what i had in mind might be more like a touring bike or a cx bike. those are vastly different, i know. Trek has made the 520 for years with canti mounts and the BD bike I had in mind is the Fantom Cross Uno. All City makes the Nature Boy and Bianchi makes the San Jose SS but those last two are out of my price range. i have this fantasy in my head of building a SS road bike that can handle some off-road and jumping curbs, but i suppose i don't actually need canti's for that unless i am racing through mud. so strike canti's from my "want" list.

I have what appears to be a 1978 Motobecane Grand Jubilee. it's almost converted, i just need a SS freewheel. i want to try a 40/16 ratio for now, because i have a lot of long climbs in my area and costing downhill is "fast enough" for my taste. and that's one of the two chainrings that came with the bike. it has crappy 27" wheels with some scary corrosion on all the spokes. if i am going to spend any money on this bike at all, should i just get some SS specific 700c wheels? might i need new brakes for that too? i have some spare tires and I can use the old tubes.

i got started in mountain biking on a converted SS mtb and it always felt like a compromise. when i finally got a proper SS mtb, it felt 100x better. maybe that does not apply to road bikes.