MY Guru frame has arrived at the LBS!

[Crankin]

DH just went there for something else and this is what he found:
OK, the pic is upside down...

[azfiddle]

Good thing I had a laptop so I could turn it upside down and appreciate it! Hope it's altogether soon

[Crankin]

Nothing is easy with me. This build process has gone super smoothly for DH, but not me.
First, both pairs of new shoes (road and mountain) had issues. The mountain shoes are fixed, now trying to find liners for the road shoes.
The Dura Ace brifters are NOT as "short reach" as my R600 short reach brifters on my Kuota, even though they are adjustable. The R600s are now R700s and are 105 instead of Ultegra... I am getting them, despite the fact I will have a crappier level of shifters. LBS tried to blow this off, but DH measured both and just sent an email. He will bring my road bike up there today, to actually SHOW them. Given the fact that I had to research and find the R600s, I knew this would happen. They seem to be stuck on reach/problems with the shifters; my issue is reach and comfort to the brakes. They also ordered a different short and shallow bar, which now I am not sure I trust.
My expectations are getting lower by the minute.

[OakLeaf]

Well I was going to say Happy New Year indeed, but bummer that you're having issues.

If it's any comfort about the brifters, R700s were Ultegra level when they were introduced, it's just that the short-reach shifters don't get the redesign with the rest of the groupsets, so they really aren't "crappy," just a slightly older design that's now trickled down to 105. I did have one fail on me, but that was an issue common to all Shimano brifters. I've had zero trouble with their actual performance. (And if you've been using R600s all this time, I'd be surprised if the R700s, which are an evolution, don't perform better.)

[nscrbug]

Nothing is easy with me. This build process has gone super smoothly for DH, but not me.
First, both pairs of new shoes (road and mountain) had issues. The mountain shoes are fixed, now trying to find liners for the road shoes.
The Dura Ace brifters are NOT as "short reach" as my R600 short reach brifters on my Kuota, even though they are adjustable. The R600s are now R700s and are 105 instead of Ultegra... I am getting them, despite the fact I will have a crappier level of shifters. LBS tried to blow this off, but DH measured both and just sent an email. He will bring my road bike up there today, to actually SHOW them. Given the fact that I had to research and find the R600s, I knew this would happen. They seem to be stuck on reach/problems with the shifters; my issue is reach and comfort to the brakes. They also ordered a different short and shallow bar, which now I am not sure I trust.
My expectations are getting lower by the minute.

Just curious...where did you find the R600 brifters? My older Trek 2100 WSD had the R700's on them and I absolutely loved them...SO much easier to shift than my 6700 Ultegra shifters. I would LOVE to swap 'em out, but the ones on my Trek are for a triple and my current bike is a compact double so they're not compatible.

Linda

[Crankin]

OK, well this bike has a compact double... no one has told me they won't work with a compact. We had no response to our emails, from early AM, which is a bit unusual. DH is on the phone now.
I know that that R700s will be fine... I am just pissed that nothing for small/short people gets upgraded or redesigned like everything else. In fact, I just read something that stated Shimano actually increased the size of some of their shifters. With all of the small women who are on TE, it seems like just this group is enough to show the need is there!
You know, I am not sure what the silver sleeves are, as I have not actually seen the frame (little thing called work). But, I am guessing it has something to do with the s and s couplers.
I did find some innersoles that are specially made for people like me who can't tolerate the thicker ones. Actually, I feel fine riding without any in the shoes, but eventually I will get them.
However, I am surprised at how quickly the frame got built. That's a good sign. It's the components that are causing an issue. At least it appears that i will get to ride this bike before the snow flies.
I know someone from the shop is trolling the internet, looking for comments about them, so I hope they read this.

[Owlie]

Such a pretty blue.

I'm sorry you're having component issues, though.

[laura*]

You know, I am not sure what the silver sleeves are, as I have not actually seen the frame (little thing called work). But, I am guessing it has something to do with the s and s couplers.

The silver sleeves ARE the S & S couplers.

[ladyicon]

Beautiful frame, was it built to your size? I loved the Guru fitting machine in the background, it was the only fitting that actually worked for me.

[redrhodie]

I can't wait to see it done, so I can imagine how you must feel! What color tape are you doing?

[Crankin]

Thanks, Laura. I am not the mechanics person in the family. Although, I know a lot more than the LBS suspects and I am keeping them on their toes, thanks to you guys.
Yes, Ladyicon, I had the Guru fit. So, the frame is good. I can already tell by the head tube and top tube that this will be right for me.
I do love the blue color, and i am not one to obsess about color for my bikes. I chose it, because once, I walked into the LBS shortly after I bought my Kuota, and there was a small sized looking bike, leaning against a wall, in a very similar color that I had a very strong attraction to. It turned out to be a Trek 5200, the bike I had just traded in, but mine was the typical carbon color. This bike just called out to me. Since this is the only time I have actually been "attracted" to a bike, I went with this color.
Yea, I chose bar tape. Black. I m very, ah, hard on tape. I have really nice red tape on my Kuota which is totally scuffed up and dirty, and it got this way after about 2 weeks of riding. As I said, I really don't obsess or even care about color, so this was a no-brainer for me. I was more concerned that I got the same very thin, no padding type of tape DH has been putting on my current bike.
So... the bad news last. LBS called Shimano and yes, they still make the R700s. They just won't be available until DECEMBER. Yea, so DH's bike will be ready next week and I have to wait 3 months? NOOOOOO. They are calling around to see if they can find any, anywhere. I would be willing to try one of the other options, as even the R700s are not as short reach (by about 4 mm) as what I have now. This just sucks. Did all of the big name bike manufacturers use up these brifters in the new 2012 models? Or do they just not care about women? I am thinking of contacting Margo, (Luna) to see if she has any ideas as to where I could find these things!
ETA:
OK, I found the brifters on-line, in several places. Email sent to LBS. Seriously, in their quest to do all things from independent businesses this wasn't tried first? And they wonder why I don't buy most of my cycling stuff there? I don't mind spending the $ for my bike, but I don't need $200.00 jerseys. The owner went kind of ballistic on me last week when I mentioned I won't shop in the newer outdoor/Ibex type store that opened across the street, because I won't spend 3X the amount on stuff like my Shaks, as opposed to getting them on-line. I know this is off topic, but still. Yes, I realize these people want to stay in business, it's good for the town, and there's enough super wealthy people in this town who don't care, but I have the right to feel this way. The woman in the picture with my frame is a new employee and very nice, but she's a real techie/engineer, so totally unlike me, it feels weird. She's trying to keep the peace between me and the shop owner, who still keeps talking to me about how the cycling world doesn't think women will spend $ to get high quality components, and that's why they don't make them in small sizes, etc. Well, this woman is willing to spend, and don't keep talking to me about this.

[Owlie]

Ugh, Crankin, I've gotten the same speech from my LBS, about how manufacturers (and shops) don't think women want to spend $$$ on cycling, so finding higher-end components and frames (and actually, pretty much anything!) for women is much harder--either on the manufacturer side (one of the bikes I've been looking at doesn't have a Ultegra-equipped women's version) or on the shop side (good luck finding a wsd with better than partial 105 on the floor!) He sympathized, but then said there wasn't really a market and that having one around would be a very expensive use of floor space.

[OakLeaf]

But then again, I was just looking, and Ultegra cranks come in 160mm now! Short legs = ok, weetie hands = not ok.

[Crankin]

So after receiving my email, we were told that "the part has to be ordered from Shimano, for the warranty."
Huh?
DH got on the phone and said, "OK, I'm ordering it. Now. End of story"
The woman told him she didn't think "time was an issue." Let's see, everything else is here, DH's bike is being put together, and I wouldn't care? She was told a couple of weeks wouldn't matter, but 3 months... we don't ride in the snow.
I really don't get the bit about no market for higher end women's components. What about all of us? What do women who race have?
I was going to give my older son the birthday gift of having the bottom bracket and brakes fixed on his Serotta that his younger brother gave him. Now I won't take the bike to the shop, even though they have great mechanics. So, they just lost a little more business.
Oak, I thought that was funny about the cranks. Even I would be spinning like a hamster! I do love my 165s, though. And they gave me sh*t about those 6 years ago.

[Crankin]

Well, an update, about my shoes... I think I mentioned that part of the saga in another thread.
Since I had excruciating pain when I wore my new Shimano road shoes on a 35 mile ride 2 weeks ago, the sales person suggested riding a couple of times without the molded liners, just short rides, and then try them again. I did the rides without them, and it was fine, but when I looked at the liners closely, I just knew they were too thick for my feet. So, I went out and got the thin Super Feet liners for people who can't stand liners and wore them yesterday. The excruciating pain was gone, but I was still getting the burning that I had in my Sidis. I had mentioned to the woman I thought my cleats needed to be moved back , she looked at them and compared them to my Sidis and said, "no, they were both in the neutral spot." Today, I had DH move them back on the Shimanos, and voila. No pain, no burning.
I have learned to trust my instincts. I am going to move the cleats back on my Sidis, as I am keeping them, too. So after having excruciating pain for another reason in the new mountain shoes I bought for the Guru/Frog pedals, and now this, I still am having low expectations. My short reach brifters should be here this week. Now I am obsessing about the bar they chose. I didn't compare the measurements between it and the Specialized one i have on my Kuota, just trusted them with "it's what we sell for women who need a short and shallow bar."
This process just seems so easy for others.