Dear Wired:
http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_rei_novara_fusion
Okay. First, $950 for a commuter-type bike is a SHIT-TON OF MONEY. I mean, seriously: just for tooling around campus for the few months you can do that in most places? (Even if there isn't snow, there's often a lot of rain in the winter.)
Second, my bike was $420 on sale. Right? And for at most another $100 I could add fenders, a back rack, a kickstand, and an LED-powered (albeit by a battery, although it would almost never have to be replaced) front light.
Plus, with mine, you get a sprung seat-post AND a sprung front fork, 24 speeds (as opposed to 8), and the damn thing weighs at least seven pounds less, and likely would be lighter even with the fenders et al. No disc brakes, but as the review points out, those aren't all they're cracked up to be.
So, um. No. Not a good deal, and I find it kind of hilarious (and yet annoying) that you think this is a good idea.
Okay. First, $950 for a commuter-type bike is a SHIT-TON OF MONEY. I mean, seriously: just for tooling around campus for the few months you can do that in most places? (Even if there isn't snow, there's often a lot of rain in the winter.)
Second, my bike was $420 on sale. Right? And for at most another $100 I could add fenders, a back rack, a kickstand, and an LED-powered (albeit by a battery, although it would almost never have to be replaced) front light.
Plus, with mine, you get a sprung seat-post AND a sprung front fork, 24 speeds (as opposed to 8), and the damn thing weighs at least seven pounds less, and likely would be lighter even with the fenders et al. No disc brakes, but as the review points out, those aren't all they're cracked up to be.
So, um. No. Not a good deal, and I find it kind of hilarious (and yet annoying) that you think this is a good idea.