I like the feel, ability to build custom (to fit this body), the durability and safety of well built steel and ti bikes. (And lugged steel is so forgiving the bar for durable and safe is really low!) My knees cry out for low Q-factors. Almost 50 years ago I had a steel bike that could extract absolutely everything this body had to offer. (Pure racer; it couldn't do much else.) And I was sold! Ever since then I have been trying to keep in my stable a ride as close to that as was feasible. Going X mph faster doesn't matter to me. The bike doesn't have to weigh "this". Having the newest and greatest doesn't matter to me. But "the ride" does. Money, my life and the years after a major head injury have shaped what was feasible to much more modest rides than I would have liked but the dream never left. Times have changed for me and now a fleet of bikes that coast like a modest car is something I can do. (While I drive my modest, paid for Prius C, perhaps for the rest of my driving days.)
So now I have steel frames from '73, '79 and two from '83. Plus 2 ti customs, 2008 and '11. I consider them as C & V inspired.
First ti was a conscious "copy" of the early '80s Japanese sport bikes. Inspired by a Univega Competizione that fit like that old race bike. Geometry off that Univega except the BB kicked up a bit and HT pushed out a cm. (My call and maybe a mistake. As I get older and less confident, speed wobbles have crept in. I made the cal for the longer top tube to have an easy to find and "classic aka "Eddy Merckx" 12 cm stem.) That bike is "Japanese sport" in that it has similar fender clearances and eyes. Intended use. It also makes a very stylish rain bike.
Second ti bike is what might have been one of the hottest bikes at the start of a late '89s, early '90s race in a fictional word where gears were never invented. My avatar bike. Jessica J. Fix gear with a 2" road style dropouts so the rim stays inside the brake pads and opens to the front for quick wheel flips. Yes, like the really old days. Get to a hill, stop, and flip the wheel. And since I am not racing I spare my old undercarriage and stop at the top, unscrew the big cog and screw on a tiny one. (42-12 at 45 mph plus downhill is a blast!)
Both ti bikes - traditional steel forks. With nice crowns. One 531. Never asked about the other and I'm pretty sure it's different but it is just as nice. And I am still sold on the idea that steel forks are an ideal match to the less stiff titanium frame since the entire frame consists of tubes supported at both ends except that fork. (My "test ride" on a Merlin in the early days of ti consisted of an up hill sprint on a Merlin MTB. And my impression? "Make this a custom road frame and this is all there!" After nearly 40k miles, I still believe that.
Oh, the steel bikes:
1973 Raleigh Competition. A Friday bike. It cost me most of a grand to make it safe. Any potential love for Raleigh - gone. Still a flexible flyer by design. OK on rough road, can get disconcerting at speed. It is different and sometimes fun.
1979 Peter Mooney. This bike was designed to be my link to sanity post head injury. Number one design requirement - to be rideable 12 months of the year in the 48 states. So - room for huge 27" tires and fenders. (Think January in Maine with the tires you could get locally in 1979.) Cantis set at the intermediate height so I could run 700c just as easily. Ability to tour and go off road. It would never enter a race. And horizontal dropouts so I just could go fix gear if I ever wanted. Now - its a dreamy fix gear! And I've figured out how to get an even bigger gear range than Jessica J has on that short Campy dropout. Plus it can take (almost ) any tire so I can ride fixed on any "road" out there. Bike's name is Pete. We're wedded. He has seen me through my crazy years, done a few crazy rides. Ridden twice in insane rain. Camped covertly in places many of you know but that I will not say. And funny, he now wears a wedding ring. Serious. A brass? band around the DT It doesn't come off. (To keep derailleur cables from rubbing on the DT and decals between the top-mounted shifters and the under the BB cable guides. I used a turks head ring for decades to do the job but they get frayed and start looking bad. The wedding ring is a so much more elegant solution. And for the foreseeable fix gear years? Just elegant.
1983 Trek 510? My winter/rain/city fix gear. The bike that's been in my stable since 1976. On frame number 5.
1983 Pro Miyata. Fun! Pure race, perfect fit. Perfect handling. Fast! No bad habits. I don't think this bike has a top speed after which bad habits show. Quite sure this will always have 20 mph reserve over anything I'll ever be able to do. Only takes 24c tires. (25c in spec new rear tire doesn't even turn.) Running tubulars. Good tubulars are so forgiving and the bike so well behaved that 23c isn't scary on any pavement. (I raced in the '70s and it's "oh yeah! I remember why I loved sewups so much!" Back when only snobs rode tubulars.
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Best bike? It might be a toss between the Pro Miyata and Jessica J.