Long Torso, Short Legs.

[winddance]

Soooo everyone loves the Amira... Interesting!

I live outside of San Francisco so I've got every dealer nearby. Soooo lucky.

I am so thankful for y'all, I'd never even thought men's.

I like Felts but I get gnarled at the color choices (I'm against anything in the color white, which is vastly stronger than my dislike of trek or cannondale. I know, it makes no sense. I also hate bananas but love plantains. This color problem will most likely keep me off binanchi's)

Marin's, Jamis any good? The giant time trial bike is sooooooo hot but otherwise I'm skeptical based off on nothing more than hunch.

Y'all seriously rock!

I LOVE my Amira. LOVE. Yeah, it's a bit of a "harsher" ride compared to a Ruby with all of the vibration-dampening inserts built in, but I've always liked a stiffer, more aggressive ride. It's a very responsive bike, you ask and it gives back. I actually went into the shop intending to buy something more like a Ruby but based on my feedback they got me on the Amira, and I got off with a huge grin on my face. I knew I had blown my budget and found my bike.

My other contender aside from the Ruby was a Trek Madone WSD (I can't remember which number.) I did like the fit but it wasn't as nimble as the Amira and felt a bit clunky in comparison. It was a nice bike for the (closeout) price, however, and I did consider it, but it didn't make me go, "Wheee!" the same way the Specialized bikes do.

I did also like the feel of the Cannondale CAAD series, but they were too long in the top tube for me. Since I had just gone through that with my unisex Orbea frame, fixing that at the stem was the last thing I wanted and the more compact Amira cockpit felt better.

I would actually say the Cannondale I rode was the closest to the Amira in exciting me - but I just wasn't willing to go there with the top tube. I know there are lots of C'dale fans here and that you're not one (I'm usually not either since the fit is usually all wrong for me) but don't talk yourself out of a really good bike for you!