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.

I could be mistaken but from what I recall reading, there was a run of San Joses that came with the Pista wheelset. According to the website, it's not standard on the '07 model. I believe that demand for the bike was bigger than expected and they ran out of stock wheelsets; they used extra Pista wheelsets to fill the orders, but are back to the single-sided SS-only wheels. Again, I could be wrong.

I asked my LBS about that; he said Bianchi is notorious for switching parts without notice, rhyme or reason. Bianchi rep. had told him the 2007's had flip-flops and told me so. I had test ridden a Pista but wanted something more practical and the flip-flop option so he suggested the San Jose.

For grins, I test rode the Bianchi Milano, a street cafe racer with the nexus 8-speed hub. That hub is VERY nice and gives a good range for those interested in a tourer or climbing/hauling stuff.

I love the Milano. My mom has one, which I nagged her to get, so she can ride around town with the kids.

I've seen both flip-flops and SS-only hubs on '07s at my LBS.

I toyed with the idea of a San Jose, but couldn't turn down an awesome deal on a Castro Valley - same frame, but with gears and dynohub goodness...
the only complaint i have is that the fork is the most flexible thing i've ever ridden. I guess it sucks up the bumps well, but the amount of chatter I get when braking hard is really annoying.

The Bleriot is an interesting bike, and a good deal in a lugged frame, although if I were to go the 650B route I'd probably get a Kogswell ($540 for frame, fork, headset, and matching fenders).

The Bleriot is made in Taiwan by Maxway. Does anyone know if Maxway has a distributor in the US? The reason I'm asking is that Maxway makes their own lugged frames http://bicycle-frame.bicyclenet.com....rame/96R01.htm which I'm guessing would be similar in quality but cheaper than a branded Rivendell.

You can order from Maxway, but only in lots of like, 500. Maybe make a good SS/FG group project? Operation:White Belt? Just a thought.