Bike shopping assistance :)

[atombessy]

Hi ladies! Long time no post, but I know where to go when I need to ask bike shopping questions!

I'm currently riding a Jamis Quest (2007, size 47cm) as my all use road bike.
Pros: it fits pretttttty well. I like the slightly laid back design, it's comfy on long rides.
Cons: I think it's a squee bit small on me. The bike shop I ordered from was not a great experience, i think they just wanted to get my deposit and make the sale, I didn't push to be measured. Fortunately my husband and I are pretty good at researching these things so we did get a pretty good bike, but I feel like WE did the footwork, not the bikeshop. Having a bit of knee pain lately, but I'm a year post partum and the pain started after the kid, and I'm not sure what that's about. Putting my saddle up higher helps, but overall I think I need a bigger frame.
-I think it's ugly. I mean, the paint job is ok, but overall I'd like a classier look, which you just don't get with a lot of the bigger box companies.

SO. I've been surfing around online and I think my replacement is going to be a Gunnar Sport. It's a steel upgrade from my Quest, the geometry looks like I can order a slightly bigger size (either the 50 or 52) and the reach will be good, still a slightly laid back road frame. Plus, PRETTY OH SO PRETTY.

My current plan is to buy the frame/fork and move my Jamis parts over for now, and then upgrade to ultegra in a few years when the bank account has recovered.

A slight Gunnar ordering problem: I do have a local dealer nearby but guess what? It's the same shop that I ordered the Jamis from that I wasn't happy with. I have an LBS who I LOOOOVE who isn't a dealer, so I'm tempted to work with them on the measurements and just ask them to do the parts switch for me. They've been pretty cool over the years with our random requests, so I think this will go down pretty well.

Anything else I should be considering ladies? Any bike companies I'm not looking at and should be?

And what color should I order to go with my honey brooks saddle and bartape? lol, it's the important part, right!? Right now "Vanilla Milkshake" is in the lead....(although I have a black brooks too and a pink panther with black accessories could also happen!).

[murielalex]

If you didn't like the last lbs, trust your instincts. You can also call Gunnar for fitting advice.

As for the Gunnar Sport, I just got one last weekend, and I love it. I think the Vanilla Shake color would look great with your honey Brooks. I chose the English Blue with the vanilla panels, and also think it would look good with the honey, though I like it with my black Brooks. When I was trying to decide I was looking at a deep red color, though don't remember the name, I think would look great with either. I personally had a very hard time deciding. I'm not good at looking at a couple inches of color on a computer monitor and trying to picture it as a whole frame. I was pleasantly surprised when mine finally arrived, and it looks better in person than in pics. Here's what mine looks like:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=46993

Hope you get your frame issues worked out. If you're half as happy with the Gunnar as I am with mine, it will be worth it.

[atombessy]

murielalex! it looks amazing! Now I'm super excited to actually get this order in I'll have to stalk you for a bit to get more ride reports about your gunnar!

Muirenn, agreed on the green, it's not a current color though, so it would cost extra, boogers! My husband didn't flinch too hard on doing color upgrades though, so we'll see My husband has campy on his surly and loves it, I've never had a chance to try using it on a bike that's near fitting me (Mr. atombessy is a foot taller than me, my feet don't touch on this bikes!) or else i'd consider it more seriously I think too....

[Laguna]

Agree with others who've suggested that you not go back to the shop that you're uncomfortable with. Otherwise if you have fit problems you'll always wonder if they didn't measure you correctly and you'll kick yourself. The Gunnar is too nice a bike to get one that does't fit.

YES, call Gunnar and get their opinion on fit and even if you have to drive two hours to a shop that does a LOT of fitting and comes recommended...it will be worth it.

[Catrin]

Agree with others who've suggested that you not go back to the shop that you're uncomfortable with. Otherwise if you have fit problems you'll always wonder if they didn't measure you correctly and you'll kick yourself. The Gunnar is too nice a bike to get one that does't fit.

YES, call Gunnar and get their opinion on fit and even if you have to drive two hours to a shop that does a LOT of fitting and comes recommended...it will be worth it.

This! Also to keep in mind, while Gunnar does have a good number of stock sizes, they don't have every possible size available. In my case I HAD to have a true one-off custom frame design (for multiple reasons). You really need a good fitter who is dedicated to selling you what YOU need and who is willing to think outside of the box if that is needed. In most cases a true full custom frame isn't needed, but you need to have a fitter who can tell the difference. From what you have said, your original LBS can't be trusted to help you get what YOU need.

Call Waterford (who makes Gunnar) and get their advice on other options. I didn't look to see where you are located, I suppose you aren't remotely in driving distance from Indianapolis? We have a fantastic fitter here who works with Waterford quite well...

[murielalex]

murielalex! it looks amazing! Now I'm super excited to actually get this order in I'll have to stalk you for a bit to get more ride reports about your gunnar!

Stalk away! I'm getting my first real long (for me) ride in this weekend if the weather allows.

Muirenn, agreed on the green, it's not a current color though, so it would cost extra, boogers! My husband didn't flinch too hard on doing color upgrades though, so we'll see

Get whatever color you want. You are hopefully going to have and enjoy your bike for years. You don't want to always be wishing you got another color when you could have. I got lucky and one of the few colors I wanted happened to be color of the year.

[Catrin]

For a Gunnar, Waterford makes all of their color palettes available, it could take months to decide if you love color My choice was to limit myself to their more limited selection of "archived colors" found here. Get the color you want, we don't often have this opportunity to really choose our color (or colors).