1st century (maybe), new roadie on a budget

[ny biker]

I'm sorry I haven't had time to read this thread in detail. Apologies if this is off-point or reiterating points already made. But I noticed something about a problem with handlebars being too wide on one bike -- you could replace them with something narrower if you end up with a bike that's perfect except for the bars.

I went from a men's Trek 2000 to a WSD Madone in the same frame size but the difference in fit and comfort was huge for me. Different bikes, and certainly not the same geometry for men's and women's. I had the shortest possible stem on the Trek 2000 and the reach was still too long. Also the handlebars were too big to ride in the drops. And I always thought I had long arms -- many long sleeved shirts are too too short for me. With the WSD Madone and the compact handlebars that came with it, I have been way more comfortable. After a few years I got a narrower version of the same handlebar to address some shoulder and neck problems.

The thing is that the Trek 2000 was my first road bike, I had a fitting done before buying it, and I thought it was okay. Until years later I was having a new saddle fitting for it, and the guy doing the fitting pointed out that my shoulders were hunched because the reach was too long. I didn't really understand what he was saying until I tried the WSD Madone. He let me take it for a long test ride because I was concerned about the gearing; after about 10 minutes I understood his point about the reach on the old bike.

So I guess my point is to try to pay attention to your shoulders, neck and arms while you are test riding. With your hands on the hoods, your elbows should be a bit bent. You should be able to ride with your neck and relaxed, not hunched up. Also try riding in the drops -- you should feel comfortable and able to reach and work the brake/shift levers easily.

Re: aluminum frames, my first bike was aluminum and I rode several centuries and many other 60-80 mile rides on it. It was fine and I would still be riding it if the fit had been better.

Good luck!

[Minx]

Thanks for being so generous with input and suggestions! You know, I always thought my town was pretty lousy with bike shops - but it's surprising how few models and/or brands are available. Even my REI has pretty much zero selection. It's total Trek take-over . So, no CAAD for me unless I travel pretty far.

But this week I tried a Trek domane 2.0 (the base model) and it was okay, not much different from the Trek 1.2 I tried in my opinion. I just can't shake the feeling that these men's 58s I've been trying are just a bit big too big - long reach, and I feel like I'm borrowing a bike from someone who is a little bigger than me. I appreciated the input about too long-reach, NY biker, because I think I've been experiencing some of that. I would say that the Trek 1.2 is the one I felt most at home on of all of the men's bikes - definitely the best fit for me. The Felt definitely felt like a great quality bike, but not quite right, at least as is.

So, went back to Specialized. I realized that on at least one of the occasions, I tried a women's 54 Dolce instead of 57, which would certainly account for the cramped feeling. I took a longer test ride on both the Ruby and the Dolce, about 20 minutes each. I felt at home on both, especially getting on and off the bikes and making sharp turns. (I didn't mention this before, but in some of my test rides with the men's bikes, I was nervous about turning on them and so I actually stopped the bike and got down, turned, and climbed back on. I was embarrassed and thought it was my nervousness as a new road bike rider, but now I also think it is at least partly the fit.)

So now I am leaning towards the Dolce I love the smoother ride of the Ruby, but I am thinking I might like to go base model or sport model Dolce at first and then wait a year and see if the Ruby is still my dream bike, or if my ideal bike is something else entirely, like a men's with some adjustments, such as new handlebars.