re: knee pain...

i also ride a fair bit, and have been professionally fit to a bike more than once. not to the sputnik, but the measurements were translated with the assistance of the fitter. brakes, not skids.

when in form, 46x15/16 is not an issue. in my rolling hills, it does come with a bit of high torque/low rpm grinds. i have done centuries w/6k+ ft of climb with zero knee issues.

that said, with too much time off my 40yr old knees do forget how to cope, and i get a bit of knee pain if i grind too much.