Do you have a question for Specialized Women's Product Team?

[rlambert]

What a surprise. Women say "ow ow ow that hurts!" and by dang gum it does

Thank you for the shoes I have a broken toe and can't wear road shoes anymore or at least have not found a pair that don't cramp my boo boo toe. Specialized Tahoe are supportive, fit nice and tight and still room for that one broken toe. Without 'em I'd be wearing cycling sandals, or buying two pair of shoes to have two different sizes and then trying to sell the spare shoe on TE not that there's anything wrong with that.

Thank you!!

I have one question: Bike Snob NY thinks this video:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=33018

is produced by Performance bike co. Any inside scoop?

HA! We have all been sending that around here too. I wish I knew who made that because it is truly hilarious!

[smilingcat]

Hi Rachel,

I occasionally ride my Transition Pro (2007??) equipped with SRAM groupo and with Toupe seat. I don't take it out on a group ride because of safety issue.

My other bike also has Toupe. Both of my toupes' have Ti rail. and I have a spare Jett saddle.

I don't know why but I found the Toupe to be bit more comfortable then the Jett130 and the Jet is for women while the Toupe is for men. Equivalent to Toupe is the ruby saddle. Am bit nervous about spending more money to try out the Ruby.

First set of question. I've asked and really didn't get an answer from LBS.
Soo what's the difference between Ruby and Toupe? Is it just marketing or something different in construction?

Second thing. I'm bit peeved with my small transition pro frame. I wanted to point out the problems to the gals at 2008 Cindrella classic ride, the gals manning the booth just blew me off when I wanted to let them know about the problem. Sooo, please pass this on.
The nuts brazed on the frame for the water bottle cage needs to be located better. Only cage I can put on the frame and still be able to put a bottle in/out would be a side mount cage where the bottle comes in and out from the side and not from the top. I'm not about to use a "side entry" cage for fear of dropping my bottle during a ride. Riding over your own bottle is one thing but not having any water is really I ended up mounting a tri style cage behind my saddle. It's mounted on the rail. It's a compromise. Please tell them when they make a smaller frame to check to make sure everything works right and not just cut the tubes shorter to make the frame smaller. On my frame the nuts needs to be placed closer to the bottom bracket. There is no way to mount two water bottles but having a choice between the seat tube or the down tube would be a nice touch. One water bottle is plenty for most TTs anyway. Both locations are too high up, too close to the top tube or the steer tube. Even a short water bottles would get jammed.

I don't think the bike is UCI legal because of the seat position. It is sitting forward for Tri and not set for TT. (I think I know what I'm talking about).

BTW, I love the color scheme on my frame it's metallic red and greyish silver.

Thanks for letting me vent, and +1 with Eden. I ride 39/53 chain ring and now that I'm getting OLDER, I may think about using a compact double. but not yet. Give us a choice.

[Triskeliongirl]

Smiling cat, FYI I have arundel brand side entry cages http://www.arundelbike.com/sideloader.html?p=1.1.1.3
on my 48 cm cervelo RS, and have never had a problem with the bottles falling out.

I actually like them a lot more than top loaders, even when there is 'room' for them on a small frame, as they are more natural for getting the bottles in and out.

My gripe with specialized bikes is the seat tube angles are way too steep for me on the smaller sizes. I would have loved to get a ruby, but the cerevelo was the only bike with a slack enough seat tube angle for me to get a properly set up KOP.

[rlambert]

Welcome - sorry you kind of got off on the wrong foot with some people, but yeah - the best way to become part of this community is to jump in and talk about YOUR riding, not ours! But as to your post, are you looking for questions or requests? Because I think a lot of us have requests...

I do have a question though. How exactly are your saddles measured? I've been riding a 155 mm Lithia and doing pretty much okay with it (although I would have a couple of requests for a different saddle...) but when I measured it, I really couldn't come up with 155 mm any place. I just got a Jett that I haven't tried yet, and it says 155 mm also, but looks narrower in back than the Lithia. If it turns out when I ride it that it really is narrower than the Lithia, I'm going to have to send it back - the Lithia is just barely wide enough for me.

Thanks so much for the question. To answer it, we measure our saddle width from the widest area on the saddle. A lot of times it is helpful to measure it from the underside in order to visually be able to see where the widest spot is. We just launched a new Saddle Test program with our local Specialized dealers that should be available at dealers in September. It is a way to try the saddles out without having to purchase them. The width of the Jett and the Lithia will be the same, but the amount of padding will obviously be quite different which can visually alter how wide it looks. I hope this answers your question. If you have any further questions, please let me know!

[rlambert]

I was over on the Commuters thread reading about hair problems, and thought, "Maybe this is a problem some company could work on." And then I thought of this thread. So here's my question for Specialized: Since a lot of women are reluctant to ride, or to ride more often, because they don't want to have flat, frizzy or wet hair with dents in it when they get where they're going, are there any helmets or other products that will help us have work-worthy hairdos, and, if not, could you put someone to work on inventing some?
I'm aware that many women couldn't care less, but if we want more people out of their air-conditioned cars and on bikes, someone needs to address this.

While I totally understand this question and think it is very valid, did any of you ever see the clip from Scrubs and the "Hairmet"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0rGoWtF-hs

I have however, passed your request and suggestions off to our helmet development team. I agree that it would be a great way to encourage people who otherwise wouldn't commute to have one less reason not to!

[spazzdog]

see my post in the hair thread...

spazz

[aicabsolut]

I don't have any questions right now, but I have some comments.

The BG Pro gloves need to go back to how they were a couple years ago (before the weird vents in the thumb). Now they are really tight at the knuckles for what used to be the right size (and the next size up is huge). The thumb vent things detract from the soft snot rag material on the thumb. I have 2 pairs of the older style, but they don't last very long. If it helps, I wear men's. Women's gloves don't fit me in pretty much any brand.

I'm really excited that women FINALLY get an S-works road shoe. However, I wish the price was a bit closer to the Pro.

Oh, wait, here's a question. Why do the Toupe and Ruby saddles have that plastic nose tip? Is that ever going away? I've seen the new Toupe has a slightly smaller one. I've read a lot of complaints on this board and other cycling forums about this feature. It really sucks to be mid-sprint and to have that point occasionally jab me in the thigh.

[tride]

hi rachel~welcome!

sooooo, even though I have certain sponsors that I ride, wear, promote, etc (Specialized is NOT one of them~though they are welcome to be =) !!!) I always ride the Ruby saddles. *my girly parts luv it!* Here's my question...how does a girl go about getting one of your new test saddles? Feel free to just simply send us all one, btw. ;-)

Also, I have a suggestion: I am not OPPOSED to the more 'feminine' offerings of Specialized (with most of their line, in general) but PLEASE allow us women who do NOT care for flowers, light/baby blue, pink, etc. other options. It seems to me that Specialized offers a better overall quality, with more options available, to their men's products than to their women's (from the basics of socks clear up to a fully equipped bike). I find it a little insulting and condescending, personally. Just something to bring up if/when you get a chance =).

thanks for joining us! *still newbie, myself*
kimberly

[Triskeliongirl]

Good points on color choices. I too hate the girly girl colors. For a bike I like nude carbon cuz it doesn't show the dirt and there is no added paint weight. For clothes, I like screaming yellow so I am seen in traffic. Maybe I'm just too practical, but something to consider.

[Tuckervill]

I don't think blue is girly. Honestly, these manufacturers can't win when picking colors. I would like plain color and schemes more than flowery, but there are people here who really like flowery. I love graphical patterns. I love the Jelly Belly bikes with jelly beans all over them.

My Dolce is blue. My Trek 1000 was blue (I guess it still is, but I don't have it anymore). Lots of my cycling clothes and my helmet are blue. I like blue!

I think we should cut the manufacturers some slack with the color schemes. They can't please everyone.

Karen

[bmccasland]

I think we should cut the manufacturers some slack with the color schemes. They can't please everyone.

Karen

Maybe, but I'm sick of the Girl = baby Pink thing. Ick ick ick.

Whoever invented the boy = blue, girl = pink should be slapped up-side the head as far as I'm concerned. Give me blue over pink any day!

[leathela]

Welcome!

I don't really have a specific question, but just wanted to say that I ride both a Myka Elite and a Dolce Triple, and love them. I feel like Specialized really undestands WSD. So...keep up the good work! I was so excited to see the 2010 models.

[withm]

OK I'll bite. I just ordered a Dolce Comp. What color water bottle cages should I get? (I haven't seen the bike yet... but want to get a head start on the accessories.)

[Bluetree]

I know you're in the mountain bike division, so this isn't really your field, but my question is why does it look like you've all taken two steps back with your women's racing bikes? Last year you finally had small bikes equal to the men's models. Now I see the new Amira only goes up to the "Expert" level model and comes with a compact crank standard. Give us a little credit...

@Eden
My dealer says he can deliver me a 44cm S-Works Amira frameset by November. Apparently, it is the lightest frame in Spesh's lineup, and since their lightest Tarmac is out of the box at 13.9, it should be something. But yeah, it's a compact.

@Smilingcat
Arundel carbon sideloading cages are very secure. If you would like to try them out, I have an extra pair you can borrow. But I agree, since Spec offers some of the smallest size frames, they could have thought about the cages more. (I also have an extra 143 Ruby saddle).

Comments/questions...
• No pinky flowery stuff for me. I would go custom before I rode something stereotypically "girly"

• Spec's clothing line is not up to the quality of their bikes. Designs are uninspring and seem tailored towards casual riders. No BIB shorts for women? Come on...

• As much as I like the patented BB on my S-Works Ruby, I wish they would make it a standard BB30 so I can use other cranksets with gluing in a sleeve. The S-Works chainrings don't work with Campy chains as well as the FSA and SRAM cranksets on my other bikes.

• I was interested in the integrated Ruby Barmac... Until I found out that is was actually heavier than my Ruby handlebar-stem combo. That seems counterproductive. Will this be improved, or will the Barmac be continued as a blingy novelty?

• After countless saddle/handlebar changes, all of my bikes now have Ruby SL saddles and Ruby 38cm carbon bars. Your products rock.

•

[rlambert]

Hey Everybody,

First off, thank you all for the questions and comments, they are so insightful. I have only answered a handful of the questions and we are going to answer the rest of them with a video reply from Eron Chorney, our women's brand manager. I really appreciate how thorough all the feedback has been as well as all the comments on product and colors and graphics. We will post it up on here by the middle of this week and will include answers to saddle questions, road bikes, bottle cages and colors and graphics. Thanks again!

Rachael