Actually not, the company car I gave up when changing jobs, a Chrysler Town & Country minivan, must have weighed twice as much as the Mazda Miata I'm driving now. On the other hand, the custom Arthur Caygill audex frame I just received will probably build up into a bike of 25 lb or less, even with racks and lights, versus the lightest racing bike I own, a Teledyne Titan with Suntour Cyclone and similar, probably about 19 lbs. The performance of a top audex/touring bike is MUCH closer to a race bike than is an SUV to a sports car. I'd say the appropriate analogy is that a top audex/touring bike is like a Subaru MRX Rally model versus a racing bike which is analogous to a sports car. A Rally car may not match a sports car on a smooth paved closed track, but is is definitely high performance, and more versatile, as is a quality audex/touring frame. One of the things I've come to appreciate in the last few years is just how anal the obsession with an ounce or two of weight and a degree or two of frame angle really is.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
>
>
> Jerry & Liz Moos wrote:
> >
> > I think it is no surprise that lugged steel frame customer like longer
stays
> > and eylets. I think the people who can see the advantage of lugged
steel
> > frames are also those who have outgrown the adolescent fantasies of
winning
> > the Tour de France and looked realistically at the type of riding they
> > really do. The truth is most of us do riding which is more like touring
> > than racing, and versatility is a lot more important than shaving a few
> > grams by omitting eyelets. I've seen this change in list members in the
> > several years I've been here, including in myself and in those like Mike
> > Kone, who has discovered the virtues of wider tires in recent years. I
> > think we've come to appreciate that a top quality "touring" frame can
still
> > give a very lively and responsive ride, although many of us still have
more
> > specialized road racing or track frames. The Japanese collectors, who
in
> > many ways are ahead of the US in their appreciation of classic bikes,
have
> > long had a preference for touring models.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
>
>
> Not to step on any toes here, but guys on touring bikes that aren't
> touring (bags, racks, sleeping bags, tents etc. straped to their bikes)
> strike me as the poseur Dudes who drive SUVs and Range Rovers on the
freeway...
>
> (THIS IS SIPPOSED TO BE A JOKE, OK???)
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> SoCal Dude