Major disappointment while bike shopping

[MartianDestiny]

being a women in a male dominated sport sucks

I agree that some areas/shops need to work on their availability of smaller bikes and/or women's models, but I've been seeing lots of improvement in this area over the last few years.

That's not really what's going on here. Averaged sized men aren't getting the bikes they want this year either. Manufacturers just didn't make enough of really anything, and the shops can't stock it (whether they want to or not) when it doesn't exist

[nscrbug]

I had the same problem and had to drive all over Southern Cali to try out different models. Finally settled on the Specialized Ruby Pro. I just got her back from the bike hospital after a terrible accident. I T-boned a car (his fault) doing about 17mph and Ruby came out much better than I did. No cracks in her frame and the Roval wheels didn't even bend. The bike mechanic couldn't believe it. He actually dismantled her on two different occasions convinced he had missed a crack in the carbon. I did have to replace the crankset and shifters but the frame and wheels are amazing. I have unfortunately witnessed many bike-to-bike and bike-to-car accidents and their bikes looked like they had been run over by a mack truck. Not my Ruby, she's as solid as they come. So I can attest that the Ruby is a well built machine. Do try to find a Ruby and give her a test spin. It is a good chunk of change so you better LOVE what you buy.

Safe riding

I found a bike shop roughly 40 miles away from me, that "supposedly" has 2 Ruby Pro's (2009 models, they're asking $3,600 for these) in stock, in my size...one is DA, the other is SRAM. I am planning to make the trek out there this weekend to check 'em out. This same dealer also "supposedly" has a Giant Avail Advanced in my size, too...so I'm excited about that. However, the guy did tell me that they do NOT have the Cannondale Synapse Fem 3 that I'm lusting for, in stock and won't be getting anymore for this year...so that's a bummer. Oh well...I'll go there anyway and keep my fingers crossed that I find something that I LOVE.

[Triskeliongirl]

If you already know what size and model fits you, you could ring up my local cannondale dealer to see if they have it in stock and would be willing to ship it to you. Bicycle Heaven in San Antonio is the shop. They sold me my cervelo and are great people. Good luck! Tell them Eileen who bought the 48cm cervelo RS recommended them.

[tulip]

...keep my fingers crossed that I find something that I LOVE.

one word: LUNA

[ridebikeme]

It definitely has been a difficult season for everyone. What started all of this is the abundence of bikes leftover from last season. The direct result of that is lots of bike shops either didn't write preseason orders OR wrote very small ones. With that in mind, bike manufacturers made fewer bikes. Now that is coupled with Shimano and everyone else making less inventory as well. Needless to say, after 18 years in the bike business, I can honestly say that this was the worst season for getting anything!

I feel your pain about not being able to get what you want, my bike didn't come in either. And it's been very difficult to buy LOTS of items for the shop this season.The other side of that coin is that most of the older inventory will be flushed out, and perhaps they'll be more a level playing field next season. And with a spark that people want to buy again, perhaps the manufacturers will up the anty a bit.