Quote Originally Posted by goldfinch View Post

What do you shorter people ride for a road bike? Are the small frame aluminum and steel bikes harsh rides? Is carbon better? How close do you have to be on fit? Anyone under five feet tall ride a bike with 700cm wheels? What is or is not working for you?

Anyone have a bike from Rodriguez?

How about a Waterford or Gunnar? What kind of cost is involved with a complete custom bike? Any other companies besides Waterford?

Thank you for any thoughts you might have.
4'11 and 57 years of age. Arthritis from the neck down, torn ACL and meniscus (both knees), broken big toe and a compression fractured spine.

Fit's extremely important for me. All of our bikes are steel. When it comes to road bikes I have and have had the following;

47 cm namesake Trek 420, steel frame and fork. Upgraded the heck out of it. Comparable to the current Trek 520.

My Mondonico is full custom build. It's an engineering marvel. When you're short like us you have three choices:
smaller wheels and/or ...
sloping top tube and/or ....
toe overlap.

The Mondonico has full size wheels, diamond frame and no toe overlap. I don't know how Antonio managed that one but the guy is brilliant. Unfortunately I hear that he's retired.

My 40 cm Soma Buena Vista mixte is very zippy and fast. Also quite comfortable. Yes, it's a mixte but feels almost as fast as my Mondonico.

I just bought a Salsa Vaya and while she will be the workhorse bike, slightly heavier than the other 2 but I was surprised at the fit. The Salsa's a 50 cm and fits quite well.