Full On Balls to the Wall Spring In Action!!!

Well, the Defrost shoes are packed away as are the Sorrel boots and all that other winter stuff. Spring came on early and strong. I started wrenching again at (that bike shop that promised me year round employment only to fire me on election day) in late February with a set schedule starting in March. And as of late, I've been putting in around 50 hour work weeks to keep up with the volume of repairs and assemblies coming down the pike.
Every spring I get back on my beloved '79 Trek 940 Fixie and realize that it is indeed too small a frame for me. I'm 6'4" riding a 58cm frame all over the countryside. It just isn't right! I had hoped my friend Jonathan at Cascadia Bicycles would be building me a custom frame this winter. But Specialized bikes needed him more. He has moved to Morgan Hill, CA to build prototypes and other such projects for the Specialized Bicycle Co.
So I've been looking at what's available for my budget, under $1,000. Now being a shop employee and searching for a brand outside the family is definitely frowned upon. The management wants all employees to represent. But I heart the ride qualities of good chromoly. Specialized has brought in the "retro" steel Langster, trying to corner the hipster fixie market. But the chromed frame and 1" threaded steer is too much. Cinelli already has that market and they're Italian. The Langster would be alright. At least the base model has been tastefully covered in black this year instead of the '09 polished aluminum that reminds me of NEXT bicycles found at the neighborhood WalMart. But the sloping top tube is not asthetically pleasing to me. Looks sort of like a hybrid frame or something.
Cannondale is offering two models of the CAPO this year. Capo 1 is that unflattering polished aluminum. But it does come with Mavic's new Ellipse track clincher wheels! Pretty sweet. And I dig the hidden headset. The fork is gorgeous. But straight blade aluminum blades sound like a precursor to some serious back pain.
I've also looked closely at the Soma RUSH. Not too bad. Really a stripped down no nonsense basic frame. Nothing fancy, nothing shabby. But what is up with the 1" steer tube? There are not many options left for decent carbon forks when it comes to 1" steer tubes. The same is true of the Surly Steamroller, which also suffers from a reputation for super flex and seems almost frumpy these days. I don't need to run a 38cm tire. I just want efficiency, speed, and comfort. Too much to ask?
Apprehensive of the "classic track geometry" manufacturers boast for fear the ride would be too harsh for long distances, I had fit specialist Josh Pierce assist in finding the angles of my Trek 940. Originally a touring frame designed for 27" tires, I swapped the fork for a 700c OCLV fork I found in the garbage. This dropped the front end down thus steepening the angles. Turns out I've been riding on some seriously steep angles: 75.5 deg. seat tube, 74.5 head tube! These are at least a degree steeper than typical track geometry. Before finding those numbers, I was looking at the Gunnar Street Dog, a fixie frame with road geometry. Sweet Tange OX Platnum tubing, pretty slack angles. Another intersting looking bike was the Milwaukee Bicycles Cream City. Again with the 1" head tube, limiting choices for forks.
All this has led me back to home. What is available at the shop? Langster, CAPO, Cinelli, Charge, Pake, Steamroller, Rush. Quite a few options, really. Most offering 1" steer tubes, which I am ready to part with. I think all my bicycles currently have 1" steers, threaded forks. I'm ready to modernize. I'm ready for carbon blades, 1 1/8" Chris King headset, 31.8 handlebar. So now I'm down to the CAPO and the Langster. The CAPO has the style points in spades. The stand over is pretty nuts at 63cm frame size. The more compact Langster would seem to be a stiffer design and comes with a hidden headset, carbon fork.
Where will the money go, what will I be riding into summer? Stay tuned as the saga continues...