Quote Originally Posted by DeniseGoldberg
Is there some reason you are leaning toward a mountain bike? You can get the gearing you want without going with a mountain bike by mixing components. Both of my touring bikes have a mixture of Ultegra (road) components (front derailleur & cranks) and XT or XTR (mountain) components (cogset and rear derailleur). I prefer drop bars, and I have Ultegra shifters. The reason I mixed the road and mountain components was to get the low gearing that I wanted - and that's quite a common thing to find on a touring bike.
Just to echo what Denise says, I had my Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe built very similarly - mountain gearing in the back and Ultegra in the front. I also have drop bars for the multiple hand positions they provide, but I had bar-end shifters installed instead of STI since it's easier and more basic to repair if it should break down on the road. Bike Fridays are super configurable to your taste, and the folks that work there are super knowledgable and can answer any questions you have (of course, I'll be happy to help too!) They want to help you build your dream bike for your intended uses. I highly recommend the company and their bikes.

That said, I do agree with spazz that if you're just going to be tooling around while in Italy and you need the bike soon, it is probably easiest to rent while over there. Bike Friday does have a lead time...and other manufacturers may as well. You don't want to rush your decision since you want to be happy with your bike for many years. Heck, I changed my mind about which Bike Friday model to get at least 3 times before I placed my order!

Good luck,
Emily