Quote Originally Posted by Seal View Post
Ok I don't know if I want a "forever" bike because technology changes and I might want something cooler or cuter later. but I sure don't want to need another one in 1 or 2 years if it can be helped. I just want one I'm not liable to hurt and that will be comfortable and not "too much bike". My inseam with the ruler pressing my pubic bone is 80mm or 31.5" and I'm not sure but I think I have either long or average legs. I definately am not a person with a long torso.

I am near enough to look in Frederick or winchester or even silver spring. All they have fir women is treks in Rockville at revolution but of course it owns up way more options if I can do a man 's bike.

Just got on the scale w my moutain bike. It weighs 33lbs.

Does steel cause vibration too? I have a feeling my main problem with my wrists are they are flexing on the mtn bike but am not sure if it's sharer the bike is made of that's contributing.

If you're paying $4k on a bike - you seriously don't want to be updating to something cuter in another few years.

Steel has vibration, but it is not as bad as aluminum and it should cushion it a bit - on a mountain bike you can look into ergon grips:
http://www.amazon.com/Ergon-GP1-Perf...9411211&sr=8-1

What you want to make sure is that you're not leaning on your wrists at any point, and that your wrists aren't bent back towards you - you want your shifters & brake levers to be sort of inline with your arm being straight in a relaxed position. You can get gloves with gel padding in them that might help. There's a ton of threads on wrist pain on here, if you search around you'll find a lot of solutions.

Frederick's got specialized, orbeas, sevens, and a few other brands to try.

Anyways, I was just mentioning the weight of titanium vs. carbon to let you know that titanium can be as light as carbon. Aluminum is as well. So just because you want something light doesn't confine you to carbon. Some of the custom steel people on here can tell you how it compares - I think it's probably similar - just I find surly's heavy.