My 60cm Sam Hillborne partial build arrived on Friday and I spent the weekend putting it together. This is truly a gorgeous bike. The paint looks fantastic and the lugs are very nice. Mine has a bit fancier down tube lug than the one photographed by Renaissance Bicycles. I'll post photos once it's wearing its fenders (not at the moment).
I commute daily and this is now my daily rider (replacing massively upgraded 1971 Peugeot UO-8). I'll give riding impressions here and if you want to know how its set up then keep reading below. The ride is very smooth. My first impression is "man those handle bars are really up there!" This will come as no surprise to Riv riders, I imagine, but it was surprising to me. At first I wasn't sure about it, but now I find it very comfortable. The frame geometry is in general very comfortable. I know this is Grant's shtick, but he's not just talking, it's for real. At the moment the saddle feels a bit far forward, but it's not on the right post yet. I had never ridden bar-end shifters. The one thing I didn't like about the Hillborne frame was the lack of provision for down tube shifters (my preference). But I ordered it and took the leap of faith. I got used to these things in two rides and now it's totally natural. I like it. The Silver shifters are very close copies of the SunTour Sprints that I run on my Peugeot. They work great in bar end configuration, something I wouldn't have expected. I was convinced by Keven at Riv on the phone to order the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes instead of the Jack Browns. I wanted the look of the tan sidewall but I thought, "Heck these guys know what they're doing and if he says get the Schwalbes, then do it." I still want to try the Jack Browns for comparison at some point, but for now I'm very happy. These ride like butter! Through the rougher parts of the road it's like floating on air over the mess. With 7 speeds in the rear and three in the front (haven't needed that tiny front one yet), I feel like I have infinite gearing available. The SRAM rear derailleur is fast and smooth and highly accurate. Never ridden one before but I'm very happy with it. I highly recommend this bike. It's comfortable, easy to ride, and plenty light and quick, even decked out with gear that is not amazingly light weight. Here's how I have it set up at the moment. I should say here that I weigh 230lbs (and live on top of a big hill and commute through an industrial area) and that I have a history of doing damage to axles, drive-side cups/cones, and cranksets. I ordered things to be rugged because I don't want to deal with repairing stuff as much as possible. * 60 cm Sam Hillborne frame * Phil "Rivy" Hubs with Velocity Dyad Rims (Rich built) * IRD 7sp freewheel * Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 42mm tires * Sugino XD2 cranks (175mm) a la Riv * Campagnolo Mirage front derailleur * SRAM X-7 rear derailleur * Silver bar end shifters * Nitto Noodle bars * Cane Creek SCR-5 levers (tan) * Velo Orange Grenouille cantilevers * Velo Orange 110mm stem * Velo Orange stem adaptor * Velo Orange road pedals (chrome cages) with MKS tall clips and Christophe straps * Velo Orange type 2 bottle holders * New Brooks B-17 honey saddle (borrowed from my Raleigh Professional) * Campagnolo Nuovo Record seat post (borrowed from my Raleigh Professional) I have a Velo Orange seat post and Cardiff Mercia saddle waiting at home to go on the bike for tomorrow's riding. We'll see how that changes things. This weekend I will be fitting Velo Orange 52mm alloy fenders and will get photos on the first sunny day after that. :) Cheers, Karl --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
