Originally Posted by
markwesti
Haha this is a good thd. When I was in jr. high school my dad bought me a Schwinn Varsity (my first road bike) my school mate had a Schwinn Continental , he let me ride it . I didn't like my Varsity much after that . My friend Freaky Dave rode a Gios Pro. It was his single mode of transportation , he felt he needed a touring type bike that he could put panniers on so he bought a Trek I don't know which model . He sold the Gios to get the Trek , he cried . In high school I had a entry level Gitane Grand sport , I thought it was pretty nice . A guy I knew, he rode cross country twice on a Colnago informed me it was a POS .
Some designs are better suited to a given task than others. And then there is just personal preference. I love 3-speed upright bikes but not for the way they ride. I don't like sitting up so much and pedaling so slowly. The geometry forces the upright sitting, and the bike in many ways discourages fast pedaling without outright preventing it. Having "grown up" on drop-bar bikes, I just like them better.