Homer vs. Sam vs. Bleriot

[Lungimsam]

Anyone had a Homer plus one of the others (or all three) and ridden them with similar builds?

How did the rides compare?

Just curious if I could tell the diff myself between them if I was blindfolded.

I have a blue Sam and a Bleriot, but never ridden a Homer.

[Tim]

You're probably more talented than me but if I were blindfolded I think I would crash on any of them :)

[Dave Johnston]

Don't forget the San Marcos. My Girlfriend has one of those that I built up and I have a Bleriot. It is the "road iest" of the bunch, butI think they are pretty similar. I have drops on the Bleriot and she has the Dove Bar so its hard to make a comparison. I can hardly tell the difference between a Bleriot and a Rambouillet except that the 38mm tires on the Bleriot are more plush and it doesn't have toe overlap so the Bleriot gets ridden more.

Geometry is pretty similar across the range but as far as tubing goes from lightest to heaviest and also from narrowest tire to largest tire capacity I think it goes like this.
San Marcos
Bleriot
A Homer
Sam Hillborne

[Philip Kim]

If I'm not mistaken, I thought I read somewhere that the Homer has slightly thicker tubing than the Bleriot to handle some loads. And Sam is thicker tubing than the Homer to handle even a bit more load.


I second Dave, I have a Soma San Marcos and it is awesome to ride. I don't know where it ranks with the Bleriot or the Homer, but compared to the Sam I had before, it's a bit more "road bike", and has slightly thinner tubing. The Sam was like riding a Cadillac, and the Soma San Marcos is like riding a sportier compact car like a Suburu Impreza. Still functional, but slightly sporty and not as luxurious.

[Steve Palincsar]

On 12/24/2015 08:55 AM, Dave Johnston wrote:

I can hardly tell the difference between a Bleriot and a Rambouillet except that the 38mm tires on the Bleriot are more plush and it doesn't have toe overlap so the Bleriot gets ridden more.

Not an exact correspondence, but very close: I had a Rambouillet and a Saluki.  They were very different.  The difference between 28mm and 38-42mm tires is very great.

[David Johnston]

When I said I could hardly tell the difference between the Ram and
Bleriot I meant in performance and general handling. The 38mm tires
(pari-moto) vs 28-33.3mm are definitely a plus for their plushness.

On 12/24/15, Steve Palincsar <pali...@his.com> wrote:
> On 12/24/2015 08:55 AM, Dave Johnston wrote:
>> I can hardly tell the difference between a Bleriot and a Rambouillet
>> except that the 38mm tires on the Bleriot are more plush and it
>> doesn't have toe overlap so the Bleriot gets ridden more.
>
> Not an exact correspondence, but very close: I had a Rambouillet and a

> Saluki. They were /very/ different. The difference between 28mm and

> 38-42mm tires is very great.
>
>

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[Surlyprof]

Grant once stated in the blug that he thought the Sam and Homer rode almost identically.  Second paragraph.  http://rivbike.tumblr.com/post/88710677759/the-sam-in-many-ways-a-few-ways-is-the-best  

I have a canti-Sam that I love but that 58 Homer on the web specials is mighty tempting.

John

[ted]

John,

They may ride much the same but the AHH is a bit more exquisite. Also the 58 being 650b and your Sam 700c, those two may differ more than the pair Grant was comparing (both 700c I think). You really should run up there and ride that web special demo.

You could buy it, pre-order a Joe and sell the Sam to help offset the outlays. The Joe would be an even better rough stuff ride with room for bigger tires, and well you don't often hear from folks who regret buying an AHH. I bought one through this list and it may be the best bike related decision I've ever made. Especially with the coming AHH alteration if you are interested in a more light to unloaded, more roadish oriented Riv with great details, grabbing a deal on an AHH now may feel real smart in years to come.

ted

[Bikie#4646]

I currently have three Rivs - all set up differently, so not apples-to-apples, etc. But my Homer, set up for mixed surface riding, mustachioed and fenderless, is more "sprightly" than my Sam, set up as my tourer with bells and whistles, and my Atlantis, set up for "country day rides" and good-weather overnighters. That said, like Philip mentions: Cadillac ride / sports car, depending on what you wish. I don't think I would seriously load my Homer down.

Paul Germain

Midlothian, Va.

On Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 8:31:06 AM UTC-5, Lungimsam wrote:

[Jeff Lesperance]

I have a 60cm double-TT Sam and a 58cm AHH. At the moment, they're both setup fairly similarly: 9-speed Shimano mountain drivetrain, bar-end shifters, 46cm Nitto Noodle handlebars, Compass tires (38mm Barlow Pass for Sam, 42mm Babyshow Pass for Homer) and Nitto Tallux stems (80mm for Sam, 100mm for Homer, I think). I have more miles on Sam than Homer, and Sam's miles are much more diverse, including daily semi-urban commuting, loaded touring and trail/offroad rides. Homer's commuted a few times, been on a few day-long rides and one dirt trail (C&O canal) s24o. 

As setup, I think Sam has a bit more reach than Homer, and generally, I think I tend to setup my bars with more reach than most folks my height do, thanks to some ape-length arms. Homer generally feels a bit more spritely and nimble. Sam wants to track straight and true. Both are tremendously comfortable rides. Both came to me used with a fair amount of beausage, so I wouldn't hesitate to put them through their paces in any type of riding situation, but I don't expect I'd steer toward using Homer for fully loaded touring duties, though I'll run a few handling and packing experiments through winter and spring to see how and how much luggage he prefers to carry. Sam's a taller bike - I have very little wiggle room straddling the top tube, and less stem sticking up above the headset - standover doesn't impact the ride, but stem height might a bit in terms of flexibility.

-Jeff

Silver Spring, MD
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[Lungimsam]

What are those lights on the rim of the Sam?

[Liesl]

I have a 50 saluki (the original 650b homer) and a 51 proto bleriot . I rode both for a number of years with original mustache bars and now both have boscoes. Bleriot is set up as a single with a tiny titanium rack on the back; saluki is a 3x8 with mini / marks nittos front and back. Similar 38 tires on both. They handle the same in what I can perceive. The single is and feels lighter.

As I recall, according to grant, the differences between the bleriot and the saluki/homer are about fancy details that don't affect ride, e.g. double tapered seat tubes and fancy lugs. And bleriot a we're made in Taiwan whereas Salukis we're Toyo.

Bleriots were a heckava deal.

Yours, liesl

[Jeff Lesperance]

Picture taken with flash - not lights, they're reflective stickers. Some "spokees" stickers from funreflector.com, and some other shapes from elsewhere. Those are my commuting wheels and pending time of year, I'm commuting in the dark in the morning, evening, or both, so I like to add a fair amount of reflective stuff and lights to the bike/myself.

On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 5:20 PM, Lungimsam <john1...@gmail.com> wrote:

What are those lights on the rim of the Sam?

[ted]

John, 

Knock knock John ...

That 58 Homer in the web specials is calling again John ...

And at 25% off tonight and tomorrow (coupon code happynewyear) it's calling very, very persuasively

On Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 8:25:58 AM UTC-8, Surlyprof wrote:

[Surlyprof]

I checked... it's gone.  Whew!  Someone got a really nice AHH for less than the price of a Joe and I won't be sleeping in the garage with two Rivendells.  BTW, Ted... my wife thinks you are a bad influence!

John

[ted]

Aww, too bad for you John.

Sooner or later your wife would have let you sleep inside again, and I'm sure Homer would have lasted much longer than her ire.

As to my being a bad influence, my wife (who was patiently, if unbendingly, listening to me try and convince her she neeeded that 51 Hunqapillar, which is also gone now, yesterday evening) would assure your wife that she is right!

At least two people got really nice bikes at really great prices to wrap up their year.

[pscottm]

I pulled the trigger on the well-spec'd Sam (black 62cm) with a heavy 'new year' discount, all after stalking one of the last remaining Sam frames, then thinking about pre-ordering a Joe, then seeing the web special Sam in my size with the set-up I like, then seeing the coupon (!!)  Good lord I couldn't not get it.   Can't wait to ride it.  -Scott

[Lungimsam]

I'd love to get my wife a Glorius but she wants an electric bike for her next bike.