Road bike shopping for short person

[goldfinch]

I would like some advice on shopping for a road bike. Sorry, this is kind of long because I have specific needs and posting about it will help me clarify my thoughts as I shop. My budget is roughly $4000 or less. Preferably less. I really would like to hear from the less that five foot crowd as to what they ride.

I am just short of 4'11" tall and am 56 years old. I weigh 119 and am losing weight with a goal of 110. I currently ride an extra small Cannondale Quick4 hybrid. This bike has 26 inch wheels. It fits me well. It is very compact, with a short reach. The standover is 68.9cm, which is plenty fine. My self measured inseam from crotch to ground is about 27.5 (just short of 70cm). My arms are very short. I would say that my torso is about average for my height. I keep my handlebars about an inch higher than my seat.

I have arthritis in my neck. My physical therapist, who is a distance biker, says eventually I will want to begin to move to a more upright position on a bike to spare my neck. He suggested a recumbent but says there is no rush, I can ride as long as I feel I can. I am working on delaying the inevitable by doing a number of core exercises and other things to improve strength. But I likely have a limited number of years where I can ride a road bike. I want to seize those years and enjoy them. Maybe in five years I'll move to some kind of recumbent, likely a trike. But not yet.

I have found that I really like biking and I like increasing my distances. I would like a road bike for a few reasons. One is that I want drop bars. The flat bars do not give me a lot of hand positions. The PT says the drop bars will be better for me as long as they aren't set too low. I also want a bit more speed, even though I know speed is more about the engine than the bike.

I also want a less harsh ride. My Cannondale is aluminum. It has a carbon fork and I have carbon rails on my seat. But I feel every bit of roughness in the road. It rides harsh. Some have told me it is partly because the bike is so compact there is little to flex. This same person told me that this is going to be a general problem in shopping for extra small bikes. The triangle of the frame will inevitably be small and thus there will be less play in the materials. Whether it is steel or aluminum it may be harsh. I have no idea if he knows what he is talking about.

I am not yet a strong rider. One advantage of my 26 inch wheel Quick is the mountain gearing. It is geared low enough for me to go up most hills I need to go up. I make use of the lowest gear frequently! So, I am a bit worried that bikes with compact doubles do not have low enough gears. I assume with a triple I could easily switch out to lower gear range if needed. I am less clear on what you can do to modify gearing on a double.

I am planning a trip in September to Minneapolis to try out some bikes. Many bike manufacturers have road bikes in a 44cm size with a roughly 50cm effective top tube. Many of these have 700cm wheels. A few have 650s. I am concerned that these bikes are too big. I already have ridden a 44cm Synapse. I didn't like it. It just didn't feel right. Riding the hoods it was a bit hard to shift and hard to brake. It wasn't geared low enough (though it had a triple so that could be changed, I assume.) I could clear the top tube standing over it but it was borderline. It wasn't twitchy and was easy to maneuver. But it didn't speak to me. The ride was on a smooth street so it was hard to compare the ride to my Quick.

Trek makes two smaller WSD bikes. The top of the line Lexa and the Madone 4.7 come in a 43cm size with 650 wheels. The effective top tube is pretty compact, at only 48cm. This might be nice. The Lexa is aluminum with a triple. The Madone has a compact double and is carbon. The Madone is simply lovely to look at. I will try both. But I am worried about the compact double on the Madone.

Felt also has petite choices in its ZW line of bikes. The frame sizes are close to the 43cm Treks. Both carbon and aluminum choices are available. It is harder though to find one to test out. There are a number of dealers in the twin cities so I hope to track a petite frame down. The Felts appear to come in compact doubles.

Another option is Terry, which has its 44cm bikes on 650 wheels and its smaller sizes with a 24inch front and 700 back. I rode a Terry that was too big for me a while back. I found it a bit squirrely. I also find the small front large rear set up ugly. But if it was the best fit I could get past my offended aesthetics. However, it is a big production to try to get one to try. Terry has aluminum bikes and also steel in their semi-custom.

These seem to be the main choices available if a 44cm bike is too big. However, I would like to try a Specialized Ruby because people have said that it is compact for a 44cm bike. But my bet is that smaller will be better.

When I worked with a fitter to deal with comfort issues on my Quick he suggested going custom. My worry is that he saw a retired woman with money to spend. I don't know if I really need custom and I don't know if it would be better than stock options for me. Plus, I don't want to spend more than $4000, if that. I am unsure what custom costs. The fitter's business sells Waterfords and that is what he suggested.

It seems to me that custom is a risk as you can't try it to see if you like it.

I also was Googling around for info on small frame road bikes and found a semi-custom option in Rodriguez bikes, based in Seattle. http://www.rodcycle.com/ Their prices seem reasonable and they claim to fit the height challenged, with two stock options, one with a short reach and higher standover, the other with a longer reach and lower standover. I can't try one first, but they will take back their stock bikes if they don't work for you and they will work with you to try to get a good fit. They will do full custom for only a slight price increase.

I have also tried another type of bike, a tourer, the Surly LHT in the 42cm. It felt pretty good, had the nice small 26 inch wheels that I like on my bike. I am iffy on the bar end shifters but is not a deal breaker. I liked the triple. The Surly Pacer is a bit more road like but the standover was too high because they appear to use bigger wheels on that bike. I think the LHT is a heavier bike than what I want as I do not plan overnight tours. Instead, I am thinking century rides. So, I have decided against the LHT.

So. . . . .

What do you shorter people ride for a road bike? Are the small frame aluminum and steel bikes harsh rides? Is carbon better? How close do you have to be on fit? Anyone under five feet tall ride a bike with 700cm wheels? What is or is not working for you?

Anyone have a bike from Rodriguez?

How about a Waterford or Gunnar? What kind of cost is involved with a complete custom bike? Any other companies besides Waterford?

Thank you for any thoughts you might have.