# Building a flat bar, steel roadish bike. Advice?



## Agwan (Feb 18, 2011)

My girlfriend has been riding hand me down frankenbikes for the last 3 years, and we both decided it was finally time she get a brand new bike that is exactly what she wants. After much shopping and research she has decided on a Soma Double Cross Disc, Black, flat bar, 1x10 with as much shiny polished parts as is possible.

This is the first NEW bike she will be getting. It's also the first bike that will be sized specifically for her. I've got a lot of experience sizing, but so much of it has been for males. I really want to make sure that this bike is going to satisfy her in every way. We're building from the frame up, so we have a lot of freedom when it comes to how it's spec'ed.

It's an all over town commuter, about 38mm tires. some long MUP rides, nothing competitive. just a comfortable, fast feeling commuter.

With all that in mind, is there anything we should keep in mind that I might not be considering, that will effect her getting a good fit/having a good experience/handling in general?

I'm sorry if this thread seems silly. I just want to make sure this bike will be something she's happy on for a long time.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Check to see that the stem is not too long. 

Personally, I like tilting my saddle down a smidge (-5 degrees).


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## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

Just a note: hybrid flat bar bikes have longer top tubes than road drop bar geom.
This may well play into the shorter top tube for WSD type geom. All I know is when I picked up a WSD Trek geom bike for my wife, she loved it. And I thought I had her dialed well on the Traiter Ruben pretty well. Ruben sold, WSD for 3 seasons now. Maybe not the best analogy considering the truck like wheelbase on the stell CX as compared to the Madone...

Main point being flat bars are a lot closer than hoods on road bars...


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