I would guess it one took a lower level bike as offered to the public by
its' seller and compared it to a custom bike as usually built up there would
be a huge and readily noticeable difference. I would say that this would
come almost entirely from the different levels of wheels and tires used.
Indeed, when I made disparaging remarks about Rivendell's lower level built
in the Orient bike in an earlier post, I must truthfully say that I have no
idea whether if I were riding on a set of Mavic open Pro rims with Swiss DT
spokes and expensive tires like my other bikes I might have had a really
different take on the whole thing. Wheels and tires are huge in judging a
bikes ride and handling...without holding this constant across the test, it
would be a meaningless test.
I have even sold nice bikes because I was disappointed in the ride and
handling and now wonder if I should not have tried different wheel and tire
combinations on them first. This difference is perhaps larger than any
reasonable difference in frame quality or construction. Now isn't this a
can of worms?
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi