Pfffffftt!
Shoo expensive bikes, stay in dreams! City streets are no place for you to be ridden on a daily basis!
Cost effective = Steamroller. These friggin things were made for the street. C'mon people...
Dream bikes always rule, but when buying a frame, I keep in mind what I will be doing with it. For me, this is 25-35miles/day on Chicago streets. Buying a high-dollar frame would be nice, but keep in mind: track bikes were made for Velodromes, not potholes.

i ride a 2003 pista everyday on real city streets, and i love it. i've ridden this and a khs 100, and i was far far more impressed with the bianchi. the khs is noticeably heavier, and as someone mentioned, a lot more flexi. i'm a heavier rider, so the lightness of the bianchi didn't keep me away from it, and i love the fact that i can make the back end step out at will on the streets (it's the peter pan complex shining through). my friend that owns the khs bought it because he's a scrawny kid and was afraid that the bianchi was just too light. i should also mention that he bent a wheel within 2 weeks by hitting a manhole cover. so far i've been lucky, and although some potholes made my wheels make nasty nasty noises, nothings bent out of shape yet. i didn't even consider the fuji, just because i know a lot of people who ride fuji's and break stuff all the time. i also had a converted nishiki, that i love to ride, but the various pops and clicks get annoying after a while (i guess there's a reason that the oldskoolers call them 'firecrackers')

I think vanilla bikes are so lovely, and the people seem pretty nice from the times I've emailed them. :love:

but I'm broke, all the time, so I'll be waiting a few years to get out of school before I drop that on a frame.

I emailed Strawberry and he said there would be like a year wait for a track frame.

Enderwaves: I have a Pista as well (2002). I think it is funny that your friend thought they were too light; Isn't that the point? I used to find the Bianchi light, but now that I am used to it I have to go to the Wal Mart and pick up some cheap bikes to remind myself once in a while. I weighed it the other day and it was almost 19 pounds (59cm). The Fuji Track Pro and Cannondale CAAD5 are both 14 pounds.. *drool* Too bad they are both ugly..

-Jason

My flavor, VANILLA> Dumpster and I briefly spoke of them at the CCC Supercat...I am totally fixated (ha ha, get it?!?!?). But my pockets are too shallow for one of those, so I'll try and pro-deal a Steamroller for my next fixed...nice bike for the price. Plus you can pick and choose your components. It's like making your own burger (or veggieburger - gotta remember our Veggie/Vegan representatives!) versus going to a fast food joint. GOT IT? GOOD!

i used to like the KHS flite, when it was orange and had a sloping top tube. i liked the previous version even better (with the curved seat tube). i've never ridden one, but i always used to fantisize about the orange ones, because i liked the pursuit look. then i bought my pursuit bike, with a 650c front wheel. it is yellow. and now, the new KHS flites are yellow. they don't have a sloping top tube, but i'm afraid someone is going to see me riding around and think i'm riding a KHS with a tiny front wheel, when, in fact, i'm riding a custom pursuit frame.

the cool thing about KHSes is that the front end geometry is such that you CAN run a 650c front wheel and get away with it. i've seen a few around boston (most notably, my friend who has a raw aluminum aero track, and this other girl who used to have a flite100, but then got the red aluminum aero track). the aero track feels REALLY good with the smaller front wheel, the headtube angle is a little straightupanddown for my liking, but its VERY responsive.

oh yeah, my dream bike: colnago lugged track frame, older, painted this very specific almost brown orange color, with dura ace high flange track hubs for show and phils (both laced to silver open pros) for actually riding around. gold, old-school campy track/bmx cranks, mavic bullhorns, MKS pedals and a black chris king headset. or just FULL old school-ish dura ace track, with the SUPER rare DA track-specific headset. too bad it'll never happen, as i've only seen ONE colnago track frame in that color ever, and i've done a lot of looking...also older colnagos are kinda rare to find on the open market, because people like to hang onto them...can't imagine why...

i would give up my pink lotus track bike (which is the bees knees), my trials bike, AND my BMX for that one.

I recently purchased a FUJI track bike from

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/fujitrack03.html

I opted for the fixed/free edition, w/42-16 gearing. I was going to build a fixie, but only had a frame to start with and had to buy everything else. Decided to go this route instead. Never rode a fixie before, so this deal wasn't too bad (at least that's what I thought-FWIW). Since I got this bike my OCLV and Serotta CSi have sat idle in the cellar. It's way more fun than I ever expected.

2004 pista changes made?
 

BikerRyan,

I'm real interested in the new pista and am glad to hear of your satisfaction with it. what gearing did it come with and would you assume the 2004 will carry the same?

awwwwwwwwwwww.

yeah i know...feel sorry for me.

:)