TheRCF

Okay, the title probably isn't very clear, but here is what I'm thinking about.

I like a bike that is fast (basically fairly light, narrow tires - 700x23 - and the typical drop bars).

Each of these things matters to speed. In the case of the drop bars, that may be a critical point because I typically have to ride into a 10-15 mph wind.

Now, all that is easy enough to do, except I want to be able to do one more thing - have that bike setup so I can just jump on it without wearing anything special clothing, especially having to change into bike shorts.

Sometimes this would just be to run an errand - maybe a mile each way and any bike would do for that. But often it would be to ride about 13 miles each way. That's where the weight and especially the drop bars come in handy. I don't go all the way down into the drops too much, but even riding the hoods helps a lot with the wind.

I started with a comfort bike which was, well, comfortable, but when the wind hit you, it was like running into a wall. Besides, the big tires and weight made it slower than I like for that distance.

As it happens, I have a Bianchi Volpe I can experiment with. It's not all that light, but it is lighter than that old comfort bike!

Near as I can figure, pedals are not a problem. If I want to ride with ordinary athletic shoes or clipless, I can buy double-sided pedals.

Unless I'm missing something, the big issue is going to be the saddle. I know I can't ride without bike shorts with the normal saddle on it (I've tried and it is pretty rough even for short rides).

So, I was wondering if there would be any problem just putting a saddle on it like you would find on a comfort bike - I used to just wear regular shorts with that. Is there anything about that which could cause a problem on a bike like the Volpe? I know of two differences between this potential setup and that comfort bike:

1. The seat had a suspension seatpost but this wouldn't (don't know if one can be put on it but ideally I'd like to avoid that).

2. On a road style bike, even when on the tops of the bars, you lean forward more which, in turn, tends to put at least a little pressure on the private areas. It isn't so much about cutting off circulation, but just being irritating to some private parts. I guess the ideal solution to that would be bars that let you sit up more than normal on a road bike when on top of the bars, but still let you get low in the hoods or drops to deal with wind, but I don't know if there is anything like that.

Hope I explained this okay. Basically I want to give up as little speed as possible with a second bike which doesn't require special clothing.