Well, I did finally get to ride the thing. The drop bars are great. I knew they would be, as they are the type I have used for almost all my riding. During the ride I realized I forgot one very important "interface" in the list above - the human interface,... both of them.
On the one hand, I need to tweak the lever position on the bars or rotate the bars upward a tiny bit to better suit my preferred hand positions but that's not a big deal.
On the other hand, I mean, ... on the other end, the seat did not seem to be appropriate for the riding position. The bike currently has a Brooks B67 (a leather saddle with chromed springs beneath). It is really comfortable when you ride with upright bars. 25 miles is about as far as I have gone with it but it was painless, perfect, comfortable all the way. With the forward position of drop bars, it was different. It didn't hurt, it just seemed off. Luckily, I have several others to chose from. A black road saddle may be the final change I make.
We'll see. First, I have to get it completely road worthy.
