New Bike Day!

[Brian Watts]

I made the pilgrimage to Walnut Creek via Bart yesterday, my Sam was waiting for me. I thought it would be romantic to ride home and get a proper feel for my first Rivendell...and it WAS. Roman is a pleasure to work with and he showed me some details of the bike. I didn't know this but they give you some swag too:patch kit, allen tool, bandana, the new seatpost diam. stickers etc...fun!

Build details: I bought the Sam Hillborne to replace a Crust Romanceur and moved most of the parts over. The low trail handling of the Romanceur did not sit well with me, felt too unstable and quick descents felt borderline dangerous requiring both hands on bars. I did need 700c wheels so I kept with the Velocity Quills in case I go tubeless again. 

*Hub sound is important to me, I have a White T11 that is very loud (too loud for me) and would make sense (to me) on a proper road bike. But the Sam (and the Crust) is my do most things bike, including low speed neighborhood runs with my kids, errands, etc. A loud hub is a conversation non-starter in these situations. I visited RBW earlier and really liked the stock Velocity hub, louder than Deore but still quiet-ish, a classy sound imo. Rich used one word to describe the Silvr hub.....LOUD. I also have the Velocity dynamo hub which Rich says is the same as the Kasai (which isn't in stock atm.

*Son light, paul cantis, White VBC cranks (44x30) albatross bars, a new RBW front rack etc.

Bike thoughts: Only 20 miles with some hills into it but I love the stability! That was my main reason for selling the Crust and I love how the Sam handles. With sweep back bars the handling can become too light but I was able to ride hands free down small hills which I would never try on the low trail Crust. YAY!! I will fine tune bar height; the stem is a Tallux 12 which is an error, we had decided on the 90-190 so Roman will have that switched next week. I will try to post pics here but if not I will reply with pics.

I may change the eggplant bartape to olive or navy or grey. I'm open to suggestions!

I'm looking forward to more time on the bike, thanks for reading!

Brian

[Keith Paugh]

Brian,

I was there in the morning yesterday too.

I think I saw your bike!

Let’s see some new ride photos!

k.

On Jul 10, 2024, at 7:02 PM, Brian Watts <watta...@gmail.com> wrote:

I made the pilgrimage to Walnut Creek via Bart yesterday, my Sam was waiting for me. I thought it would be romantic to ride home and get a proper feel for my first Rivendell...and it WAS. Roman is a pleasure to work with and he showed me some details of the bike. I didn't know this but they give you some swag too:patch kit, allen tool, bandana, the new seatpost diam. stickers etc...fun!

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[Brian Watts]

[Ryan]

@Brian...that periwinkle is a great color and that's a nice build! I think I'd keep the eggplant which I see you also have on the driveside chainstay because it picks up on the purplish hue of that periwinkle. Although seeing the bike in the flesh is different from a laptop monitor.

Glad you enjoy the bike

[Gordon Stam]

Very nice, Brian. Nothing like a new bike. I'm thinking there's another top tube bike in my future and maybe it'll be a Sam. Congrats!

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[ascpgh]

I love the details. When you look deeper you see all the things that were deliberate choices and each of them has a reason behind why that part instead of another. It's an evolution of your cycling in its details.

I said the same to Leah when she unveiled her little pony. Building a bike is telling a story about your path in bicycling. Your experiences shaped the choices and it's rewarding when you look at a part and it triggers all the memories of previous parts and bikes and rides that brought you to this component.  

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Andy Beichler]

That is beautiful!  I am pretty settled on the bikes I have now but that periwinkle is calling to me. 

[jaredwilson]

Agreed with others statements, this bike is a stunner!

Congrats and here's to many happy years together.

jared in SC, CA