Hi, Michael. Your Sam is lovely!
As a current owner of a Platy and a Homer, I think they compliment each other perfectly. Homer does feel zippy. I’ve always said “lively, spritely“ more so than the Platy or Hillborne. I wouldn’t put a baby on the Homer, but would on the Platy. Homer is my forever bike. I ride exclusively upright bars—Albatross and Billie— distances to 45 miles. Leah, bicycle bell ding ding, has the same handlebars that I do and she rides even longer distances, including centuries. Perhaps changing your Sam handlebars to drops and getting a Platypus for your baby seat rides will be your ticket to happiness. That is until you want “just one more” Rivendell. 😊 I’m in Philadelphia, venturing into NJ a bit, and you’re welcome to try my bikes. DM if you’re close and interested. Neither is for sale. Roberta Philadelphia On Friday, November 7, 2025 at 9:29:00 AM UTC-5 Michael wrote: > I posted most of this in a separate thread recently, but thought I'd share > here with a few more pics. > > I bought a Sam last year as my first Rivendell and had their team build it > as my "dream" do all bike. I was looking for a light-ish bike that I > could put wide smooth tires on, zip around bike paths while riding up-right > and in comfort but also capable of riding for long distances on pavement or > gravel. I was torn between the Sam and Homer but ultimately went with the > Sam for V-Brakes and Color. > > As for my impressions of the Sam, over all I absolutely love it both > aesthetically and functionally. Its the only bike I have owned where almost > every time I approach or depart, I stop and gaze in admiration, its a > functional piece of art to me. It doesn't feel slow, I wouldn't say it > feels zippy but definitely not sluggish. I find myself using multiple hand > positions on the albatross bars frequently. Ill use the regular cork grips > often on bike paths, but on longer stretches or if there is a head wind I > will alternate to the front tape wrapped round the curved part of the bars, > this puts me into a very similar position as riding in the hoods on a drop > bar. My longest ride is 50 miles with very little discomfort, which was > reassuring because I hadn't seen many people discuss longer distance riding > w/ albatross bars. I use a stem mounted baby seat and have carried my 30lb > toddler a few hundred miles and the bike handles like a dream. > > There is a rather large dilemma I am experiencing however. After 1 year of > riding my dream "do-all" bike , the only bike I shall ever need, I find > myself dreaming about what my next Riv should be.... I find sometimes on > long straight country roads with a head wind, I wish I had a more > aerodynamic position such as a road bike w/ drops. I also wonder if the Sam > is over built for my mostly paved smooth road riding. I cant decide if I > would put drops on the Sam and get a Platypus for the upright ride or keep > the Sam as is and get a lighter homer w/ drops. I suspect a Platypus & > Homer would be an awesome combo. I think I would probably advise people > buying their first Riv to not try and create a "do-all" bike, because well, > n+1. [image: 20251015_162500~2 (1).jpg] > -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f6988a30-ab62-48a0-ae1a-43553bc318cfn%40googlegroups.com.
