2007 SW Works Ruby

[jpbayarea]

Hi to all,

As winter moves into early spring here in San Diego I am drooling over the new Ruby for 2007. Has anyone tried this bike? I am an avid Specialized lover, having ridden my Specialized Roubaix Elite for about 10,000 miles in the past two+ years. Now I hope this new bike will be a bit stiffer and that will translate into easier and faster climbing and riding. It may be the
placebo effect and not as dramatic as I would hope. If any of you have ridden this new beauty I'd love to hear your thoughts apres ride.

Thanks and let's keep hoping for Spring to spring...Winter riding, even here in supposedly warm San Diego has been windy, cold and not for the faint of
heart. I guess I'm more wimpy than I'd like to admit but I sure do prefer
warmer riding than winter offers. Maybe a new Ruby will be just what
warms the heart of this rider.

Thanks!

Jpbayarea

[KSH]

Well, I don't own a Ruby... but I did purchase a Tarmac. Pretty much the same bike... except it's not a WSD.

I found the Ruby as enjoyable to ride as the Tarmac on my test rides. I would have considered the Ruby, but it was $400 more than the Tarmac (Tarmac was on sale).

I also test rode the Roubaix... but wasn't as impressed. It was OK, but felt sluggish.

I have only ridden my Tarmac for 25 miles... but so far... a very nice ride! Smooth and the shifting with the all Ultegra components... SWEET!

Honestly, I can't imagine why the Ruby would be a bad purchase. I am sure you will get 1,000's of fun miles on it!

[jpbayarea]

Thanks for your input. I know what you mean about the Roubaix. I love the bike, can ride for hours but it does feel a bit sluggish now that I am a better rider. I hope that the stiffer frame will translate into performance but
the bike shop says performance, especially on hills is all about weight, wheels and probably a good dose of Liking to Climb. I am not one of those love to climb a hill women. I sure wish I was because we literally cannot climb hills here in our area on San Diego. I grunt all the way up and am not having much fun if it's long and steep. I liked the Tarmac too but haven't tried one. The new Ruby is an SWorks bike so it's been upgraded from the original. It's expensive but hopefully worth the outlay.

Thanks again, Jp

[Eden]

I have a 2006 Ruby Pro - its pretty similar to the S Works Ruby, with the execption that instead of the Specialized crank set and Ksyrium wheels mine has both of them DA.

I don't know what a Roubaix feels like - I'm not big enough to actually ride one....., but I went from an aluminum frame Fuji to my Ruby. I noticed right away that it has more snap and accelerates faster - helped my sprint a lot. As far as climbing goes, the Ruby is about 5lbs lighter than my old bike. This does translate to easier climbing, but its not something that I think I can really notice on smaller hills. Over long climbs (or probably repeated climbs) in a competitive environment yes it does make a difference - say about 5 min over a 2 hour climb, which is big, but when we're talking shorter climbs its pretty hard to say... Don't expect to suddenly be breezing up hills that were hard to climb before though, expect the difference to be more likely measurable in seconds

[caligurl]

exactly! i always read these threads where people get new bikes and say how much faster they are on their new bikes...... well when i got my ruby pro last year.... i didn't notice my speed going up any???????????????? yes the bike FELT different.... better... than my dolce.... but as far as going 2-3 mph faster like so many claim.... nope.... didn't happen!

the ruby line (not the s-works) is actually cheaper this year than last year's line cuz they did downgrade a lot of the components! i'm so glad i got mine last year when the WHOLE bike was made with dura-ace and not pieced together like this year's version!!!!!!

the ruby s-works is gorgeous... but i wish they'd have put DA wheels on it! so for now i'll stick with my very comfortable ruby pro! she's a good bike!

[Eden]

.... but as far as going 2-3 mph faster like so many claim.... nope.... didn't happen!

I think that usually comes from getting a bike that fits, rather than one that is lighter, stiffer etc.

I did experience this when I went from my Trek to my Fuji - I went from a 48cm touring geometry bike (long top tube) to a 44cm compact geometry bike and immediately, out of the box experienced a speed jump. This was due more to the fact that suddenly I was using leg muscles that weren't in play with the old frame than in the weight or stiffness differences.

[minan]

Do you know what components they downgraded for the 2007 Ruby? I just bought a 2006 Ruby Comp, which was the same price as the 2007 at Toga Bike Shop. The guys there said the components were exactly the same and that there were no changes except for the color.

exactly! i always read these threads where people get new bikes and say how much faster they are on their new bikes...... well when i got my ruby pro last year.... i didn't notice my speed going up any???????????????? yes the bike FELT different.... better... than my dolce.... but as far as going 2-3 mph faster like so many claim.... nope.... didn't happen!

the ruby line (not the s-works) is actually cheaper this year than last year's line cuz they did downgrade a lot of the components! i'm so glad i got mine last year when the WHOLE bike was made with dura-ace and not pieced together like this year's version!!!!!!

the ruby s-works is gorgeous... but i wish they'd have put DA wheels on it! so for now i'll stick with my very comfortable ruby pro! she's a good bike!

[Eden]

I think the changes were just to the Ruby Pro, since they added the S Works as the highest end model now - the other models I think have stayed the same