I was north of goose. Actually goose was not snowy. I just fell like there are lots of parts of Canada that don't hit spring until June. If you weren't a national you might not know that. But I can see we live in the same town so your weather guess is as good as mine!

If you want an urbanite I'll sell you mine. It's a great bike I just got bitten by the build my own frame thing. Check out my loaded pictures on the loaded bike pictures thread, page 16.

I would also recomend looking at the Urbanite comuter. It is based on 26" tires, and it has essentially the same materials as the touring model. It might have broader shoulders in the fork which would help. About the only downside is the number of sizes available. You would want to check for a long enough wheel base and either the large frame fits or it doesn't.

http://ucycle.com/bikes/item.php?nam...r&cat=urbanite

"That's what I was worried about. If I was getting $1400 of bike, I'd bite the bullet and buy one. If I'm only getting $700 of bike and $700 of name badge, there's no way. I'm selling one of my favorite cameras to pay for this, so I want to make the most of my buck. Especially if the savings can help pay for a set of rock-solid rims like you suggested."

I think it is a lot of frame for the money, if you look at the first 700 it's more expensive than a chinese made tig welded frame, but then it is lugged etc... While I am partisan to TIG, there are reasons for prefering a frame made of upper level tubes and lugs. The second 700 is worth it for custom. You can't compare a Surly off the rack bike to a fitted one. However, unless a person really needs a custom bike, they would be better to go with a Surly or Urbanite for their first bike since often a beginer really doesn't know what they need either in fit or reatures, and will be back for another bik later anyway.