Somewhere along David‘s journey in 2019, where he spent weeks riding from New York through Pennsylvania and moving across the country from LA to Johnstown, something clicked and it was time to look for something a bit lighter to replace his long-loved Rocky Moutain Sherpa. That bike had seen a lot of miles over the years and the weight, well let’s just say it’s stout.

Between that tour and now, a lot has happened. David uprooted his whole life in LA and moved across the country to set up shop in Johnstown, PA to be closer to family and help me run Hope Cyclery, but still held onto the thought of replacing that Sherpa.

After a massive bike shop moving party our friend Will at Rivendell gave us a shout to let us know that there were some Sam Hillbornes available and David snagged one immediately.

Fortunately, most everything swapped from one bike to another, but David added a few new bits like the Discord Stem, some NOS Shimano XTR M950 brakes, some Camp And Go Slow Eastern Rattler bar tape, and a set of Sim Works Honjo fenders.

We know people love Rivendell over here at the Radavist, so I made sure to document all the juicy details on this build.

I hope you enjoy this one and if you have a Hillborne, post it up in the comments!