valygirl, all really good points. As you say, at what point do you begin making this bike a lot like heavier sport bikes?? The devil is in the details isnt it, and points of view too?

a Brooks, this is one area I do disagree with you, if a given seat (whatever brand or model) fits ones bottom and said bottom is fine after riding all day, then I say Who cares about 2 or 300 grams, not being sore makes up for that. This is completely user specific though, go with what works for yer butt I say.

gearing, a 48-12 will still give 107 g.i. which should spin out at a good 60k or 40mph, but then again, this is something that is a personal preference (plus there are 11-whatever cassettes, which would bring the top gear up more)

wheels, ya, starts to get tricky here doesn't it, there are so many options of "how much stronger" vs " how much heavier" combined with the cost involved...

in the end, a Roubaix must weigh under 20 lbs? Would a light, high end cross bike weigh almost the same and have stronger wheels, lower gearing already? (and cost less probably?)

I guess its a balancing act of how much extra to spend on changing stuff, along with the allure of still having a really fun, light, fast road bike...

makes an interesting exercise to follow from our keyboards though.....

oh, Nun, have you done any test rides of bikes?