I think that my briefly- (18 months?) owned Sam was, like yours, a stt with cantis, and a 59 cm tt. I wish I'd played around more with the stem length and the bar position before selling it -- though there were other reasons why I sold it, too, besides my gripe with the tt. But if I'd thought more hard about sta icw ttl (figger it out), and if I had kept it long enough for the Snoqualimie Passes to appear --- why, I might just have had me a very wonderful allroad bike!
Not that I regret giving mine up for, eventually, the Matthews, since the Matthews takes the fatter tires -- 50 mm + -- with fenders, that I really do like for our bosque sand. But still, a Sam with Snoqalmie Pass tires might be even better than an All Rounder with Rat Trap Passes. On Wed, Aug 9, 2017 at 1:34 PM, Bill Lindsay <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > Introducing Bike #5, another very dear old friend, my Samuel Hillborne. > This was my first Rivendell, and it marked a significant inflection point > in my cycling career. I bought it in December 2009, and my cycling life > could easily be separated into BH (Before Hillborne) and AH (After > Hillborne). Before Hillborne, I was a TTLZ, a Top Tube Length Zealot. I > would look at one number on a geo-chart, the effective top tube length. If > it was 56.5cm, it fit me. If it was not 56.5cm, it did not fit me. That's > what I thought. After Hillborne, I realized that you can't say anything > about fit from top tube length alone and in isolation. The biggest thing > for Rivendells, in my opinion is seat tube angle. Before Hillborne, I > slammed the saddle all the way back, on every bike, all the time, because > every other bike had a steep seat tube angle. I believe that in December > 2009 there was no other production 'road bike' on earth with a 71.5 degree > seat tube angle. There might still be no other non-Rivendell production > bikes on Earth with a 71.5 degree seat tube angle. Because the seat tube > angle is slack, you'll run the saddle 1-2cm further forward, right in the > middle of the rails, which looks great and fits. Voila! You're top tube is > 2cm shorter that you thought when you were a TTLZ. Anyway, here's Sam, on > my morning 40 mile commute through the East Bay Hills, with Fog-gust in > full effect. > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_39duFv0CyI/WYtgLuB6T4I/AAAAAAAADe4/SRGSO5wCmLE5D18X55YhIIwOeCXCiMAZQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2038.JPG> > > Every time I contemplate on a Rivendell Custom, I invariably end up > defining a bike that is almost identical to my 56cm, single top tube, > cantilever Hillborne. For me in 2017, it is just about my perfect all-road > bike. 38mm tires + fenders is ample for a sensible road bike. After > Hillborne, that's my attitude. A road bike that only takes 32mm tires with > fenders is most definitely a "racing bike" in my AH categories. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
