BIKES THAT FIT WOMEN under 5'4"

[Triskeliongirl]

Then, for a a whole lot more money, there's the Rivendell Bleriot 49cm with a 50 cm top tube. The one I looked at today had 650 wheels. I didn't test drive it,
now I wish I had.
This bike is guaranteed to take fenders. I think this is Lisa's bike.

Here is a good price on that frame, if you test drive it and like it you may want to buy the frameset here, and transfer the parts from your veloce. I normally don't do this, try a bike in a shop and buy online, but if you can't afford the complete bike and/or don't like the build (shimano right?) I don't think its an awful thing to do. You can also get a feel for how heavy it is by looking at the one in your LBS. Only parts that won't transfer are the brakes, you'll need to purchase cantis, and you'll need a 650c wheelset (which you can buy on ebay), and a nitto technomic stem. I can help you with that if you need since I did that conversion a couple of times and know good places to get the brakes and stem ($39 each brake, and stem, $35). Usually if you bring the frame and parts to a bike shop they'll charge you ~$100 for assembly, maybe a bit more if they also have to strip down the veloce.

http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/CELLFRMRD/FM2400

[Triskeliongirl]

You got me interested in this bike, and I found a pdf with many details on it here. http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw/index.html
Note that while the top tube appears longish the seat tube angle is so slack it has a shorter reach than many bikes you are looking at. If I was in the market for a true touring bike I would grab it in a second, since my problem is finding bikes with a slack enough seat tube angle. However, when I read the brochure I noticed it takes 650B tires. This is not the 650C that is on many womens racing bikes. What is wrong with this is that the narrowest tire you can get in this size they say is 30mm. I think that may be too wide for the fast club riding you like. ANother reason to go custom, the framebuilder makes the bike do what you want. Light steel, you got it. Fenders, you got it. Tire range from racing to touring, you got it. As I said before, finding a bike that is both light enough to keep up with a group and takes real fenders is just not htat easy, but it seems to me necessary where you live.

p.s. I just read a bit more in the brochure. Actually, you can buy it direct from rivendell for less than the price I posted above. If you don't care about the wheels, I suggest talking with grant about what parts will and won't transfer from the veloce and have him install what you need. He says he'll sell the frameset with headset installed for 775 direct. It takes long reach side pull brakes not cantis, but that is ok too since they also should have fender clearance.