The shaped downtube and top tube (iirc) made for a very stiff frame from Brain. It was more like an aluminum Cannondale I rode for a while, than the lugged steel Centurion which has been my only roadie for 10 years. Not a bad bike just not what I needed in a frame.

The Marin model I bought was more of a crit race geometry and the Columbus Thron model would have been quick but with more flex and a softer fork. I think my buying decision was biased toward the full Veloce group on the brain frame over a lesser group on the thron bike. Off the shelf bikes are almost always a compromise of something.