Female in need of bike advice

Hi,
I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few today in
the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs and arms but I
am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt more
like my entire leg was doing the work. I don't know if that's because the
"women's" bike had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started
looking at this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a thing
as a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke with
did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give me some
tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking of spending
$500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a good reason.
TIA

"MissLivvy" schreef in bericht
ink.net...
Hi,
I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few today in
the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs and arms but I
am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower
legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt
more
like my entire leg was doing the work. I don't know if that's because the
"women's" bike had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started
looking at this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a
thing
as a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke with
did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give me some
tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking of spending
$500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a good reason.
TIA

Already looked at this site?
http://www.chainreaction.com/wsdroad.htm

Groeten,
Henk

"MissLivvy" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi,
I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few today in
the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs and arms but I
am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower
legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt
more
like my entire leg was doing the work. I don't know if that's because the
"women's" bike had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started
looking at this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a
thing
as a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke with
did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give me some
tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking of spending
$500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a good reason.
TIA

Go he
http://www.terrybicycles.com/product.html?c=Bicycles

MissLivvy wrote:
:: Hi,
:: I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few
:: today in the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs
:: and arms but I am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I
:: rode looked like a woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most
:: of the work in my lower legs (below the knee). The other bikes
:: looked like a men's frame and it felt more like my entire leg was
:: doing the work. I don't know if that's because the "women's" bike
:: had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started looking at
:: this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a thing as
:: a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke
:: with did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give
:: me some tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm
:: thinking of spending $500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a
:: good reason.
:: TIA

Some woman don't need a WSD, some do.

: MissLivvy wrote:
: :: Hi,
: :: I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few
: :: today in the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs
: :: and arms but I am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I
: :: rode looked like a woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most
: :: of the work in my lower legs (below the knee). The other bikes
: :: looked like a men's frame and it felt more like my entire leg was
: :: doing the work. I don't know if that's because the "women's" bike
: :: had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started looking at
: :: this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a thing as
: :: a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke
: :: with did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give
: :: me some tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm
: :: thinking of spending $500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a
: :: good reason.
: :: TIA

Miss Livvy---get yourself to a different bicycle shop. Those guys you talked
to know squat about fitting a bike to a person!

Pat in TX

One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt more
like my entire leg was doing the work. I don't know if that's because the
"women's" bike had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started
looking at this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a thing
as a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke with
did not even mention this. At any rate, if someone could give me some
tips/advice on choosing a bike I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking of spending
$500-$1000 but could pay more if there was a good reason.
TIA


Bikes are made for male proportions. Men have longer torsos and shorter limbs
relative to their height then women do. A woman's bike is made with a shorter
top tube then a man's bike. The top tube is that metal tube that goes from
below the seat to below the handlebars and travels horizontally. The other two
tubes on a bike frame are angled downwards. However, most women can ride a
"men's" bike just fine. You can just swap out the stem (the thing that holds
onto the handlebars) to bring the handlebars back closer to the seat which acts
the same was as shortening the top tube. However very small women of around 5'
may require a female specific frame.

The center of gravity on a woman's bike should be the same as a man's bike and
the feel of pedalling should be virtually identical. I dunno what is going on
with that.

Bikes are not like cars. When you buy a honda, you get a honda engine, honda
brakes, honda frame and so on. In bikes, the manufacturers only make the
frame. They buy the components from component manufacturers and components are
things like seats, seat posts, brakes, deraillers, wheels and so on. Two bikes
with the same components and similar frame geometry will perform in a very
similar fashion. There may be some subtle differences in ride feel and
handling but that will be about it.

If you are planning to be a relatively serious recreational rider, you may want
to get a bike with Shimano 105 components or better. Shimano 105 is usually on
bikes starting at $1000 and up. Shimano 105 is Shimano's entry level racing
component group and it gives you something like 98% of the performance of the
top end line at about 40% of the price. It gives you good value and
performance for you money.

However, I have friends who did not want to spring for 105 and are quite happy
with Tiagra.

MissLivvy wrote:
Hi,
I would like to get an entry level road bike. I test drove a few today in
the size range of 51-52. I am almost 5'7". I have long legs and arms but I
am short-waisted in proportion. One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt more
like my entire leg was doing the work. I don't know if that's because the
"women's" bike had a lower center of gravity or what. Until I started
looking at this newsgroup today, I did not even know there was such a thing
as a "WSD" an I'm disappointed that the 2 different salesmen I spoke with
did not even mention this.

No doubt their store didn't sell any WSDs, or to be fair, maybe they
thought you didn't need one.

Definitely look at the Terry bicycles. Besides being WSD, they offer
some excellent features that are getting hard to find in other
manufacturer's products. I.e., the Terry Symmetry still uses s CroMo
frame, which is superior to the aluminum frames used by most other
manufacturers. It still uses a traditional adjustable quill type
headset, as opposed to the less desirable threadless headset.

"http://www.terrybicycles.com/detail.html?c=Bicycles&sc=Sport&item_no=3014"

"MissLivvy" wrote:


One of the bikes I rode looked like a
woman's frame

Possibly a "compact" frame with a sloping top tube. That might be a
good choice for a small frame because it gives greater standover
clearance.

and it felt like I was doing most of the work in my lower legs
(below the knee). The other bikes looked like a men's frame and it felt more
like my entire leg was doing the work.

Probably due to the saddle postion. Your leg should be just slightly
bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Make sure the bikes are set up
the same when you test ride them. That includes seat (height and
fore-aft position), and the bars (height relative to the saddle and
reach).

See:
http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com...etestrides.htm

Art Harris

Steven M. Scharf wrote:

Definitely look at the Terry bicycles. Besides being WSD, they offer
some excellent features that are getting hard to find in other
manufacturer's products. I.e., the Terry Symmetry still uses s CroMo
frame, which is superior to the aluminum frames used by most other
manufacturers. It still uses a traditional adjustable quill type
headset, as opposed to the less desirable threadless headset.

The preceding was an editorial and does not necessarily reflect the opinions
of RBM members.
--
BS (no, really)

B i l l S o r n s o n wrote:
Steven M. Scharf wrote:

Definitely look at the Terry bicycles. Besides being WSD, they offer
some excellent features that are getting hard to find in other
manufacturer's products. I.e., the Terry Symmetry still uses s CroMo
frame, which is superior to the aluminum frames used by most other
manufacturers. It still uses a traditional adjustable quill type
headset, as opposed to the less desirable threadless headset.

The preceding was an editorial and does not necessarily reflect the opinions
of RBM members.

*cough* .. i'm lucky to have finished my coffee.
--
david reuteler