Jamis Aurora vs. Aurora Elite vs. Something Else

[elk]

http://cgi.ebay.com/austro-daimler-w...QQcmdZViewItem

pretty RED mixte!!! 10 speeds....

[xeney]

I saw that but I am holding out for modern components.

Which I am getting! A big part of my buyer's remorse over the Soma was the fact that I was having second thoughts about the 50cm fitting me. My husband had the same second thoughts. Once we started thinking about a 52cm, he suggested a Soma Speedster ... same geometry, but the smallest size available is a 52cm. And it is lugged steel and it's RED.

He went to a different local bike shop just to see if they could get one (since they are sold out at Soma), and lo, they had a 52cm Speedster frame hanging up in the shop. He put down a deposit for me and I am getting a new bike! And a much prettier one, too.

Since this frame is a bit more expensive (but still really cheap in the grand scheme of things) and since we are now smack in the California budget crisis that means I am not getting paid again until August or September, probably, I am going to do a component swap from my Bianchi to this new bike, and if it fits and I like it, then I'll worry about outfitting it with exactly what I want.

I am really excited, because secretly? I wanted a sparkly red bike.

[KnottedYet]

Hooooray!!!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sounds like it was meant to be.

[KnottedYet]

Oh, mama... look at that fork!!!!! <drool, drool>

[xeney]

I thought you'd approve!

It really is a gorgeous bike. And I think it is going to fit me fine now that we have spent more time pondering my fit on the two bikes that fit me best. The shallower seat tube angle should be good for me. I hope!

[dex]

The Speedster is really pretty. (Knott, there's one built up at Counterbalance on the Burke, if you're feeling the pull to drool in person.)

I'm a little confused, though. The geometry chart shows a 535mm effective top tube on it, and that doesn't seem to solve your top tube length problems. Am I reading that right?

I really, really hope it works out for you. You've been way too frustrated for too long over all of this.

[xeney]

That top tube length is exactly the same as the effective top tube on my Bianchi, but I have to use a seatpost on the Bianchi with a 3.5 cm setback in order to get my knee in the right spot over the pedal. It wasn't until I got the setback seatpost that I had trouble with the reach. This bike has a shallower seat tube angle so I think I can avoid the setback seatpost, and thus it will really be an effective top tube of 535.

We figured this out when we measured the reach on my new single speed build. That bike fits me really well and is super comfortable, but my husband had been riding it around without a problem and decided to measure the reach because he couldn't believe it was fitting him. The effective top tube on it is also 535, and I also have a 10cm stem on it. So I can ride a longer top tube than I was thinking I could; I just can't do it if I have to also have the setback seatpost.

Someone -- TriskelionGirl, I think -- explained this to me a couple of years ago, but I am not so good with the visualization and it never made sense to me. Now I get it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Oh, mama... look at that fork!!!!! <drool, drool>

Beautiful bike, but....is there something unusual about the fork?

[KnottedYet]

Beautiful bike, but....is there something unusual about the fork?

The entire shoulder piece is chromed, and the sweep and taper of the blades just make me weak... sigh.