# New bike for wife



## Mr. Finn (Aug 6, 2008)

It is time for the wife to upgrade. She has been on a Trek 2200 WSD Alloy/carbon bike for about 3-4 years. Would like to get her on a nice carbon bike in the price range of 2500-3000 dollars. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? 

Thanks


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Lots of possibilities at that price. Scott CR1, Lemond Zurich/Versailles, Felt.

What does your favorite shop sell?


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

The new Trek Madones come in Women's Specific version and they are very good.


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## Mr. Finn (Aug 6, 2008)

LBS sells Trek and specialized. She is interested in the Specalized Ruby, needs to test ride one. She will be renting a Trek Madone for a sprint Tri in Arizona next week, curious to hear about the feedback.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

A Blue Rc7 would also be in your price range. They aren't "WSD", but they are damn good bikes


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## Mr. Finn (Aug 6, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. I have seen the Blue bikes and they are sharp. She is on a WSD frame set with a Ultegra component group taken off a Trek 5200. I wonder how much the WSD thing plays a part


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## JMKB2 (Jul 8, 2008)

For my wife it makes a huge difference d/t her being 4' 11" the shorter top tube just makes things much more comfortable. just ordered my wife a 48cm ruby. she loved the test ride.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Yes- it definitely depends on her proportions. I wish they'd remove the "WSD" geometry name and replace it with something else to just say that the bike is built with a shorter top tube and would be suitable for riders with a short torso... 

There are plenty of men out there that could benefit from the same geometry, but wouldn't ride a bike since it's labeled as "women's design." There are also plenty of women out there who have no business riding a bike w/a short top tube because that's not how they're built. 

/soapbox


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## adimiro (Jun 28, 2007)

I'm always perplexed on why folks ask for "opinions" or "recommendation" for bicycles from random riders on a web forum. Don't get me wrong, lots of information to be gained from posting certain questions...I just think that selecting a specific bicycle is a very personal choice that should be based on a person's size, proportions, expertise, budget, availability, etc. This information is often absent from those solicitng advice and also from those handing out their opinions.

The best advice is always 'go out and ride some different bikes from your LBS's and then find what works best for YOU"


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## ProudDaddy (Apr 19, 2006)

I just bought my wife a new bike. She test rode many wsd bikes (she needed the shorter top tube) including trek madone, specialized ruby, bianchi, orbea, cannondale, lemond...yada yada yada. These bikes are not one size fits all. Also, some are heavier than others and component groupos less than 105 didn't shift good enough for her and pink/purple was not going to cut it (too bad because I found an awesome lightly used litespeed bella with full ultegra for a great price). Ended up going with a Scott Contessa CR1 - she test rode one of these a year ago while on vacation and nothing since (locally) could measure up (the madone was probably next in line). After finally deciding this and not finding her size locally, I luckily found a brand new '07 on Ebay for a great price and just took her in for a good bike fit. I swapped the Ksyrium Aksiums (about 2,000 grams) that came on the bike with some lite weight Real Design Ultraspheres (1,385 grams) I took off my Litespeed and the Contessa is quite lite and snappy (yes, I rode it around the block with both wheelsets! ) and she loves the looks - which will hopefully help get her on it more and riding with me! 

The Contessa CR1 is a really nice bike and worth checking on with your budget, but there are not too many suppliers to go test one. The good thing is you don't see many of them out there like the treks and specializeds that most women ride, at least here in Colorado. BTW, my neighbor with similar budget just bought the Ruby, so testing the bikes to find what fits best is absolutely necessary. 

Oh, our first ride together with her new bike will be this weekend and I may be more excited than her!


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