Originally Posted by Gaarci

As far as riding position, both the Wabi and the State have pretty neutral feeling rides, so to me they feel pretty much interchangeable while riding - neither aggressive nor laid back - just neutral - and that suits me perfectly. When you pick them up in your hands you can tell that the Wabi is a lighter bike - about 19 lbs vs. the State 21 lbs. I think that is probably primarily due to the fact that the Wabi frame is famously made of Reynolds 725 tubing which I believe is a thinner walled version of Reynolds 525 4130 CroMoly - so they save the weight by reducing the thickness of the tubing walls. The State is 4130 CroMoly which is basically the same as Reynolds 525 which is their next tier down in CroMoly. So I think that is the big reason for double the price of $1,000 for the Wabi compared with $450 for the State. Now while riding I can't tell the difference but you can tell when you pick the bikes up. However, to me the Wabi feels more delicate and fragile than the State. I definitely feel more confident riding the State because it feels like a sturdier bike. The Wabi didn't give me a lot of confidence while riding because it just feels more fragile. Maybe the Wabi flexes more and the State is a stiffer bike. Whatever the reason, I definitely feel a lot more confident and comfortable on the State than on the Wabi. Also, the State comes with 25mm tires while the Wabi has 28mm tires. I preferred the State 25mm ride because it felt lighter and more nimble whereas the Wabi 28mm ride felt more sluggish and heavy, although the overall actual weight of the State is actually 2 lbs more than the Wabi. The components on both bikes are all about the same quality - very good and totally competent and acceptable but nothing very noteworthy - just good quality components that will definitely stand up to hard daily use. Both the State and Wabi came with front and rear brakes which is great and important to me, both came with flip flop hubs which is nice, both let you choose your bars as drops, risers, or bull horns. The State gets a HUGE advantage over the Wabi in that State has a very well known and widely advertised "return risk free if you aren't 100% satisfied and we will send you a label and exchange it for free" policy - that is a really big deal when buying a bike through the mail that you haven't actually test ridden for fit and comfort before you buy it. I can tell you from my own experience that Wabi is not anywhere that friendly or accommodating when it comes to asking about returning the bike for fit or comfort, so be warned. The Wabi definitely has a more comfortable and higher quality saddle than the State, but it didn't bother me enough to change the State saddle out - it's acceptable. My bottom line is that both bikes feel very similar and ride neutrally, the State feels more durable and stiff and inspires a more confident ride, the Wabi definitely feels lighter when you pick it up but they feel pretty much the same weight while riding, the State has a livelier ride than the Wabi which I think is due to the State 25mm tires vs. the Wabi 28mm, and you can buy a State for less than half the price of the Wabi which I think is due to the fancier Reynolds 725 CroMoly than the State 4130 CroMoly - so you will probably pick up more cool fixie points riding the Wabi but I would rather keep the extra $550 in my pocket than have the fixie points. Just my thoughts and observations - hope this helps.