European women-specific stock bikes?

[papaver]

I honestly wouldn't know. I'm short myself and the choice for me was already limited.

[out_spokin']

Yeah, I did the men's bike/short stem deal for a while, but it was still way too long a reach. I actually have a custom road/all-rounder bike now, but crave more experiences on different bikes. Sheesh, if I were a guy who fit on a 56cm square bike I'd be buying and selling interesting used bikes constantly!

Plus I'm considering doing 'cross...thus my curiosity about European builders arose.

marinkap, good luck with your savings fund! I wanted an IF, but didn't have the patience. But my local builder worked with me on building a variation of their 'club racer'.

[papaver]

http://www.roseversand.de/output/con...&detail2=18131

[Roar]

I am in Europe and am bike-shopping right now. When I ask about WSD, everyone's whipping out the Specialized / Cannondale brochures.

That being said, I am short like Papaver and that could be playing into it since Specialized and Cannondale make some good smaller bikes.

Papaver - I saw that thread with your bike in it. It's AWESOME. AWESOME.

Quick question: Do you find that Campagnolo hoods are smaller? I am a bit smaller than you are and I can't get my hands around the Shimanos. I thought it was because nothing was adjusted but apparently that's not necessarily the case. (You can PM me if you want... I don't mean to hijack the thread.)

[NbyNW]

Quick question: Do you find that Campagnolo hoods are smaller?

I also have small hands and I find the Campagnolo hoods to be more manageable than the Shimano on my previous bike. There's a good thread around here somewhere about shifters/brakes for smaller hands.

[papaver]

yep I also prefer Campa (and I've got really small hands). When I had my bike made I only wanted campa.

thanx for the compliment btw.

Belgium is THE cyclo-cross country and even here it's hard to find a good cyclo cross bike. Even for men...

Most small women here that want to try a racing bike without investing in a new one buy a second hand one. We have a lot of young boys (as from the age of six till sixteen) that aspire to be a pro-cyclist so there's enough choice...

[alpinerabbit]

cervelo says WSD is bogus, there's only spsd (short people specific design) - go figure.

I am fairly tall and went for a smal men's frame.
I have toe overlap but I wonder if that can be evaded.