I received my Sam about a week ago. This site and my friend Bruce (fullylugged) convinced me that this was the bike I should buy.
My first impression of the Sam is “Wow”! The color and graphics are great. It really is a beautiful bike. I was worried about the fit on the bike because of the big differences between sizes. The bike fits me as well as my custom titanium Seven. I have raised the bar height to 2cm above the saddle and have angled the bar about 5%. I am still playing with these adjustments. I took the bike out on its maiden voyage this past Saturday. I took an eighty mile tour through the country side, south of Montgomery. The temperature hit 96; it was just plain “HOT”. The terrain was mostly flat with about a twelve mile stretch of rollers ranging from three to seven percent grade. The pavement ranged from smooth to rattle your teeth chip and seal asphalt. I was having trouble with the indexed shifting in a couple of the gears so I switched to friction shifting. I really found out I prefer it. I stayed mostly in the 48 and occasionally in the 36. I never had to use the 24, but I am anxious to try it. The bike road smooth as silk. Surprisingly, I did not lose a lot of speed as compared to my Seven. The Brooks saddle is still a little stiff, but not too bad. The bikes front end was very steady, even with no hands riding. The bike turned with ease, by just applying slight pressure to the handle bars. I couldn’t be more pleased with the bike. Thanks again to the helpful and passionate Rivendell owners on this site. Bruce, you need to plan another destination ride. My build is as follows: 48 Orange frame Sugino xd2 48/36/24 crank 9 speed 11-32 cass Canti Tektro cr720 brakes Nitto noodle 44 bars Nitto technomic stem Viva dk blue cloth tape Dura Ace 9s bar end shifters Campy Triple f der Shimano xt rr long cage Brooks B17 special honey 650 B r36 Synergy wheels Pacenti Pari-Moto tires Nitto mini front rack Nitto r14 rear rack Joe McNair -- 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.
