E-mailed Soma, they recommend the 35mm rake over the 40mm.

Interesting to see this thread revisisted , after 1.5 years. I never did any upgrades to my Rush, but built up an early 80's Colnago Super as a fixed instead. That's more of a fun bike for weekends, and the Rush is my daily ride that I can lock up without worrying about it. My Colnago is a few pounds lighter (mostly due to much lighter tubular wheels I'd guess and a slightly lighter frame), and feels quite a bit quicker accelerating from a stop. It's also a bit flexier with a quill stem instead of the beefy threadless one I have on the Soma.

After nearly 2 years riding the Rush, I still love it. I gave up riding my Specialized CX geared bike and commute in NYC on the Soma every day now. It's a bulletproof bike, handles great, absorbs road shocks much better than my CX aluminum frame, and is pretty much an ideal city bike in my opinion.

As for the Mavic Open Sport wheels - they're not the lightest, they don't ride nearly as nicely as the tubulars on my other bikes, but they have taken a beating on rough streets and lots of curb hopping without complaint. I've only had to true them twice in two years.

izumi super toughness with 3 njs master links