Lets see you race rig and your pit bike. I'll start it off.

I love both of these rigs. The geometries are the same, but the ride is so different. The Ti race rig is stiff and the steel bike is super plush without being at all soft or flexy. Alot of the ride difference has to be in the fork. The steel rig will see limited backup duty as the pit bike, but will see a ton of usage as the gravel road/long nasty pavement/commuter rig. I might have MikeyD make me a steel fork to try and see how it rides with cantis and not the Paul Racer Brakes like on the steel rig.

The ti bike has a single ring (42t w/12-27) and the steel bike has a double (34/46t w/12-28).
The ti comes in at just over 18 and I have no idea what the steel bike is and frankly, don't care.

Pit Bike:
2007 Redline Conquest Pro
Fork: Redline Carbon
Headset: FSA Orbit
Wheelset: Velomax Sagitta (Never updated pic)
Crankset: FSA Gossamer Compact Cross 46/36T
Shifters: Campagnolo Centaur 10spd
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Centaur 10spd
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Centaur 10spd
Handlebars: Easton EA-50
Stem: Easton EA-50
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Saddle: Fizik Arione
Tires: Michelin Mud 2
Brakes: Empella Frogglegs
http://bsdadmins.net/images/redline.jpg

Race Rig:
2005 Alan Ultral Cross
Fork: Ritchey Carbon WCS
Headset: Cane Creek IS
Wheelset: Easton Vista SL
Crankset: Campagnolo Record 45/39T
Shifters: Campagnolo Centaur 10spd
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Daytona 10spd
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Veloce 10spd
Handlebars: FSA RD-250
Stem: FSA OS-170
Seatpost: Alpha Q Carbon
Saddle: Fizik Arione
Brakes: Tektro Mini-V
Tires: Michelin Mud
http://bsdadmins.net/images/DSCF0568.JPG

I am very tempted to post two pictures of the same bike here.

Sweet ALAN. I just got a Cross Ultral, I don't know what year, it's all blue... I even got the green michelin muds too (but with the "looks more like a tubular" tan walls!).

A bike:
http://gallery.roadbikereview.com/data/roadbike/500/Ridley_Supercross_001A.jpg
B bike:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105399&stc=1&d=1193007508

Lord Taipan...that hood positioning is brutal!

How can that even be comfortable?!?!

:) :) :)

106210

106211

See you all sometime in Kent, WA. :)

Lord Taipan...that hood positioning is brutal!

How can that even be comfortable?!?!(I assume you're referring to his "A" bike.)

I don't see why the hoods wouldn't be comfortable, but if he moved the brake levers to where they should be and tilted the bars down, the hoods would be in roughly the same position and he would have much more user-friendly drops. The hesher-bar setup seems popular among some (eg Trebon, Wicks) but it moves the drops so far away.

I think Tonkin has it correct. If you want the hoods closer to you, then deal with the stem/spacers, don't just tilt the bars up.
http://hoyerfamily.com/cyclocross/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/erik.jpg