BIKES THAT FIT WOMEN under 5'4"

[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.