Yet Another Ruby Question...measurements

[malaholic]

I'm about 5'3 and my inseam (to the ground, not to the ankle) is 29. I ride a 51 cm Ruby and I love it....I had a fitting done where they adjusted the saddle fore/aft position, dropped the stem angle, and rotated the bars a little bit to fine-tune the reach, and it works beautifully for me.

I think I'd also have been OK getting a smaller (47 or 48 cm) men's frame, but had I done so I'd probably have had to replace the handlebars to get something narrower and with more shallow drops, as well as shimming the brakes for easier reach.

[Eden]

Just goes to show how different everyone - even with some of the same measurements can be - and why you really can not fit a bike based on standover.

I ride a 44cm- sounds much smaller than most of you here, though my inseam (yup to the ground) is nearly the same as most of you and I have an 80cm stem on it to make it even smaller. I have seriously stubby arms! My hands sound pretty much the same size as Starfish's, yet I feel good with regular levers (this may just be from many years of using them and being adapted) and I know I don't like bars with "ergo bumps" and especially those with a shallow drop - I find them to be quite uncomfortable and I bang my forearms up on them.

[Bluetree]

I'm not a believer that the Ruby is made only for the short-waisted/long legged types. I'm exactly the opposite in that I have a very short inseam 27.5 and the short TT still fits my longer torso. In contrast to Eden's 80mm stem, I have a 90mm, with compact drop bars on my 44cm.

Also, I probably have more spacers on the headtube than she does because my Ruby is set up as a pure climber. (I run a 34/50 compact with a 12-27 in the back. Plus, I have an optional 1295g wheelset with a 13-29 Record cassette.) Having a less aggressive setup, I can get away with the longer torso/shorter TT.

My small hands could never get around Shimano, even with the shims. I fell in love with the Campy thumb shifters the first time I rode them. When I have my hands on the hoods and I'm standing on a climb, I can easily shift a cog or two with my thumb to give me more power. I could never do that with my Shimano levers without breaking my flow.

[Starfish]

My small hands could never get around Shimano, even with the shims. I fell in love with the Campy thumb shifters the first time I rode them. When I have my hands on the hoods and I'm standing on a climb, I can easily shift a cog or two with my thumb to give me more power. I could never do that with my Shimano levers without breaking my flow.

Did you buy a Ruby frame and build it up, or was Campy an option when you ordered?

I spent an hour in my LBS today, and we did some measurements and just generally got the ball rolling on starting to see where I might land. I'll have to go out of town to test some bikes. But, we suspect if I fit a Ruby, it is likely to be a 54. (He could have ordered me a 2007 Ruby Pro today for $3000, but they didn't have a 54...and of course, I hadn't tested yet, but I was prepared to run to Seattle to test this weekend!)

Anyhow, I actually measured my fingers tonight. My longest, my middle, is 2-7/8", and my index finger is 2-5/8" long.

Anyhow, I think I'm about ready to go to Seattle and try out a Ruby, a Roubaix, and a Tarmac. I would really like to find a bike my LBS could order for me, if possible. I'm thinking of getting some new shoes and peddles now, and maybe the bike next September to take advantage of pricing (unless everything just fell together now).

[michelem]

$3000 for a 2007??? I hope that's for the Pro. I got the 2007 Expert earlier this year for much less than $3000. You should be able to get them for even less now that the 2008's are out.

I too have short fingers and have the max number of shims in my Shimanos - they work just fine for me. I did swap out for narrower handlebars and a shorter stem though.

Good luck in your search!

[OakLeaf]

Okay, I had to measure my fingers too, and I can't believe we're measuring the same way, because my hands aren't that big (and I actually get a variation of more than 3/4" depending on how I measure).

This is worse than frame sizes!

Center to top (center of MCP joint to end of finger)? Flex the MCP joint, straighten the IP joints and measure from the proximal end of the MCP joint? Splay the fingers and measure from the webbing? Be specific!

[Starfish]

$3000 for a 2007??? I hope that's for the Pro.

Yes, the Pro, with full DA.

Okay, I had to measure my fingers too...Be specific!

First, we are NOT worse than men, believe me! (Whatever worse means...)

I don't know what an MCP joint is. I hold my hand up flat in front of me (like vertically, in front of my face, looking at the edge of my hand, with the thumb towards me). I tilt the finger I want to measure (say the middle finger, my longest ) just a centimeter or two down, toward my palm, keeping the finger straight. I measure from the base of the finger, in the little crease where the finger tilts...to the tip.

I think if I measured the top of the finger, from the knuckle on the back of my hand, to the tip, I would add about .5 inch to the overal length. I guess I measured the underside because when I put my hand on the bar, that underside is really what has to reach around the bar to the levers.

[OakLeaf]

I guess I measured the underside because when I put my hand on the bar, that underside is really what has to reach around the bar to the levers.

That makes sense.

Just to clarify, hand bones are metacarpals and finger bones are phalanges. Thumb is #1, pinky is #5. So the joint between the palm and the finger is the metacarpo-phalangeal or MCP joint. All the fingers except the thumb have two interphalangeal joints, proximal and distal or PIP and DIP.

Measuring that way, I get 3-1/8" for my middle finger and 2-7/8" for the index finger on the left, about 1/8" shorter on the right. So a bit longer than your fingers but in the same ballpark!

[Bluetree]

Did you buy a Ruby frame and build it up, or was Campy an option when you ordered?

I bought the frame and built it up myself.

Unfortunately, few women's bikes come equipped with Campy Chorus or Record (Specialized no exception) and the total costs of a self-build ends up costing much more than buying a whole bike with comparable parts.

On the positive side, I didn't care for the stock wheels, saddle, or handlebars so I was able to build up my Ruby with exactly what I wanted.

P.S. Frame-only options:
For 2008 Specialized added the module-only option of the Ruby-Comp for about $1300. In 2007, when I bought my frame, all they offered was the S-Works for $3300.