My road bike does not fit. Help.

[xeney]

Wow, looking around, there really aren't many bikes with seat tube angles under 75 (or 74.5, which I am assuming would not give me much improvement). Even the women-specific models tend to have 75 degree angles except in the very tiny sizes.

It also sounds like I would need a 51 or a 53? Argh. I tried a couple in that size range two years ago -- a Specialized Dolce, and a Cannondale -- and they were both way too small. Even though my reach is shorter than a man's, I'm not sure it's quite as short as some women's. My husband is two and a half inches taller than I am, but his shoulder-to-fingertip measurement is only about an inch longer; we have the same inseam so he does have a couple of inches on me in the upper body but I think a lot of women have more dramatic proportion issues than I do.

I guess I am just going to try to make this one work for now. In order to get the angle I think I need I have to spend a lot more money than I can afford at the moment. I may spring for the custom fitting and see how close we can get it, and then if it's still too uncomfortable I'll rethink whether road cycling is something I can even afford to do.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

[mimitabby]

i have a cheapo fix that might help you at least with the brakes. They make these little levers that you can put on your bars... then you don't have to reach the hoods to get to the brakes. I know what you're going through; it is awful how hard it is for gals to find a bike that they can ride comfortably!

Yes, i got the Eva handlebars... if they didn't do the trick i was going to get
the little levers..

[xeney]

Oh, hey, the 3T Eva bars? My husband had suggested something like that but I couldn't find anything that looked right. (I have really wide shoulders and the only women-specific handlebars I could find were for narrow shoulders.) Thank you for the suggestion, Mimi.

[mimitabby]

these Eva bars aren't that narrow. They are wider than what i used to have.
my shoulders are 38's and i think the bars are 40's. I know they come in 2 sizes too.

[xeney]

Yeah, we were actually thinking that the ones that came on the Veloce were too narrow for me rather than the reverse. But it looks like the Eva bars are shallower (?) so the brakes/hoods aren't as far away. That is exactly what Jeremy wanted me to look for but I couldn't find anything described that way, so thank you for giving me a name to look for.

[Dogmama]

Could you put your Campy bits on a new bike? Just a thought for if/when you decide to get a bike that fits a little better.

I have no advice other than that. I ended up buying myself a custom bike because everything off of the rack killed my lower back. That was over 10 years ago. I'm sure WSD bikes are much better now.

[Triskeliongirl]

I do have few very short stems (6.5 cm), but they are old quill stems that fit a 1" threaded stearer tube, and hold a 25.4 cm bar. If these are of any use to you please PM me. I know you can buy very laid back seatposts, but be careful they adjust to give enough downtilt for a brooks. I noticed when switching from a butterfly to a brooks that the saddle rails are angled differently, so I couldn't install my brooks on my selcolf superlaid back post, but could on my alpha Q pro carbon. I also noticed if you push the leather away from the rails, you can get the saddle back further. I think if you get a super laid back seatpost, a shorter stem and a shorter bar, you can make this bike rideable. Also, while its most effecient if you achieve KOPS,its not essential as many triathaletes prefer a more forward position. Just look next time for bikes with shallower seat tube angles. I think you would be a great candidate for a terry bike. While they are expensive new, they are often available for a good price on ebay, and the terry website has a buy/sell/trade section that might work for you.