Quote Originally Posted by nuliajuk View Post
I'm glad you got something that worked so well for you! Thinking back to bikes I've owned over the decades, I have nostalgic thoughts about the rides I did on them, but wouldn't go back to down-tube shifters, toe clips, or deep drop handlebars for any amount of money. People who are overly nostalgic about the good ol' days of cycling often forget that riders at the extreme ends of the size spectrum - but especially small riders - were simply left out.
Heck, we're still left out in many ways. I'm frustrated as I look to upgrade my CX bike. If I want something more than entry-level frame and components I pretty much have to go custom...and at just under 5'4" I'm not THAT small, but women still make up a fraction of the field at local races (I think there were only 6-7 of us at yesterday's race...out of hundreds of racers. Most women I've ever seen in a day at our area series is in the neighborhood of 15). Just finding a frame small enough in the first place is a challenge, since the bottom bracket height is so much higher than on a road bike. To find bikes with top tubes that I can clear means that anything larger than a 44 (comparable to my 48cm road bike) is generally going to be too big. I love my Redline and was drooling over their carbon/disc Pro model...which starts at a 48 and would be far too big for me.