Putting it on order tomorrow....should arrive in a week...from me to me for b'day.

I just cannot say anything good about those bars. tackiness, or tarckiness aside, the bend is just ugly. Miche is nice though.

The stem rise doesn't help much either but flipped it will help. A friend has an earlier model with the same bars with the stem flipped and the bars look better that way. They are patterned after the old school track bars. What do you think about the color scheme and the rest of the bike?

And the frame is lugged...

if they would have kept with the maroon gold thing on just the frame, i'd like the color. would like better with black rims, cranks,spacers and bars

Do you go to ASU by any chance?

that bike would be sexy as hell with different bars. I just really hate the look of track drops with track grips and then a ****ing brake, or two, on the unwrapped section.

Again though, good choice dude

to much gold, otherwise it would be nice

not enough 24k!

how much is this?

MSRP is 1340 USD.

damnn. That is not a 1340 dollar bike

Nah, went to Morehouse whose colors were maroon and white - purely coincidental however. Perhaps the bike is a bit gawdy now that you guys mention it. I originally went into the shop for the LTD version which is on sale for $850. Now if I could combine the maroon frame with these wheels and accents I'd have my school colors.

I'm due to call with a decision today. After sleeping on it and youse guys' comments, I may reconsider. With respect to price, it is a lugged frame with Miche components. The LTD has Sugino which isn't too shabby and the brazing on the clear-coated frame is visable which gives it a nice toucn. Hmmm.... Actually, looking at it more, it IS maroon and white.

What say ye?

I like the second one. It doesn't beg to be stolen quite so much, plus I'm a sucker for white wheelsets.

Just based off looks, the grey bike is 100000x better.
The paint looks good on the maroon bike, but the build looks terrible.

I think the maroon frame is amazing.

Everything else is gaudy and unusable, but the frame is really nice looking.

Round two, fight! The second one is stunning. I agree about the bars, but overall incredible looking bike. I hope you turn some heads.

It's 2009, who cares about lugs these days anyway?

Yeah, the more I think about it the better that '09 looks. It is what drew me into the store in the first place; plus it is sale time on the '09 models. They are only doing 10% off though which isn't much. If I go with this one, I may shop around a bit more. Even at that price, I love that bike. At the end of the day, its gonna come down to price I think...

me

Both frames are beautiful, and also with both bikes the components are cheesy imo. Maybe those bikes look better in person though.

Lugged frames are stronger that butted frames of the same tube dia/thickness. If bike designers really wanted to get something out of lugged frames they'd thin out the tubes for a ligher yet equally strong to a butted frame.

That really has nothing to do with it. Masi didn't release an 'ultimate' version of their fixed bike with a lugged frame because it would be faster/stronger/lighter/etc. They released a lugged frame (using what look to be fairly average lugs, I might add) because people prefer the look. The lugs add visual interest and for a crowd that obsesses over what shade of celeste blue to paint their frame, it becomes an important point.

Let's not pretend there is technical merit. All of these bikes are engineered to outlast all of us.

Interstingly enough, the lugged frame is a bit lighter by a pound it appears. I do agree that it is more styling points rather than a functional benefit of any sort. I also agree that steel will last for my lifetime. What a tough decision. Jeepers!

Why would a new bike with lugs be an incentive to buy? There is a reason manufacturers went away from lugs....

Really? And that's what exactly, besides cheaper manufacturing and different materials?