Once, there was a time when skinny jeans and drop bars didn’t fit any mold in the gravel cycling world. So, a then-fledgling Colorado bike builder started carving out a niche.
Fast forward 12 years, and Longmont, Colo.-based REEB is bringing back a gravel build called “The Sam’s Pants.” It’s welded by hand from Italian steel tubing at Hooptie Bike Lounge, the brand’s full-service shop and beer joint. And with big tire clearance, gentle drop bars, and an assist on the front fork from Cane Creek, it’s an ode to both the enduring characteristics and questionable quirks of its namesake.
“[The first Sam’s Pants] was our first gravel bike over 13 years ago,” Tim Moore, REEB Cycles sales director, said in a press release. “At the time, no one at REEB was sure about drop-bar bikes or skinny jeans, so they named it after a local shop kid, Sam, who introduced everyone to the latter. While we’re still unsure about skin-tight denim, one thing we’ve learned over the years is that it’s hard to beat the sense of adventure found behind the handlebars of a gravel bike.”
The new iteration of The Sam’s Pants aims to make that sense of adventure accessible and customizable — at least to a rider’s preferred componentry. A 420mm axle-to-crown measurement allows riders to swap out suspension forks, a roomy front triangle accommodates frame bags or three bottle cages, and a dropper post port gives rough riders the option to pamper their rear ends.
Stock tire clearance maxes out at 29” x 2.2”. The stock fork, Cane Creek’s Invert unit, flips the script on conventional suspension forks with an upper housing that travels down over the pistons. There’s a 30mm or 40mm travel option. (REEB says The Sam’s Pants will accept most gravel forks with similar travel.) Shifting is wireless via SRAM AXS.
Repair-friendly build choices include external cable routing and a SRAM universal derailleur hanger.
The Sam’s Pants is now available in five sizes (for riders 5’1” to 6’4”) across three build kits and multiple stock and custom colors for July 2025 delivery. MSRP for a frameset is $2,499, and full builds start at $4,599.
