Aloha Emily and Tulip -

Thanks for the replies.

Emily - Fantastic Trip Report! Wow!!! I was looking at the Crusoe and the price gets me. Having just dropped over $3000 for my Orbea and over $2000 for hubby's Big Dummy, we are limited on our bike budget. Weight IS an issue for me, but not so much for hubby. (Being that his Big Dummy weighs more than a 747! Even his bike lock is 30lbs!)

I seriously doubt that we will ever do a trip as big as yours. We are looking at possibly taking them to Yellowstone when it's open to bikers only. Maybe around Utah (Zion, Moab, Bryce Canyon, etc), maybe around the Big Island (hills though...actually, 2 very big volcanoes to be exact) and around Kauai. Living on Oahu we don't have much of a need to bike tour on this island. So that would be my "tool around town" bike for grocery shopping, beach visits, etc. We also plan to use it when we have to spend a few weeks in Seattle every 3 months or so for business. Cheaper than renting a car!

The Bike Friday website is a little difficult to navigate. I tried to contact them today but was too late due to time zones. I'll try to contact them tomorrow.

Question
1. With drop bars, how aggressive is your riding position? Did you feel like you were able to "look around" comfortably on your road trip? Or did your neck start to bother you? Do you spend more of your time up on the tops of hour bars, on the hoods or in the drops? Did you ever feel you wanted a more upright riding position to look around?

2. Tulip - do you use your BF mostly for road riding? Do you do a lot of touring or just "kick back and enjoy" riding on it all?

I realize that the bike will be heavier. And that's not too much of my concern. The Big Dummy weighs a ton and I feel that I am more efficient on that than I was on my Specialized Hybrid. My biggest decision is:

Straight bar or drops? I just don't know if I want to be upright or more forward. Any words of advice on that would be great and seriously appreciated.