> (I'm still trying to figure out how I can ride to concerts). <

Concerts? Interesting. I'm a band director.

> I have pedals with SPD on one side, and regular platforms on the other. Maybe I'm just weird, but I've never found that I go noticably faster when clipped in. <

I had that on my old bike but since I was always using the bike shoes, I didn't like the hassle of trying to get the right side up! As for speed difference, what would be "noticeably faster"? I tend to fight to get a couple of tenths improvement. I did sacrifice (I think) some speed when I bought the Armadillo tires, but I was getting so many flats that I was willing to take that loss.

> What kind of speed differences have you noticed? <

I can't say. Keep in mind that I just started riding 16 months ago. I rode for a little while without special shoes before changing. Since I was starting from zero experience and conditioning, I was improving relatively fast compared to now so there is no way to tell and on my present bike, I'd have to change the pedals to try going back.

> I'm apparently one of the rare (and lucky?) ones who does just fine without padded bike shorts. <

Interesting. Is your route pretty smooth? Mine has a lot of areas that are definitely not - thus a fair amount of bouncing (and bruising). Of course, some of this may be just getting tougher back there. After all, my first bike with the softer seat and suspension seat post hurt for awhile. This being my first road bike, maybe I can do better now. When I tried before it was probably back in November or December. Might be worth another try. How far can you ride without special shorts?

Still worried about the irritation though.

> Why don't you try putting the seat from your comfort bike on your Volpe? <

I loaned the bike to someone. There is also the question of whether or not the suspension post had any effect on chafing (I wouldn't think so), but if so, it might be a different size. I'll have to get in touch with the person I loaned it to.

> About the helmet, maybe you just shouldn't have gotten an expensive helmet. :-) But really, even if it is expensive, I can't imagine too many people would want to take a helmet. <

That was one of the reasons I held off buying an expensive one, but I must say, it is much cooler! I don't know how tempting it would be, but unlike something like gloves or shoes, someone can take the helmet and replace the padding and straps if they think it is icky.

> I commute with a Topeak trunk bag that slides onto my rear rack, and then slides off to become a nice shoulder bag which would probably hold beach gear well <

I had thought about something like that (though I didn't see that particular one). I created my own basket from a platic basket I found at Walmart. It is about 7"x10" and 4" high. It is permanently attached. I hold things in it with a net. That gives pretty good versatility, especially with the open top, and is much faster to deal with than a bunch of bungee cords (which are ALWAYS too long or too short).

The only problem is I can't take it with me, but anything I could would have a specific limit on size since it would be completely enclosed. I'm still thinking about this.

Bob