Yeah, you're right vrkelley-- folks who ride those heavy Euro-style bikes are often very good cyclists.

A buddy and I went off to see some friends in Germany and did a lot of cycling with them-- all of it on these heavy, clunky 3 and 4 speed bikes. My buddy was dumb enough to complain about the bikes and the Germans laughted at him and called him a name a really can't use on a family forum like this-- let's just say it was whimp spelled with a P. Our hosts would say stuff like "The weakling American needs a lightweight bike!" all in good fun of course. I guess riding some 40 pound pile of crap is a badge of honor to some across the pond-- this really had a powerful effect on how I think about bikes.