Choosing a bike, seat, shoes

[kelownagirl]

Hi there-

You are definitely doing all the right homework! And getting out and RIDING bikes, most importantly. I could offer a few suggestions that would take priority for me, personally.
1- carbon DOES make a difference. If a full carbon frame is out of your price range, consider a bike w/a carbon fork, consider buying a 2nd hand higher level bike, or consider upping your price! It may be a sacrifice now, but you will be loving this bike for many years to come.
2- at your height, you could do a WSD frame. This is more of an issue for women with smaller hands, shorter torso/leg length. etc. I am 5'6" and find WSD frames don't fit me well. And -- manufacturers will sometimes skimp on the components for similar models when offering a WSD vs. standard. At least that was the case when I was researching this a year ago with TREK.
3- at 1000-1500 you are probably looking at Shimano 105, maybe some Ultegra. I would go the extra yard to get the Ultegra. You won't regret it!

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Thank you so much! I am learning a lots about components etc too. I have noticed that several bikes I have tried had Shimano 105. So Ultegra is the next step up?

As for the carbon, I am trying to focus on the bikes that have carbon seat post and forks. I am willing to up my price a little but it looks like the full carbon frame bikes are at least a $500-750 (Can) increase in price ($2200-2500). Do I really deserve to buy myself a really expensive bike when I've only been riding for 3 months? I don't know, it seems like I should kind of work my way up, you know?

One salesman told me - about full carbon frames - that it is often better to buy a really good bike with really good components within my price range, than to move up to the entry-level full carbon frame and end up with the lower end carbon and lesser components. I just don't know what to believe...

Sadly, I have not seen a single used road bike yet - I am certainly willing to buy a good used road bike to get the upgrade.

One thing about WSD - the last bike shop I went to tried to convince me that if I start with the right sized frame, he can make just about any bike fit me. He felt that although WSD bikes are good for some women, for the most part, they are just hype and that by changing the stems etc, he can do the same thing. He does have WSD bikes there so it wasn't like he was just trying to do a sales job. It's so hard to separate the info from the sales pitch though.

Last point - I've really been having problems reaching the brakes. I dont' think I have particularly small hands and my fingers are fairly long but when I'm in the drops, my fingertips barely get around the brakes. DH says I won't be using the drop brakes all that much and he figures it's something we may be able to adjust but I'm just wondering if that is common. I also feel like it's a stretch to reach the brakes on the hoods. Is that normal or does it just take some getting used to? (Oooh, listen to me talking about "drops" and "hoods" etc. like I knew all this a week ago - I just laugh at myself sometimes...)

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate any information I can find on this site. Real women, real bikes... I have one more bike shop in town to try and then I'm going to try the Bike Barn in the town an hour away. Maybe I'll end up having to go to Vancouver to find what I want.

barb