My Rivendell Sam Hillborne is the most expensive bike I have ever bought, and I tried to set it up cheaply without sacrificing quality or a bit of bling. I did this by building it up myself (including the wheels) and spec'ing a bunch of NOS (new old stock) parts as well as using a few parts I already had. As pictured, it is set-up for a mix of dry season commuting and pleasure rides combining paved roads and sometimes quite gnarly dirt tracks. When the rainy season starts again (May), I'll put on some Jack Brown tires and Berthoud plastic fenders, and may avoid the dirt roads for a few months (It literally does not rain here [northern Thailand] for several months in the dry season, and then pours buckets in the wet season). A Nitto rack or two and a nice bag will also follow when I can afford them. I was going to put on shellacked bar tape, but actually love the bare bars enough to keep them like they are. Having my hands freeze to the bars is unlikely here in Thailand...

I love this bike. While encouraging a slower pace than my Indy Fab Planet X (see the cyclo cross list), it is nimble and predictable on and off road, fits 42 mm tires (actual width) with room to spare, accepts racks and fenders, and is stunningly beautiful IMHO (love the burnt orange, and the understated decals).

Gernot Huber

earlgrey at gmail dot com

Build:
56 cm Rivendell Sam Hillborne w/ stock headset, bb, seatpost
Velocity Synergy rims (32 spoke, OC for the rear)
Deore DX (NOS) front (w/ parts bin Campy Chorus skewer), and 9-sp 105 (NOS) rear hub (both nice, slender, silver, classic-looking hubs, and dirt cheap)
Wheelsmith DB spokes + Velox tape
IRC Mythos 42 mm folding semi-knobbies (bought used, from parts bin)
Nitto Technomic Deluxe stem (90 mm)
Nitto Noodle bar (46 cm)
Tektro brake levers
Silver barend shifters on Shimano pods (from parts bin)
Tektro 720 cantis stainless cables with Shimano silver housing and beeswax "end caps"
Tektro fork-mounted brake cable hanger (from parts bin)
Surly seat binder bolt brake cable hanger (the Tektro that came with the frame was too thick to fit between bolt and seatpost, and doesn't have an adjuster barrel)
FSA front derailer for compact cranks
Shimano XT low normal rear derailer (NOS)
Shimano XT 9 speed 12-32 cassette (modified 11-32 to include 12-13-14-... instead of 11-12-14-...) (bought used, from parts bin)
Sram chain
Velo Orange elk hide chainstay protector
Sugino XD 600 cranks (24-36-48)
cheap platform pedals (from parts bin)
Brooks B-17 Special saddle
Pletscher kickstand
Brass bell
King stainless bottle cages
Topeak Peak Master Blaster DX mini pump (from parts bin)
Jandd seat pouch (from parts bin)
Cateye TL-LD170 LED taillight (from parts bin)

A big thanks to Grant Petersen for designing amazing bikes, and for encouraging unconventional thinking around bikes.