Yes and we can also find legions of people who will say track drops are a good ergonomic option for long rides.

A classic drop bar bar places your hand on a curve which focuses pressure on the edges of it. Anatomic drops(or shims) flatten or reverse the curve to spread pressure over the entire hand. The drop part simply is more ergonomic as is top which usually stays more horizontal before the brakes.(no mounting the brakes at a crazy angle that is hard to reach from drops.)

The whole point of a brooks is that it molds to you. That means it is spreading pressure out instead of focusing it on hard regions suited to deal with it. This is the exact opposite of a cutout saddle which seeks to complete remove pressure from sensitive areas and focus it on those better suited to supporting it. since it doesn't mold you may have to try a few different saddles till you find one that fits but the vast majority of riders who want a moderately aggressive position will be better suited by a modern saddle then a brooks.

No, I get what you mean - they are kind of evangelical. Anyway, my point was really that your post gave me a big grin, and I like that!

To keep it a little on-topic, Harris/Sheldon was selling San Joses redone with 8 speed internal hubs for a while. Interesting concept, also interesting was the choice of Sun CR18 rims, which apparently are pretty good eyeletted road/touring rims. Surprising, because you can get them on 36h formulas for $145 shipped from the my favorite wheel guys, bicyclewheels.com. Seems like a really good option for a kind of heavy but f*ck-all burly street wheelset, like a deep V but not blingy and not as likely to get you killed in a crosswind.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/b...os8/index.html
http://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR

Also, I really don't think too many pros are riding traditional bend drop bars, but maybe I never looked.

o i was reading this tthread without even realizing i read that article
i'll see if i can scan it and put it up

in the meantime, they do a quick point comparison of the qb & sj:
-japan lugged v. taiwan tigged
-quill v. threadless
-multi speed v. single speed
-$875 price difference

Grant's conclusion:
"If you can get over the hurdle that the frame isn't lugged, then this is the best value, the most bike for the dollar in the world"

Articles of Faith!

If they were comparing it to geared bike why look at the san jose instead of the volpe or castro valley?

It's multi-speed Vs. single because the quickbeam has two chainrings and two freewheels. They way they are sized, the smaller chainring goes with the bigger cog so you can functionally flip-flop with no brake pad adjustments. The San Jose is just a straight up SS.

here you go

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/3...8186e78e_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/3...4f8a4174_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/3...987def86_o.jpg

Sky Yaeger is UG-LY!!! Dag, with a name like that I had always figured her for a hottie.

"I am baffled by urban hipsters riding fixed gear track bikes as fashion accessories and finding out they are not as practical or safe as they thought."

Me too, Sky. Me too.

Thanks very much!

Hey that san jose looks good! (note: my conversion looks a heck of a lot like that, down to noodles, esge fenders and gummy scr-5's) The tweed mudflaps may be a bit Rivendell'd out though. I will have to put the SJ on the shortlist if I ever want a fixed tourer. It even has mid fork rack eyelets out front.

I have mixed feelings about Rivendell bikes, but a lot of respect for Grant Petersen -- how many other bike company owners would review, let alone recommend, some other company's bike?

I test rode a San Jose a few weeks ago. They are fun, solid bikes. The only things I didn't like were the pedals, seat, bar tape and brake levers.

Re: lugs, my understanding is that they don't just look pretty, they also have two big practical advantages: they strengthen the joints and make tube repairs easier.

On the other hand, I wonder if Rivendell would ever consider making a non-lugged budget bike similar to the SJ. A lot of people dig Rivendell's design philosphy but could never afford a $1400 bike.

sweet lugs mean the builder spent time and effort. This alone doesn't make a better bike, but I'd bank on a nice lugged bike from any reputable builder over a factory job.

Thanks Coelcanth! :)

Thats why the made the Bleriot, still not $600 complete, but $750 frame/fork/headset isn't unaffordable.

On the Riv note though, WTF happened to their website?? It used to be classy, now it's trash....

Ditto -- my guess is that they switched to a content management system/e-commerce package that hasn't had it's templates tweaked by a designer/developer so they're left with an "out of the box" look. Boo. Hiss.

I guess I was a day too late.....sorry. I scanned it this morning before logging in. I got a pdf of it if anyone wants it to print out. Hit me with a pm and email address.

I wouldn't necessarily buy this anyway because I have a conversion that's mostly the same thing, but a single-sided rear wheel is an absolute deal-killer, especially on a bike that you might want to take offroad occasionally.

Also, If Grant liked this he should love the Raleigh One-Way, it has a crowned fork. Less BB drop, but it's meant to be ridden fixed. Sloping top tube, but they can deal.

Also, anyone from bianchi talking about hipsters on track bikes = laugh riot. That's like someone from apple dissing iPods as a fashion accessory.

The whole BB drop complaint made me lose a lot of respect for them. If anyone curmudgeony luddites should realize that stand over height(within reason) is a meaningless measurement on a road or cross bike. Giving it an extra cm of drop serves no purpose but to make it worse if the owner decided to put a fixed cog on it.

The only legitimate complaint I see is the lack of a flipflop which is even more absurd since bianchi already has a branded flip flop from the pista they could have slapped on possibly even with a cost savings since they wouldn't have to get a completely new hub.

On the Roadie forum, the Brooks is generally praised but several have warned that you have to drop the nose down in order to have the sitbones part of the saddle level and thus comfortable while riding in the drops. Otherwise, the Brooks can cause some numbness. (IOW, this supports what dutret says)

Yes, a Brooks molds to your butt but the sitbones still carry the weight. Amongst the long distance/touring crowd, Brooks reign supreme.

Provided that the chainline is the same for both bikes, you'd still have to deal with the spacing "issue." Admittedly, it's not much of an issue, but it's still there.

My guess it this is because:
1. a lot of the touring crowd are luddites.
2. It fits their aesthetic like track drops fit this groups.
3. If you don't tilt your torso forwards pressure on the on sensitive regions isn't really an issue so pressure distribution elsewhere becomes more important.

very minor. It is possible that the san jose has different spacing to accommodate large tires. Since it comes with a 42t ring it may not though.

I think the 130mm spacing is due to the fact that the San Jose is based on the Volpe frame, which is - ostensibly - a road/light touring/cross bike.

Yeah, I was looking at it from Grant's point of view, not mine. I really didn't get his complaint about BB drop, especially since he already acknowledges that it's the volpe cross/touring frame. Standover is meaningless, and if you're going to ***** about it and yet declare sloping top tubes to be the mark of the beast, you better call AAA about getting your head pulled out of your a*s.

The 2007 has a flip-flop hub; fixed gear is a 16. I ride a 52cm frame. I have no problems with the Cane Creek brake hoods, they are bigger(chunkier) than my Ultegras, just a tad. I ride a lot on the hoods so I know that if I were to swap the drops for bullhorns, it would be a comfortable ride. The saddle has gotten more comfortable since I first got it and the leopard print doesn't bother me anymore. The wheels are Alex "A Class", but the decals easily came off and the rims look a lot nicer without them. I'll ride them till they break then upgrade. The steel frame isn't that heavy and is comfortable to ride. The flattened underside of the top tube makes it comfortable on the shoulder. I'll probably swap out the 'cross tires since I ride primarily on the road but they aren't very noisy. I put Shimano spd's on and am looking to add a rack and fenders. I also added a stainless steel bottle cage.

I like the whole single gear thing and the quietness of the bike. I hop on and ride it around Research Park during lunch and ride it as a warm-up before going on group rides on the Roadie. (The 42-16 gearing I've got is too low for most group rides with the Roadies.) I can get around most every part of town on this bike and plan to ride it when my wife and I go on country rides as it'll be easier to stay with her than when I ride my roadie and more comfortable and fun than riding my fs-mtb.
http://homepage.mac.com/bbattle/.Pic...DC976F11DB.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/bbattle/.Pic...3C976F11DB.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/bbattle/.Pic...20976F11DB.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/bbattle/.Pic...70976F11DB.jpg

I highly recommend the Bianchi San Jose.

Coelcanth,

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

The Riv version of the SJ look REALLY REALLY good.

To the dude who says Skye Yaeger is ugly, I'm sure you're a regular Adonis.

bbattle: What size tires are those? And could you fit bigger ones?

They are WTB terrainasaurus 700 x 32's. Yes, you can go larger. The Rivendell reviewer put 700 x 35 Panaracers on their bike and still had room for fenders.

Oh, the front wheel doesn't have a qr like the 2006 model the Riv got. 15mm lugness.