Quote:
Originally Posted by Dottore
So why did you get the red bike??? Was the Surly too heavy for you?
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No, the Surly's geared to compensate for the weight; just gotta keep my pace up going up hills in a low gear. The more upright riding position is more comfortable than the Medici's for long rides and the long wheelbase and fatter tires also make for a comfortable ride. It'll only go so fast, but that's faster than I'm interested in going anyway.
I like the looks of lugged frames and over a period of two days seeing the Medici in my bike shop, I developed an irrational urge to possess it. It's an American made, Italian style bike (the two builders were out of Masi - one was "The Haircut Bandit"
) with all Campy components, which I lusted for when I was in college and couldn't afford them.
While the Medici is much lighter than the Surly, at 23 1/2 lbs it is not really light by the standards of today's bikes. It's more fun to ride than the Surly because it is much livelier due to it's tighter geometry (shorter wheelbase) and lighter weight, but not as versatile and bombproof as the Surly. The Campognolo brakes are pretty weak.
The way I see it is, the 08 Surly is to my 08 Volvo C30 T5 hatchback as the 83 Medici is to my 82 911SC coupe; I'll get good use out of both.