Am I ready for a road bike?

[laura*]

From their website, it sounds like their ZW line is "women specific." Am I misunderstanding their website? Granted, I think that label doesn't always mean much and I don't necessary agree that there is some magic geometry that works for all women,

The geometry of the Medium ZW is identical to the 51cm Z, and the Tall ZW is identical to the 54cm Z. That leaves just the 650c wheeled Petite ZW and 700c wheeled Small ZW as unique from the Z line.

but it does sound like they make some accommodations for women with that line of bikes, e.g., shorter cranks, narrower handlebars, compact gearing.

I didn't check, but presumably they do change the componentry they hang on the frames. I lost interest in researching** further when I noticed that 1 ) the ZW line ends before growing to my size, 2 ) the larger ZW geometries aren't unique, and 3 ) their regular geometries totally wouldn't work for me.

** I've recently been downloading road/cyclocross geometry charts from many manufacturers...

[Koronin]

Indysteel, I pretty much thought the same thing you do about the ZW line. I just didn't pay it much attention though because the F series geometry was more what I was looking for than the Z/ZW series.

[jyyanks]

Just found out that the local Felt dealer (who also carries Surly) is a "Serotta Certifies Fit" Shop. I may go there first and inquire about a fitting. If you buy the bike from them, I think they do end up giving you a discount. The only thing is that this is not the LBS that I go to but if the bike fits.....

Jobob - thanks for your input! It's so nice to hear from someone who also felt that they had to "deserve" a road bike, but, after 8 years, is still gung-ho about biking. I assume you bought the bike and had no regrets. I hope that in a couple of years, I'll be telling some newbie to take a chance and just go for it!