Bicycle Mechanics - Road Bike - 3 Choices (Womens)

My wife has been searching for a road bike and has narrowed it down to the following. Any advice on these as to their durability, service, ride quality, or other issues would be greatly appreciated. (As well as any comments on the value for the $) Of course I explained to her the difference in the gruppos. Any comments on future upgrade potential also appreciated. I really dont know much about the Fuji brand, and actually unless the ride is great (they are bringing it in from another store) I am not too sure about the Fuji.

'03 Trek 2000 WSD. (Tiagra / Ultegra mix) Carbon Fork. ($999)

'03 Lemmond Tourmalet Womens (Tiagra / 105 mix) Carbon Fork & Seatpost ($699)

'03 Fuji Newest Womens (Full Tiagra) Upgraded to Carbon Fork. ($995)

It really shocked me when she came home a few weeks ago and had decided she wants a road bike. I have been very supportive but never pushed it.

Thanks!
:D :D

What should matter is how the bikes fit. My feeling is that the Lemond, with the looooong top tube, would make for an uncomfortable ride. Having said that, I'm not a huge fan of the Treks, though $1000 for a 2000 WSD sounds like a very good price. Forget the Fuji. It's way downspecced for the price, and not worth considering unless it's the only one that fits.

If fit is a problem, she should consider a Terry, particularily if she is short.

The geometry on the WSD frame is just so weird that I wouldn't suggest it.

I have the Lemond Zurich wsd and love it. After riding mens bikes my whole life I can't believe the difference a bike that takes womens body proportions into consideration makes.
I had an allumunium Raleigh for about 4 years and never learned to like the harsh ride. Make sure your wife takes each bike on a long test ride.

I test rode a Fuji Ace SE and really felt comfortable, but the Terry I test rode had better components. If I were buying now, I may very well have gone with the Fuji Newest Womens. I was not as comfortable on the Trek or Cannondale WSD's I tried. So much depends on the person's flexibility, strength, etc in addition to inseam & reach. They all sound like good bikes, it just up to her to find which is the best bike for her.

In the Women's Cycling section of the forum, there was a great thread about choosing a bike for a woman. In particular, the response by lovemyswift was awesome. Check this out:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31657

I say print this out and take it to the bike shop and see if you can find a good road bike based on the specs lovemyswift said.

Good luck!

Koffee

What size do you intend to buy. I can do a quick comparison of the geometries for any weird stuff, but it helps to have the size.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Micheal -

Trek and Fuji - 47cm
Lemmond 45cm

Thanks again.

Trek Fuji Lemmond
size cm 47 48 45
top tube cm 49.3 50 49.8
stem mm -- 80 90
BB height cm 26.7 27.8 (not given)
standover in 28.0/71.1 28.7 72.5
crank length mm -- 165 165
wheel 650c 650c 700c
handlebar cm n/a 38 42

The Lemmond bike uses 700c wheels which are really too big for the frame. Watch out for toe clip overlap, and check that the long fork rake does not cause sluggish handling.
There is some variation in standover height, but as long as there is room, this is not critical. Generally, with a small bike you want a lower bottom bracket height, to aid mount and dismount. Use of shorter cranks will take care of cornering clearance.

All the frames have similar top tube, but the Lemond has a long stem.
The lemmond uses standard width 42cm handlebars. Fuji uses small sized ones.
The Lemond looks to be the worst in terms of geometry and proportions. Check the bar width and crank size for the Trek.
With these small bikes, they are generally proportioned so badly that its better to opt for the best proportions/fit, than go for the highest spec components or be swayed by some fancy frame material. Try for a test ride so your wife can check the handling characteristics and feel.

My wife road a mens bike before she bought her Trek 2300. She loves it. She said that she's never ridden anything that fitted her geometry better.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

She came home with a shiny new Trek 2000 WSD yesterday. After trying several bikes with her believing this was the best fit, she got back on it and felt right at home, while some of the others felt unstable.

As for the Fuji, she decided not to test ride it since it was kind of a fall back bike. I felt the same way, it seems way under speced for the same price point.

Well, now she took my trainer! (Wants to practice for a week on the trainer to get comfortable with the shifters, brakes, and most importantly the clipless.)

She asked me to tell all of you thanks for all the advice.

Matt

Thanks for the compliment, Octoberblue. Are you refering to the Titus bicycle article? Isn't it great to have that information?
Women's specific geometry makes all the difference in the world. My next mtn bike will definitely be a women's specific frame.

Kathi