> On May 14, 2024, at 9:04 PM, Mathias Steiner <mathiassteine...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I'd love to hear informed opinions on the Sam. Does anybody use one on > brevets?
I have two Sams from the last batch. Previously I have had a Bleriot, which is similar to the Sam. I rode the Bleriot on several very long rides, up to 600km, and never once wished I was on something different, with one exception. A couple of times I found that the steering geometry with a loaded handlebar bag was a handful on tight downhill corners. Interestingly, I have yet to experience a similar issue on the Sams, and I’ve done some pretty challenging downhill rides on them. Of course, I did auger in on one of those … a very tight switchback with some deep sand at the apex. I’m using 48mm (smooth) tires on my Sams, vs 42mm on the Bleriot, and I find the extra tire width to help in the twisties. Having knobbies might have helped prevent my crash, but also might not have. I think the main factor was operator error … pretty sure I was still grabbing some front brake too far into the corner. As I think of it, I have a pretty good comparison between the Bleriot and the Sam. I took each of them to Ireland, 5 years apart, and rode the same roads each time, including some steep climbs and winding descents. They felt very similar to each other, but I think the slightly bigger tires on the Sam gave me a bit more confident handling in the curves. Anyway, I would not hesitate to grab one of my Sams for a brevet of any length, and I have a Waterford custom-made for riding brevets. Why 2 Sams? Because one lives at my older daughter’s house in Portland ME, and the other lives at my younger daughter’s house in LA. How much do I like them? Enough that I’m thinking about getting a 3rd to replace my custom BreadWinner G-Road, which replaced my Bleriot because I wanted room for bigger tires and it has a bit steeper head angle and lower trail. It also has a 3rd bottle mount under the downtube, which the Sam is lacking. I have 16 1/2 hours to decide on this one. Ted Durant Milwaukee, WI USA -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/531E1DBD-D907-4254-95DE-F8302742934B%40gmail.com.
