Yes, Cali, you are absolutely right, but the average woman HAS shorter torso and longer legs, thus, the Ruby (yours) works, but some other smaller bikes (like my sweet Veloce) don't.
The PT guy told me that I should be comfortable enough on the hoods to leave my hands there 80% of the time. If you can't do that (I can't do that comfortably) then you need a shorter top tube.


Knot, I really am not ready (sigh) to spend on a custom bike. But you are right, the Waterford definitely has what it takes. I really want steel for my next bike.

I was steering Eric AWAY from Custom bikes at least for now, that's why he came up with the bikes that I started with on this thread; the Ruby and the Dolce and those Bianchi's. They do have the right toptube length, but there might still be other issues like toe jam
And that Ruby is NOT a cheap bike.