Oh wow, for some reason I was thinking it was a shorter stem. I'm
curious, what's your saddle height.

The wheels in my head have been spinning about maybe replacing my LHT
with a SH later next year. My LHT is a really nice bike but I've
really grown to like the looks of the two TT Hillbornes and realize
that I prefer quill stems as opposed to threadless and spacers for
getting the bars up. We'll see.

--mike

[Will]

Oh boy Mike, I can give you a bunch of info! The bike I had when I got my first Hillborne was a 59cm Surly Steamroller. My saddle height on the Surly was 77.5cm. On my Sam it's 78cm. I am 6'1" and my pbh is 88cm. I have a wide, stocky build, and my arms are pretty average length. I'm not a knuckle dragger nor are they stumps.

Incidentally that first Sam H. was from the '09 run of orange, canti braked, single tt variety. I loved everything about its versatility and stability. It truly is a bike that you can set up just about any way you can dream up in between the extremes of road racing and gonzo mtb'ing. Already I've had them set up with brifters, bar ends, downtube friction and brifters again. I'm currently scheming an alba bar end friction set up. It's a lot of fun thinking up alternative builds on this frame!

In a nit-picking, over-thinking way, the one thing that nagged me about my Sam was the canti brakes. I could never get them dialed in right and every time I touched them it took me an hour to get them working passably again. I consider myself to be a pretty good bike mech who has built up several bikes from scratch too. So... when Grant came out with that original offer on the blues with side pulls, fancy paint and double top tubes, I jumped at it.

Going right from the orange single top tube to the blue double was seamless and I really only noticed a very slight weight/stiffness gain. Really negligable. I am 195lbs down from 240 a year ago thanks to Grant and Gary Taubes. I'm really seeing some weight saving benefits and I don't need to spend several k to save 5 more lbs! I wouldn't give up the beautiful ride quality of this bike for anything (except for maybe another Riv!). It just sings beneath me. And the side pulls are beautiful. It's my only bike because it really does everything so well.

Well, that's my gushing two cents on the Sam H!

[charlie]

Thanks will.....mine is the 56cm and my saddle height is about 76cm......changing back to drop bars and will be selling the mustache set up complete with brake levers, stem,tape,mirror and shift levers plus inner cables. Here is the latest with the new tape which really looks good on the green Sam in my opinion.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4161319517515&set=a.2522635871448.2142301.1419870581&type=3&theater

[Mike]

Hey Will, thanks for all the info. Glad you're enjoying your Hillborne. I'm a 91cm PBH, 80.5 SH and 5'11.5" tall. I have a little concern about the same being a bit long for me when running drop bars and so wondering how it handles with a shorter stem. I'm hoping to replace my LHT with a Hillborne a little later this year. As much as I love my LHT there are things I like more about the  Hillborne such as the kickstand plate, centerpull brakes and that it takes a quill stem. I have a Big Dummy and a trailer now for handling my urban hauling needs. As much as I dream about touring and camping and really putting the LHT to purpose, a Hillborne would probably work just fine for my needs--3 to 4 S24Os/yr and one 7 to10 day bike tour every other year.

After I sell a few more things I'll probably be looking for a Hillborne in earnest, either used through this list or straight from RBWHQ.

--mike

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

John: What color Acorn bag are you looking for?  I think I have one that’s not being used.  Tom

 

From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Stowe
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2012 12:15 AM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Love my new blue Sam

 

It's been sitting around in various (slow-moving) stages of completion since the summer as parts trickled in, many liberated from members of this group. I got pretty busy once the semester got going, but I managed to finish off the wheels (and several trips to the hardware store for bolts and bits) over the turkey holiday and ride it for ~60 miles this week. Enjoying all the qualities that folks here know, and were the reasons to upgrade from my cyclocross city bike: smooth, even ride, comfortable handling, inquisitive head-turning, and a smile on the rider. And no toe overlap (barely) on my size 14s, to boot!

 

The other huge, major, wonderful upgrade over my previous bikes is the dynamo lighting. Such a huge difference when night classes are 12 mi away, mostly with no street lights!

 

One cell phone pic to prove it can carry packages to the UPS store (and later cupcakes to home, by request of the spousal unit). More will surely follow, once I figure out how to work the new DSLR that appeared on my birthday. Mr. Hillborne is likely to be the most patient model I can find to practice on.

 

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[John Stowe]

I've been experimenting with different hand positions. My inclination in moving my hands to the flat section was to prop my elbows on the grips, but the extra input on the bars made it pretty hard to hold a straight line. Keeping my arms tucked in was fairly efficient and much more stable. Wasn't very windy when I tried that one last night, but it seems promising.