Making speed on the streets is a game. A game played with yellow lights, oblivious drivers and text-messaging pedestrians who don’t bother to look before they step into the crosswalk. But it’s also a game that comes with plenty of rewards--the whiff of just-brewed coffee or oven-hot pizza as you pass, the freedom to shortcut through the park, and always-free parking just ten steps from your destination.

Fast street bikes are the new game in town--city slickers with speedy and efficient 700c road bike wheels, dressed down with flat handlebars and handling tuned for the quick-paced flow of urban traffic. But we’ve been at this “new” game since 1991, and being early adopters puts us well out in front of the curve.