What They Say... FOR ALL ROADS— paved, dirt, or gravel; and the kinds of fire trails a Conestoga wagon could negotiate, but not the kind that would require a jackass. If you're skilled and have good judgement and fattish knobby tires, you can ride the SAM where you shouldn't. Stick with what it's designed for: all the above, and ROAD TOURING, ROAD SHOPPING, and ROAD COMMUTING. The Sam is a versatile road and light trail bike. ALL WEATHER: Easily fendered. Can the "gravel bike" you're considering fit fenders? How about racks? Everything that makes it a great touring bike also makes it a great commuter, camper or all-rounder. The Sam is equally a great bike for a carrying food and camping gear and clothing around. FRAME: Our-designed SILVER (brand) CrMo tubing in dimensions we see fit. Geometry is ours alone, also. It rides like all Rivendells. Good with drop bars or uprights. Fits tires up to 45 with fenders, 48 without. Headset and bottom bracket included. BRAKES: V-brakes (standard or mini) or cantilevers. We can advise. If you will use Cantis, be sure to buy front and rear cable hangers (not included). BRAZE-ONS: A-plenty. Easy to mount racks, fenders. (Well, as easy as they ever are. They're usually a little fussy, but that's not the frame's fault.) LOAD CAPACITY: It depends on your weight, the road surface, the tire volume, air pressure, and your riding style. Basically, a 185lb rider can probably tote 35 to 40lbs on road rides. It's not a full-on touring bikes, but it's not a wimp, either. HANDLEBAR STYLE: Drops, Albastache, or any upright. Use a short stem with drops or Albastache--maybe 5 to 7cm. With Albatross, up to 10cm, and with Billie or Tosco, 11 or 12cm. TIRE RECOMMENDATIONS— for 90 percent road: 700c: Any Shikoro, 38mm or 42mm. There are lots, but these are the ones we sell. 650B: Gravel King 38mm or 45mm. Even though it's a "Gravel King," the tread is more suited to pavement. for 50-50 pavement and dirt: Cazadero 43mm RIDER WEIGHT LIMIT?: It's hard to say, it depends so much on what else you're carrying, the surface you're on, the tire volume and pressure...lots of things that are just hard to pin down. But we'll say...220lb. But if you weigh that, don't also load the bike up with touring gear. And consider an Appaloosa, which fits bigger tires and has a stouter fork. LOOKS GOOD TO US: The Sam Hillborne is a classically styled frame with sweated-over graphics. The frame joints are lugged, the fork has a crown, and they're all our own designed investment castings, starting from rocks, which are made into metal, and shaped with precision and beauty by a process developed in China ten thousand years ago. We pay attention to even the most superficial details: The stress-relief hole on the back of the seat lug is painted cream. The wings on the fork crown, too. The seat tube and down tube decals are in exactly the right spot, something that always used to happen before the 21st century came around and people with no taste took over. The letters are filled with cream, edged in black, and "halo'd" in gold, for an easy-on-the-eye transition to the paint color. The fork's curved and tapered blades have wild and crazy, beautiful cream-edged dropouts. The bottom bracket shell is designed to minimize stress, with curves where other shells have points; and with windows to aid the brazer. Age, scrapes, grime, and other signs of use just make it look better.
