Originally Posted by
rumrunn6
Thanks everyone for this discussion. My goal of course is to go fast, take less time, not work as hard, and never get passed. :-)
Can't wait 'till spring so I can get the MB back on the rode for a testy test. Also, I may not have to buy a new old bike. Darn, I was getting better at shopping. Maybe I'll just shop for new wheels for the old Schwinn - but would still like better hardware. What's the oldest (least expensive) road bike I can look for that would have modern shifters built into the hand brakes on the drops?
The other issue you may be facing is with the narrower racing tires you are having to dodge crap in the street, where as with the MTB and slicks you may be focusing more on traffic and simply pushing harder.
While I like drop bars, I find MTB straight bars work better for commuting when I want to maintain a heads up view of traffic.