Possibly, Anne, but thanks to you she will at least know there is an option less, though more happily, traveled.
With abandon, Patrick On Thursday, January 30, 2014 2:07:24 PM UTC-7, Anne Paulson wrote: > > Thanks, Elizabeth. Excellent explanation. > > This woman needs to go over to Rivendell and test ride some bikes. But I'm > pretty sure she won't. She'll follow the herd and buy a carbon bike that > only fits 25 cm tires, and has a steep seat tube that throws her forward. > Because weight. > > Seems to me those steep seat tube angle bikes must descend funny. > > > On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 12:42 PM, Elisabeth Sherwood < > elisabeth...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote: > >> People of "normal" height seem not to have to worry about seat-tube >> angles! For those of us who are height-challenged, it makes a lot of >> difference. >> >> As Rivendell has noted since the beginning, it's very hard to make a >> small bike with 700c wheels and a comfortable seat-tube angle. Most road >> bikes in the smallest sizes have very steep seat-tube angles -- 74 or 75 >> degrees. It puts one much more forward relative to the position of the >> bottom bracket, which in turn puts more of your weight going forward, and >> on your hands/wrists/palms. It's not very comfortable (at least not for me). >> >> What Shoji is saying is that riders of small bikes move their saddles >> backwards as far as possible -- in order to compensate for the steep angle >> of the seat-tube. This lengthens the distance between the saddle and the >> bars. So, an effective top-tube length of 51cm would become something more >> like 53 or 54cm. >> >> But, that's in theory! In practice, you have to find a seatpost that will >> allow you to move your saddle back that far. >> >> The 47cm Saluki has a nice seattube angle -- 73, I believe? You can sit >> up and ride no-handed without a problem. >> >> My other small road bikes have 74 and 75 degree angles. I've got the >> saddles slammed all the way back as far as they'll go. I rode for days >> with a crazy squeak that I couldn't figure out. I finally realized it was >> the saddle -- it was way past the danger point on the rails. I've moved it >> back up to within safe limits. >> >> Anyway, angles make a huge difference! >> >> Cheers, >> >> -- Liz >> >> p.s. Don't freak out at the idea of a small road bike with 700c wheels. >> They can work. The diameter of my 650b wheels (with 32mm tires) are pretty >> much exactly the same as 25mm tires on 700c wheels. Some of the "skinnier" >> 650b tires make a difference, though. >> >> >> On Thursday, January 30, 2014 3:24:21 PM UTC-5, Anne Paulson wrote: >> >>> Hang on a sec. The seat tube angle is the angle from seat tube to >>> ground, right? So a bigger angle should move the saddle forward and make >>> reach shorter, right? Seems like it would unweight the rear wheel, though. >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 12:09 PM, Shoji Takahashi >>> <shoji.t...@gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Anne, >>>> The 51cm Soma San Marcos has a 55-cm effective top tube. With seat tube >>>> angle of 71.5 degrees. (The 47cm San Marcos has 53.5-cm effective top tube >>>> with seat tube angle of 71.5 degrees.) >>>> >>>> The 47cm Trek Domane has a 50.9-cm effective top tube. However, the >>>> seat tube angle is 74.6 degrees! >>>> >>>> Assuming the rider would ride with the same saddle-to-bottom-bracket >>>> position, the steeper seat tube angle would have a longer reach. In other >>>> words, the 50.9-cm effective top tube of the 47cm Trek may actually feel >>>> to >>>> a rider like a much longer reach than on a slacker seat-tube angle bike. >>>> >>>> Confused? Just [Test] Ride! >>>> >>>> Maybe there's a small Rambouillet in the Riv Attic? I think the smaller >>>> sizes had 26" wheels. >>>> >>>> --shoji >>>> >>>> On Thursday, January 30, 2014 2:37:59 PM UTC-5, Anne Paulson wrote: >>>> >>>>> I'm confused. The Riv chart says the Soma San Marcos has a 55 cm top >>>>> tube for a 51 cm frame. Is that the actual top tube length c-c and >>>>> effective top tube is shorter? I'm trying to compare this bike: >>>>> >>>>> http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/bikes/road/endurance_race/do >>>>> mane_4_series/domane_4_3_wsd#/int/en/model/fit_sizing?url= >>>>> int/en/bikes/road/endurance_race/domane_4_series/domane_4_3_wsd >>>>> >>>>> (Trek Madone WSD 4.3, in a 47 cm), to Rivendell frames: >>>>> >>>>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjehUKAztnO8dEF >>>>> RVEYxUWpxeXNPMHZMeDZINmNUMWc#gid=0 >>>>> >>>>> And it looks to me like the Rivendell frames are a lot longer. Given >>>>> that this woman thinks she wants a shorter frame, would Riv work for her? >>>>> I >>>>> need hardly add that in my opinion the bikes she is looking at are >>>>> ridiculously ill-suited to her, and moreover she has no business riding a >>>>> bike with 700c wheels, but she reasonably wants a bike that fits her. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 11:21 AM, Tim Gavin <tim....@littlevillagemag. >>>>> com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I recently bought my girlfriend a Soma San Marcos. She's about 5'4", >>>>>> and the 51cm fits her pretty well. It has a 51cm top tube. It's >>>>>> available >>>>>> in a 47 as well, which would probably fit your friend perfectly. The >>>>>> San >>>>>> Marcos is the lightest current Riv, except for the Roadeo. >>>>>> >>>>>> Plus, the color is magnificent. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Tim >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Anne Paulson <anne.p...@gmail.com>wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> A new member of my bike club posted that she wants to buy a new road >>>>>>> bike. She doesn't have much experience on the road. So I suggested >>>>>>> some issues she ought to think about. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Now she returns saying that she is trying to decide between two Trek >>>>>>> carbon bikes, one of them a 47 cm and the other a 50 cm. She likes >>>>>>> the >>>>>>> bigger bike because the handlebars are higher and wider, but the >>>>>>> salesperson says the reach is too long on the bigger bike. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I want to gently suggest that she look in another direction (not a >>>>>>> racing bike with a stupidly high low gear and stupidly low >>>>>>> handlebars! >>>>>>> I did not say that to her). I would've suggested a Sam, but it seems >>>>>>> like even the 47 cm would be too long for her: the two bikes she is >>>>>>> looking at have effective top tube lengths of 50.9 and 51.9 >>>>>>> (something >>>>>>> like that) and the Sam is quite a bit longer at 54.5 cm. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Any suggestions for a fun road bike for a small woman? I think a Sam >>>>>>> would be in her price range. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> -- Anne Paulson >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>> send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> >>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> -- Anne Paulson >>>>> >>>>> It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> -- Anne Paulson >>> >>> It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> >> . >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
