Originally Posted by cleverbeefalo

I agree. For context, the reason I bought my Panasonic is because I visited my little brother over the holidays in FL and he took me on a ride that totally kicked my ass (albeit him and his wife had road bikes and he leant me a mountain bike). Being that I couldn't let him do that again, I bought a bike and am training so he'll never beat me again because he's the little brother and that's how these things work.

I didn't want downtube shifters, so I started researching how to get brifters, which lead me to looking up 7 speed freewheels and finding Sheldon Brown's site. Now I have bought used dura ace hubs and am planning a 650b build so I can get a bit more tire/air on the Panasonic. I also considered getting a classic tourer that has a bit more clearance and getting fattish 700c tires. It's all fun to fantasize about, but yeah, I am in agreement this is a money losing hobby, not money making, but it's fun so whatever. I could be spending this money at the bar like I did in my twenties, so it's progress!