LBS and womens bikes

[Crankin]

If you are having trouble reaching the brakes from the hoods, then the reach is too far. Most people have trouble reaching the brakes from the drops, requiring shims or short reach levers. You might also want to look at "short and shallow" bars. The type of curve on the bar made a huge difference for me.
I am 5' 1" (maybe a little less now?) and I had a Trek 5200 (the precursor to the Madone) in a 47 cm. I had no issues with the overall size/fit, but I never really was able to get into the drops comfortably. Since then I bought a unisex frame and built it up with my own components. Getting a the Specialized bar with short and shallow drops, as well as the Ultegra short reach levers made biggest difference in the world. There are several companies that make these typs of bars.
I recently had a custom road bike with more relaxed geometry built for me. I found that they no longer make the Ultegra short reach brakes/levers. I got the new short reach 105s, but the reach is a few mm longer. This, combined with a slightly different bar still gets me comfortably into the drops, but I have to put my hands much further up into the curve to brake there. I am thinking about switching out to the Specialized bars on this bike, as the ones on there, while much more expensive, have bars angled down, in the newer style and I like the traditionally curved ones.
As everyone said, you should not be able to reach the ground with your feet, while on the saddle. I can put a toe down, if my bike is leaning, though.

[NadiaMac]

Re the specialized 44 vs 48 , they do not look all that different when you look at the frame geometries (stack and reach are only about 1cm smaller on the 44). So you might want to give that a try.

For what its worth I am considerably taller than you (5'4" with 30 inch inseam) but with a short torso and arms and very small hands, and I ride bikes that are somewhat smaller than the ones you are trying. Of course a lot of this has to do with flexibility, proportions and preference for your position, but it may be that the frames you tried are too big. You report that your hands and wrists hurt after a short test ride and that you cant reach the brakes from the tops of the hoods- it sounds like the reach is too big on these bikes. You should be able to brake from the tops.

On the brake reach- SRAM rival has an adjustable lever. This plus small bars, etc (as others described above) make it possible for me to brake from the tops and drops. Shimano brakes can be Jerry rigged with spacers to create a similar effect

[Koronin]

You may want to try the slightly smaller bikes, the 44cm Specialized and the 47cm Trek. I'm just a bit shorter than you are and would ride those sizes. Although I typically prefer the men's bike's geometry since I do have a bit shorter legs and a bit longer torso and arms. On that note it's virtually impossible to find LBS stores that stock the small frames in the men's versions as well. My old Trek store in the Charlotte area always keeps at least one of the smaller (47cm) Lexa's at one of their two stores. (They never stocked the smaller one that is now no longer made). Also a Specialized dealer in Raleigh always keeps at least 1 44cm Dolce in stock at one of their two stores. However, neither store stocks the small men's bikes. Now are new local Specialized/Felt store does have the smaller sized women's mountain bikes in stock and the Lexa, although they do not stock women's Felt bikes and only one of the Z line, they do stock several of the F series, and a different size in each of the ones they have a floor model of. (Although not the smallest one). They do stock (at least part of the time) 1 of the smallest of the men's Specialized bikes, although you never know which frame it will be. They really don't stock a lot of clothing (men or women's), but do stock tons of types of shoes and helmets. Although if I'm looking for clothing we go to Raleigh and check out Preformance (either in Cary or in Raleigh, although I prefer the Raleigh store). Now Performance stocks at least one example of each size of each of brands and types they carry.

[jyyanks]

Is the LBS willing to order you a 44 Dolce or 47 Trek? Only asking because my LBS was willing to do order me one at no obligation because they recognized that it was a size they didn't have in stock, and that they should carry at least one bike in that size for smaller size women to try (they have 4 stores and none of them stocked anything smaller than a 48).

They originally had me on a 48 (I'm 5'0 with a 26 inch inseam) and they were going to adjust it for me but another salesman realized that I was reaching out too far and he spoke to the manager and got a 44 approved. I think they saw that I was serious about the bike and figured that even if I didn't end up buying it, it would still be good to have on the floor.

Is there a Jamis dealer near you? I tried one of the smaller Jamis bikes as well but didn't like the fell of it as much as I liked the Specialized.

[breeze]

Thanks so much, everyone, for all of the feedback. I'm still looking at bikes locally (hoping to ride a Jamis Satellite tonight if the weather cooperates), and maybe a Felt this weekend.

I called the Terry dealer that is 3.5 hours from me and was super excited to hear that they have both the 44x50 and 46x50 Symmetry on the floor right now. I can't make the trip this weekend, but perhaps next weekend?? They offered to bring in any other Terry that I'd like to try, too.

Going back to the great LBS I visited this weekend-- I don't think they are thrilled with the idea of bringing in the 44 Dolce for me to try; the salesguy was pretty firm in that he thought it would be too small for me, and the same with the Trek 47. Not sure if he thought I wasn't serious enough, or if he's just worried that the shop would be stuck with the smaller bikes or what. An off note in an otherwise good experience there. Regarding the Trek, though: there's a group of three Trek concept shops in town, so I may be able to ride the smaller sizes through one of those. There are a ton of Trek authorized dealers around the area, too, so I'm less concerned about that (though bummed that Trek eliminated the Madone 43 for 2012).

I'm really leaning towards getting a "go fast" bike for now and finding a heavier touring/sort of CX bike for rail trails later. It seems like my mind changes daily on this, though, so grain of salt and all that. I have to say that I never thought I'd want/need more than one bike and now I want ALL of the bikes! I can picture myself with several in my "stable" for years to come, and I'm pretty sure that DH is just as hooked... now I just need to finish grad school and make some money to afford all of these nice bikes!

[Possegal]

As a native of the 'burgh I'm curious what LBS you found that you like a lot. Always good to know a good place back home as well as one local to me here.

[breeze]

As a native of the 'burgh I'm curious what LBS you found that you like a lot. Always good to know a good place back home as well as one local to me here.

The great LBS is Dirty Harry's, out in Verona. They were really busy on Saturday, and still made me feel like the only customer in the shop. Plus, while I was out riding, they fit DH for a bike so that he could ride, too-- totally great.

The terrible LBS that wouldn't return my calls is Pro Bikes in Squirrel Hill, and the guy that I contacted (5 times) was their general manager for all three of their stores. Still waiting for that return call/email... not holding my breath, obviously.