Originally Posted by
uncle uncle
I just got done reading about someone's experience with a 1977 Takara touring style bicycle, and even though it had a shiny lime green paint job, and good mid level Suntour parts... if felt "dead".
A frameset designed for fully loaded touring as was common back when could be quite over built for plootering about town w/ no load.
This should be no huge surprise, but I guess it can be.
I
hate analogies but my 4WD pickup purchased to haul stock feed does not ride like Tinkerbell on marshmallows when unloaded but grunts on out when it does w/o complaint as designed.
Touring bike/Pickup needs
load to perform the task they are designed for: Hauling ****. When unloaded, not so Tinkerbell-ish at all.
What "shiny" paint jobs or a particular flavor of components have to to w/ the "feel" of a frameset = Nothing.
Read this:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-materials.html
-Bandera