Dave, I can't speak directly to the Appaloosa, but I do ride a Hillborne and a Platypus and have taken both on trails. Regarding long chain stays (my 2022 Platy's measure 505 mm vs the "25 Sam's at 455) -- yes, the long stays do make the ride a bit smoother over rough surfaces. The trade off is those longer chain stays combined with the Platy's slacker 69* head tube angle conspire to make it less nimble in tight, twisty situations, compared to the Sam.
For context, I live in the Appalachians where trail riding - especially on a rigid bike - typically means dodging roots and rocks and negotiating tight switchbacks. Having said that, most of my riding is on National Forest fire roads and double track logging roads. Both bikes perform nicely in those settings, but if I'm planning to ride single track trails I'll grab the Hillborne (or more likely my Ritchey Outback with 48mm knobbies) Steve in AVL On Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 1:51:47 AM UTC-4 Brent Eastman wrote: > sam is awesome on trails. > On Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 11:55:51 AM UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: > >> Hi Dave, >> >> I ride a romanceur with drops, an appaloosa with drops and an atlantis >> with flat bars. I have not ridden a Sam. >> >> Romanceur works fine on singletrack with both 650b with 2.1 tires >> (before) and 700c with 38mm tires (currently). >> >> Appaloosa is on 48mm knobbies. It does feel a little more smooth and >> stable on the same singletrack, but the romanceur is still fun to ride. I >> guess I feel a little less "confident" on the romanceur but not to the >> point where I don't ride those trails. >> >> The atlantis (2005 or so) has 38mm knobbies on front and 38mm file tread >> on back with 800mm mtb handlebars. Does the same single track and feels >> great. >> >> The sub 40mm tires bury in the sand sometimes. >> >> But all three bikes can do smooth single track and pick through rocks. >> Caveat: I mostly ride in ft ord which is smooth packed sand with very few >> roots or rock gardens. >> >> Point is, any of these bikes work fine and you would get used to any of >> them. Maybe just think about what riding you're doing most of the ride and >> most of the time. >> >> And a mtb would work better on single track than any of these, if you're >> really keen on trails!!! >> >> - gabe >> >> Sent from my BlackBerry, the smartphone with the little keyboard and a >> big heart. >> >> >> >> On Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:36 'Dave White' via RBW Owners Bunch < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I would love to hear from people who have ridden fairly recent versions >>> of both the Sam and Appaloosa/Atlantis on trails (lumping those together >>> because they seem interchangeable). Besides the difference in tire >>> clearance, how much more trail worthy is the Appaloosa than the Sam? I have >>> to say I like the appearance of the shorter chain-stays on the Sam better. >>> But do the long stays of the Appaloosa make the ride that much smoother? >>> The slightly slacker head angle seems like it might matter even more than >>> the rear of the bike. I find myself changing my mind every other day as to >>> which of these I should pursue, so any info would be appreciated. >>> Thanks, >>> Dave White >>> Nevada City, CA >>> >>> -- >>> 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/8ca37d3d-5772-46c7-b8f2-a3e99c9f4519n%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8ca37d3d-5772-46c7-b8f2-a3e99c9f4519n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- 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/eadb0300-7a60-4b75-9e94-9b0d17d0a5b8n%40googlegroups.com.
