How did you choose your bike?

[paigette]

I went to 2 LBS' (when I lived in Corpus) and even went to Houston(hometown) to search their bike shops. I tried about 8-10 different bikes, women specific & men's specific. Like you, I wanted a starter bike, but at the time knew I would probably/possible want to upgrade in the future. I ended up with the men's Giant OCR 3.....it was just the most comfortable for me, in my price range. I've only changed out the pedals & seat, but the way my body is shaped, it fits me to a tee

As for my mountain bike....it seems to be a slightly different process. I'm now in Aggieland & when I explained what I wanted, the guy told me he didn't have anything in my size, but did my measurements & currently has 3 bikes on order for me to try out. I've already put down a deposit, so I will go with him(he offers lifetime maintenance) and when those 3 arrive, I'll go from there.

Anyway, good luck, but definitely shop around!

[mimitabby]

. I've only changed out the pedals & seat, but the way my body is shaped, it fits me to a tee

Anyway, good luck, but definitely shop around!

See, here's the thing. After riding with straight handlebars for my whole life, i really had no idea what a road bike was supposed to feel like... as i said, i'm still figuring it out. All i knew was that pain was unacceptable. Once i got the bike to the no-pain condition, i could start focussing on other stuff, like how it felt to handle on hills, bumps, curves...stopping..

[kaybee]

Mt, the same thing happened to me! I walked into a bike shop, not knowing anything about fit and not wanting to spend too much money on a bike I wasn't sure I would ride. I also ended up with an OCR3 that was too big for me, rode it a year and finally figured out it was too big. I now have a WSD bike, and it's much more comfortable, and I'm much happier. Ride lots of different bikes, pay for a fitting if you have to, and read everything you can get your hands on (there's a ton of stuff here). The bottom line, though, is fit. It should just feel right, like slipping into your favorite pair of jeans. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

KB

[mtkitchn]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions! I think I will definitely look at WSD bikes since I've got a very short torso.
Mimi, you hit it spot on about riding when we were kids! My body could do anything back then. Unfortunately, for the past year in the back of my mind this little voice kept saying "no pain, no gain", but I think I'd be a lot happier if I had the perfect bike for ME.
I have a big "test" to pass on Nov 17, and I think I'm going to buy myself a new bike if I pass! In the meantime I'm going to check out the local shops. I see that a couple of you like the Bianchi....any other favorites out there?
And any other 5'2" gals that can give me a ballpark size bike that you ride?

[emily_in_nc]

Hi mtkitchn,

I'm 5'2" and a half (!!!), and I have comfortably ridden bikes in the 44.5 cm (Terry Isis) to 46 cm (Aegis Swift) range. Basically, I need a bike with a top tube around 19" or just a wee bit longer so that I can get a long enough stem on the bike for good handling. I would have probably been more comfy on the 44 cm Swift as the standover of the 46 cm is just a little high for me (it has a flat, not a slanted) top tube. So....I'd say I am probably a 44 cm gal. My inseam is around 28" to 28.5", depending on who is doing the measuring. I also like short and shallow handlebars (have Salsa Pocos on my Swift and Bike Friday) and prefer Campy to Shimano, though I have bikes with both.

Anyway, this is just a ballpark for you -- I know some gals my height who ride 48-49 cm bikes, but not this chick!

Emily

[aicabsolut]

My story starts out unusual, but it's not too different. I started out on spin bikes beause of injuries that took out weight-bearing exercise. The bikes helped that part, but as I got into better cycling shape and learned about how to train like a cyclist indoors versus doing all the aerobics class stuff (most of which I couldn't do because it was too much hard work out of the saddle), I started to learn how cycling would already add to my colored injury history. From researching and getting advice from fit experts plus spending time with my physical therapist, I knew how my cleats needed to be positioned and somewhat how the bike should fit to keep overuse injuries at bay as much as possible. Given the infinite fit adjustments you can make on a real bike versus an indoor bike, I knew at least how I wanted the bike to make my body feel. This led me to consider full carbon bikes and certain other componentry features. As for the total package, I wanted a bike that I could improve on but wouldn't be too agressive. And I also place a high value on quality--what's the most bike I can get for a good price, staying below where the prices start to get obscene.

So I made a few trips around to the shops and just talked to people. I learned which shops had good maintenance and service policies, which ones might cut me some deals, and which ones were snobby and treated me like an idiot. Then I started asking about the different brands and price levels and components.

I figured out some bikes I wanted to test and I focused on the overall size, reach, agressiveness of body position, and handling at first. A few bikes I couldn't get back to the shop fast enough. I tried different sizes and women's bikes to compare. I told the managers helping me what I liked and disliked about each model and we started narrowing things down more. The last thing to focus on was the quality of the 'ride', including the gearing. The bikes I was leaning towards the most I rode around a couple different days. I wanted to see if I'd be hurting later on from a bike that I thought would be ok at the time.

Then with the fit not being 100% (I couldn't decide if my problem was too big bars or too long of a stem or both), I took home my final purchase for a while and rode. Eventually, I figured out which component I wanted to change first. And I'm happy with that decision. I don't think i'll need to change the other. I think this bike will last me a LONG time.

[mimitabby]

Then with the fit not being 100% (I couldn't decide if my problem was too big bars or too long of a stem or both), I took home my final purchase for a while and rode. Eventually, I figured out which component I wanted to change first. And I'm happy with that decision. I don't think i'll need to change the other. I think this bike will last me a LONG time.

what bike is it? Forgive me, I forgot if you already told us!

[jenxxs]

mtkitchn, as you're shopping around make sure to try bikes with different choices of wheel size. You'll find that some manufacturers choose to put 700c wheels on their smallest WSD bikes - I think both Bianchi and Specialized fall into this category. Others change to 650c wheels for their smallest sizes - Trek, Cannondale, several others. Then there's Terry, which does the 24 in/700c combo. Each of these choices has different advantages and disadvantages. You can get comparable standovers and top tube lengths in all of these types, but the geometries are distinctly different.