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http://lh6.ggpht.com/_t9sFMbiNvG8/Sn...0/IMG_0337.JPG

I picked her up from the LBS last night and took her for a 20 mile ride this morning. She's wonderful.

When I started riding again 3-4 years ago, I went down the my local LBS and let a young kid talk me into a men's frame entry level Felt racing bike that was all wrong for me. It was wrong from the start, and no matter how I tweaked it, the ride stayed wrong. I never felt comfortable, my back, arms, and hands always hurt, it seemed "twitchy" and rough...

I'm long-legged and short-waisted, so in order to get a man's frame to fit (Felt didn't have WSD back then), he ordered the smallest frame they had and jacked the seat way up. That sort of worked, except that the handlebars were then way too low for me to ride it comfortably.

From what I'd read in reviews of the Ruby, it seemed like it was what I really needed, but...I didn't know if I was going to stick with cycling and it seemed like a LOT of money. Over time, though, I've really grown to love cycling, almost as much--if not as much--as I love running. So when I found out about a month ago that I was going to get a little unexpected discretionary income in August, I thought maybe it was time.

So last Friday, after lunch with some friends, I decided to stop off at another LBS and try out the WSD bikes and see how they felt. They didn't have any Rubys in the shop, but the WSD Dolce that I rode was miles more comfortable than the Felt, so I started to dicker with the salesman. He said that there weren't any more 2009 Rubys available in my size, and the 2010's wouldn't be out until September, but that there were some 2009 Ruby "test" bikes available from Specialized, new in the box, and that he could order me one. It was just like the regular Ruby Expert--same components, frame, etc, just a different paint color. Plus, he'd sell it to me for a 20% discount.

Sold.

I also went ahead and got new pedals and a new computer. I'll probably get some carbon water bottle cages, too. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Funny how the right bike is right. Just don't wear it out too quick- just a century a month to start off with will do:thumb:

And Carbon bottle cages- I was put off them last week. I followed a rider for about 5 miles and he was always adjusting his bottle in the cage. "Apparantly" some do not hold a bottle as good as a metal cage that can be bent to grip the bottle harder. On the rough road his bottle kept coming out of the holder.

Congrats!

I love the color. Is your model an "Emerald"? Happy riding.

Cool!


I have the Tarmac Expert which seems to be in the same performance class as the Ruby and I like it a lot.
It is stiff yet comfortable - it got even more comfortable when I swapped out the stock tires for Gatorskins, I was shocked at the difference. I also swapped out the stock seat which I found to be awful. Other than the required 100 miles of fit tweeking, no other changes (Oh - except I put Easton Orions on it before it ever left the shop as new).

Tasty! Is that a compact double?

Nice bike. I like the green color. I know it rides great too!

Beautiful bike. Hope you had a nice chat with your Salsa to explain the newcomer.

You are so right about the right bike, stapfam! The Ruby's fit has been almost perfect, right out of the box. I've been tweaking it in millimeters to fine-tune the fit. With the Felt, the tweaking was on a much larger scale.

And thanks for the heads-up about the bottle cages.

Yes it is. I had a triple before, so I'm having to adjust to different gearing. It seems okay so far.

Ha! The Salsa knows that she will always be loved.

If you are going for metal cages, I stongly advise getting stainless steel. They only cost a little more than aluminum. They are lighter and they don't leave ugly black marks on your water bottles.


Nice looking bike!