yeah I normally have a big ass bag on too, probably makes things worse. damn my life revolving around my laptop. Even when I'm in great shape, I'm a pretty heavy dude, I'm just big and broad, no avoiding it, so yeah I feel you definitely. I haven't been 170 since high school probably and can get around 230 when I let my gf set up camp in my brain (she's 100lbs so can eat whatever).

the cream city is a good option, if I were to limit my budget to that amount I'd have a hard time not getting something like that. If the track just isn't something I see myself doing on a regular basis then I may go with something like that or even something slightly more relaxed like a wabi frame.

I'm completely in love with stanridge's frames and the idea of a frame built 'for' me. I just don't know if I can realistically drop 1800 on a frameset. this design is definitely very aggressive and I hope to be completely in love with racing to justify splurging ;p