Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
Yeh, cuz what I remember is you talked about pushing back after shortening your stem and bars, which is a good thing. But you are right, balance on the bike is important too, which is why even if the reach was better on the really short stem the handling may not have been. Obviously custom will take care of all of this for you. So excited to hear how you like her when she is done. Is the idea that the new bike will replace, or complement your ramboullet, i.e. will she be designed to carry stuff or be a go fast bike?
I want a second bike that will fit me better, go a bit faster for me, but also so that I won't be totally bikeless if something happens to one bike. I will keep the Rambouillet so that I have two working bikes.

You often talk about racing bikes as if they aren't comfortable. To me, if the bike fits you, it will be comfortable. If the bike is light, it will go fast. If the bike is strong, it can carry stuff. I personally think that if the frame geometry fits your body, then by swapping subtle things likes tires/wheelsets, the same bike can be used for go fast riding or light touring. But going light weight can make all the difference in the world for improving speed.
I agree with all of this....except perhaps that I might not be very comfortable in an aggressive low racing position no matter how well the bike fits- I am 53 1/2 and don't imagine cranking my neck up at 90 degrees will be much fun. Since my goal is only to go maybe 12-14mph instead of my current 10 average (including the hills), I'm sure I can do this without a racing type bike, just by having a bike that is 20-25 lbs rather than 30, and by putting a little more time in on the bike anyway and getting stronger as I slowly have been.

As long as she uses one of the newer steels that are both strong and light weight (high strength to weight ratio), the bike should be able to do anything. That is how I feel about my reynolds 853 steel terry travel isis.
She is. I can hardly wait!

Back to the subject of mixtes (sorry for the hijack)....
I keep wondering why it does not seem to be much of an issue about mixte frame sizes. Is it that people only use them for shorter errand riding, so that perfect fit is not much of an issue? Is it that they are so hard to classify and measure in terms of frame size? People seem to just buy them by eyeballing them without much concern over fit- I don't understand, since fit is SO important elsewhere on this forum when talking bikes. Am I missing something? Please 'splain this to me.