what size bike should I buy

[kelleil]

I'm 5 foot 1 and a half. My legs are a bit longer than my torso, proportionally. I'm totally new to biking. I have a raleigh venture 3.0 and its lovely and comfy. But its also heavy as hell and I need to commute with it and carry it up flights of stairs.

So I need it for a commute and then some road cycling underneath 50 miles, but not a dedicated road bike. I've been hovering around the Specialized Vita Elite and the Jamis Coda Femme. Not sure what to do.....

[Owlie]

Kelleil, do you have bike shops nearby that carry either? Take 'em both out for test rides. I know you might have trouble finding one in your size, but the shop may be able to contact the area representative for the company and arrange to borrow one in your size so you can test it out before buying. (My LBS offered to do that for me with a Specialized bike, though I have the opposite problem in testing bikes. ) They should not expect you to make a major purchase like that without testing it out.

[kelleil]

Specialized is nearby ish but Jamis is not. I plan on taking at least the specialized for a spin. I just have no idea what my perference is for materials.

[Owlie]

Specialized is nearby ish but Jamis is not. I plan on taking at least the specialized for a spin. I just have no idea what my perference is for materials.

That's what the test rides are for. Aluminum is light and cheap, but tends to transmit vibrations, though that depends partly on the quality of the tubing and (I get the impression) on the frame. Some people are more susceptible to it than others, and even then, you can minimize it by swapping some parts for carbon ones (if you choose to go that route) or even simply running a slightly lower tire pressure. Steel can be light too, and doesn't transmit vibration to the same extent because it flexes, though I imagine weight and ride quality depend on the tubing too. It's really a personal preference. The Coda looks like a nice bike. See if you can test one.

[Koronin]

I'm 5'0 with shorter legs and a longer torso. I ride a Trek 2000 47cm men's bike. The Specialized 44cm and the Trek 47cm are very close in size actually. I've actually gotten to test both a Trek Lexa 47cm and a Specialized Dolce 44cm just to get an idea of which company would work better for me in the future. Although those are the two I tested my next bike is going to be carbon. Unfortunately I have to drive 2 hours to the LBS's I prefer working with. We have a local shop here, but I do not care for them. So I drive to Raleigh to deal with a couple of stores there. A Trek store downtown and actually the Specialized store is downtown. Personally I liked the feel of the Trek better and am hoping to get a Madone. Now to determine if a WSD or a unisex is better for me...I'm leaning towards the unisex bike.

[TrekTheKaty]

I just did some Trek research and learned something--the women's madone is considered a H3 frame (relaxed geometry, more upright for recreational riders) with a different handlebar (no longer called WSD, because it can also be used by men that need shallower drops and shorter reach to shifters/brakes). If you compare the frame geometry on their website, they are EXACTLY the same However, finding a small men's frame in H3, may be harder than finding a small women's frame. A good fitter can switch everything over for you.

This came up because the WSD madone 5.2 is grey/white/pink and the men's is black/red/white.

[Koronin]

TrekTheKaty, thanks for that info. Then I think I need the unisex bike and not the WSD/H3 bike. Plus if the H3 bike only comes with pink in it I'd refuse to buy it for that reason alone. I so hate, hate, hate pink. The problem is going to be finding a unisex bike in a 47cm version.