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Jul 2008
9:48pm, 25 Jul 2008
541 posts
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Southwales22
ok so finally ordered my bike today - went for the specialized dolce - was this a good choice??! please say yes!!
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Jul 2008
9:49pm, 25 Jul 2008
13,177 posts
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B.B.
yes
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Jul 2008
10:34pm, 25 Jul 2008
4,836 posts
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Red Tomato
sorry greg, missed your question, 7.30 so I guess we will be starting about the same time.
how much was your bike SW22? I can't decide between a trek, a felt, a specialised or a giant.
Also does anyone think I need a womens' specific design as I am built like a man? ( broad shoulders, slim hips, long legs and arms)
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Jul 2008
10:38pm, 25 Jul 2008
351 posts
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RT.
re women specific, you might like this article from the Cervelo bikes (amongst the best there are) website:
"Answer - Women-specific geometry
Fit and proper geometry are just as important for women and they are for men, but unfortunately women-specific geometry does a disservice to this need and is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Especially when you look at exactly what they changed compared to the standard bikes, one can only frown. In short, neither the concept of women-specific design nor the execution makes sense. Consider the following:
1) Most importantly, there is no difference in body dimensions between men and women. If you look at a 5'1 man and a 5'1 woman, the average body dimensions are identical. Since women are shorter on average than men it appears to be a gender issue, but it really isn't, it's a short-person issue. So the trick is not to design women-specific geometry, but to make sure the geometry makes sense for shorter people. We do that, and every bike company should do that - one has to make sure that not only the geometry for a 56 or 58cm frame is properly designed, but also the 51cm and the 48cm.
2) It is true that most small frames don't fit women properly, but they also don't fit men properly (which is no surprise when you consider issue #1). The problem is that the smaller frames don't really get that much smaller with most manufacturers, both because they don't know how to handle issues like toe overlap and because they don't really understand the correlation between effective toptube length and seattube angle (as unbelievable as it sounds that bike companies sometimes don't understand bike geometry, it's really true).
3) Most women-specific geometry have shorter toptubes but also steeper seattubes. The shorter toptube gets the headtube closer to the rider, but the steeper seattube pushes the headtube forward again. Net result: nothing
4) The real trick is to look at the cockpit length, or more specifically the horizontal distance from the bottom bracket to the headtube (see the diagram). When you set up a bike, you will put the saddle a certain horizontal distance behind the bottom bracket. This is irrespective of the exact seattube angle of the frame, you will simply move the saddle fore and aft on the rails until the saddle is the correct distance behind the bottom bracket. How far away the handlebars are is dependent on how far the saddle is behind the bb and how far the headtube is in front of the bb. Since you won't change the saddle position, you only need to consider the bb-headtube dimension, the horizontal dimension on the diagram. You can see on the diagram that if a manufacturer shortens the toptube but at the same time steepens the seattube enough, the headtube won't come any closer. This problem is not only existent on women-specific designs, most small frames from manufacturers barely get shorter horizontal dimensions. so if the 51cm frame from these manufacturers is too big, so will the 48cm be.
5) On our road bikes, we design by horizontal dimension, so the 48cm frame is shorter than the 51cm frame, just as it should. So if the 51cm is too long, the 48cm will likely fit. Just to give you an idea, our 48cm frame has a shorter horizontal dimension than most women-specific 43 and 45cm frames around.
6) As a sidenote, some women-specific parts do make sense. There is of course the women-specific saddle, which can be a real problem-solver for some (although there are also plenty of women who prefer "mens" saddles). For people with smaller hands (women or men) the special handlebars and STI levers that put the levers closer to the bars also can provide an advantage."
Hope this helps.
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Jul 2008
10:53pm, 25 Jul 2008
4,840 posts
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Red Tomato
That is really helpful JSBean, thanks for that, I did suspect it might not be necessary, looks like the only advantage is if I had small hands, but I haven't.
Wish I could a afford a cervelo.....
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Jul 2008
10:56pm, 25 Jul 2008
352 posts
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me too... my way of keeping the temptation away is to remind myself that a: i have nowhere to keep it. b: natwest would probably repossess it within minutes.
as for your other question, i like the look of felts, if only because there's not as many of them about.
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Jul 2008
10:57pm, 25 Jul 2008
6,666 posts
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idio
I ought to sort out what bike I really want but just can't be arsed at the moment.
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Jul 2008
11:08pm, 25 Jul 2008
4,841 posts
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Red Tomato
I have to decide by friday when the c2w window opens as I am on hols on the 4th and want it for my tri in sep.
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Jul 2008
11:12pm, 25 Jul 2008
6,668 posts
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idio
I really cant decide between a new road bike or a new mountainbike. Considering upgrading to a burly a mountainbike and putting light bits on the one i've got now and using it pure xc and getting a new road bike.
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Jul 2008
11:18pm, 25 Jul 2008
4,345 posts
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GregP
Great advertorial on Cervelo in this month's Pro Cycling. Fab stuff.
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