I own two bikes, both are steel. My first was a 54cm Rambouillet, which despite all our tweaks still leaves me feeling unbalanced and with some elbow pain. I set it up with rack and panniers to use as an errand bike now. After 2 years I got a custom made TIG-welded Luna steel bike, which I feel supremely comfortable on. Went with TIG rather than lugs to allow the builder to be unconstrained by the lug angles....comfort rather than looks was my highest priority. I guess the Riv geometry is not exactly women-specific (at least when it comes to me), since I know of at least one man my height (5'5") who rides the same size Ramb as mine and who is very comfortable on it. There are a LOT of women riders out there, and many of them are into steel bikes, lugged included. But it seems to me (from years of reading the largest online biking forum for women) that many of these women do seem to have a hard time finding stock bikes (steel or otherwise) that fit them well- over and over they run into the too-long reach issue. For them, the choices come down to either a custom bike or a stock women-specific geometry bike, of which there are now quite a few on the market (and I'm not talking about a man's bike simply shrunken down and painted pink here). I'm lucky I was able to afford to get a custom Luna made. Interestingly, my Luna is exactly the same length as my Ramb (the tires touch the ground in the exact same two spots), but the fit is vastly different. That said, I know there *are* women riding around in total comfort on their Rivs...maybe they don't all live in California? :) Lisa
David Estes wrote: > Speaking of women riders, what's the deal with the SoCal Rivendell > Appreciation Society Sausage-fest? I see LOTS of women riding bikes > everywhere, but lugged steel on dirt roads does not seem to attract them. > > One woman for 1/3 of one ride does not satisfy Title IX. > > DE > > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 5:31 PM, David Estes <cyclotour...@gmail.com > <mailto:cyclotour...@gmail.com>> wrote: > > Uhmmm, Lesli, now is the time to chime in... > > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 2:06 PM, Dave Craig <dcr...@prescott.edu > <mailto:dcr...@prescott.edu>> wrote: > > > > I wonder what we'd find if this question were answered by > women. None > have responded thusfar to this thread. ARE there any female > members of > this group?? > > <cut> > > > > As I consider my female bicycling buddies, students and > acquaintences, > I realize that none of them have more than two bikes and that most > have just one. > > Do women think the all-rounder is a myth? I have to wonder > whether > they even care. > > DC > -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- > > > > > > -- > Cheers, > David > Redlands, CA > > "Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is > something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym." > ~Bill Nye, scientist guy > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
