I have pretty much settled upon purchasing a Gunnar bike next year, and have continued my research into those beautiful bikes. I knew the steel was higher-grade than my Surly, but I couldn't find any place on their site that states what kind of steel tubing they actually use. So I sent a question through their website.

Much to my surprise, I had my answer in under 45 minutes - and I sent the question at 6am this morning! Come to find out, the frame will weight about 3.5 pounds and will be either Reynolds 853 or True Temper OX Platinum tubing. They have "a palette of custom tubes drawn for us to assure the right ride for the right size".

Nice information, and he answered a couple of other questions as well. I was surprised to note the reply came from Richard Schwinn himself.

I have a really good feeling about this. Obviously a bike's weight is about a lot more than the frame material, and there will be a lot of decisions to make as I work with my LBS on this build over the winter. I intend to place my deposit on the frame by January at the latest. This time around I think it will be easier as I trust my LBS - they have certainly proven themselves since I moved to them in June with a bike that I could not ride.

My fitter and I have started to discuss which geometry will fit me the best - I've certain physical issues with my hands that we will have to take into consideration. The fitter certainly did a fantastic job turning my LHT from something that I could not really ride into a bike that I can ride all day long This is going to be a lot of fun and, hopefully, unless I eventually decide to try mountain biking, my future Gunnar (Sport?) and LHT should fit the bill for pretty much any kind of riding that I would like to do