My wife had some of the same issues. She has 43cm Trek WSD roadbike, but the top tube was still too long for her. We went through the fitting for the Guru Crono to get the geometry custom for her, and also came up just under their limits for the custom. The shop we use does a good bit of work with Guru, so he called Guru and went back and forth with them for a few days, and came up with a geomtry that worked. She has the Crono, but unlike most Crono's it is missing the rear wheel cutout. Make sure you shop contacts Guru to see what they can / can not do, instead of just using their standard custom limits.

---

Tim Anderson
"It's the nature of the internets that you get some dweeb who knows nothing about (insert topic here) pontificates about (topic), believing that his/her opinion is worth the same as opinions from those who actually knows what's going on." --Echappist

Sascha,

Without seeing your fit measurements, I can't comment on if any of the Kestrel framesets will fit you. However, the airfoil tends to fit many smaller riders. If you send me your fit information, I'm happy to check to see if you will fit on either the Talon or Airfoil series bikes.

this article is dated by about a year and a half, but most of these bikes are still being made now. so you may find it useful. if i didn't have it in the article in the time, you'll want to also consider the most recent kuota k factor, which is a very nice, and nicely priced, XS or 48cm or whatever the bike size is called.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Problem solved.... www.yaquiusa.com

Give Ves a call.

---

Andy

'You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Thinsg Are As They Are.'

Thanks, I did read that entire article this weekend. The Guru and Yaqui links were not working and the Kestrel actually goes to the Giant page, although I managed to edit the URL to get me to the Kestrel page. The reason I posted asking about the Kestrel/Fuji frames is because they are both new to 2009. I am already interested in Kestrel based on what I read in the article and am looking forward to finding out more. Would you care to venture an opinion about the 700c wheels on the Fuji? The article says right out that it's nearly impossible to be serious about your small bike offerings with 700c as part of the mix. But I think that Fuji is pretty serious.

Thanks to another poster for the reply about the custom Guru. I'd be interested to know if it still cost as much as an original Crono and what the diff is between it and the Magus (the other, cheaper, carbon custom Guru).

Finally, I've made a date with a LBS for tomorrow night to sit on the Serotta fit machine with the Guru and Kestrel measurements to see what they feel like.

Thanks Steve, I don't have measurements handy. I've had them taken twice, and I have a printout from a fitting last fall on the bike measurements. Unfortunately that bike is still a smidge too big for me, so I don't think I have gospel yet. I have some time set up with my LBS to sit on the Serotta fit bike with the Fuji and Kestrel bike measurements though, so that might be all I need.

Sascha

Sascha,

That is exactly the right way to go. Being fit on each bike's measurement will help determine how you "sit" on the bike. I'm a firm believer imn 650c wheels for smaller riders and you will continue to see Kestrel make 650c bikes.

Although Fuji is the sister company to Kestrel, I don't work with their product manager. I've seen the D-6 and am not sure in smaller sizes it will fit as well without having 650c wheels.

Feel free to take some pictures of your fitting and send them to me and I'll be happy to comment.

NVM on this. I found the PM button. I suppose it could be less obvious, but I'm not sure how.

Steve, do you have an email? I do have some iphone shots of my recent fittings and will take some more tomorrow. Not really interested in sharing with the world though.

I'm the owner of the Guru posted above. The custom Crono was under $5,000 with ultergra/dura-ace. I took one of the basic paint jobs, but I love the blue and darker silver color. I am 59.75 inches and this bike is a great fit. As my husband mentioned, my road bike is a 43 cm Trek WSD and it fits okay, but the top tube is a little long. I talked with the Guru guys as IMCdA and they have made some Cronos smaller than mine. If you are above 65 inches, I think you can find a bike to fit, but if shorter - go custom.

Good luck finding a bike.

---

________________________________
Lisa Walser-Anderson, ATC,CSCS

    You guys are Amazon women! :) My girlfriend is <4'10", and we did find a 700c roadie that she likes, though standover is non-existent. It's a Giant TCR aluminum XXS. I recently bought a tiny custom Calfee (650c) on the classifieds here to build up for her as a tri bike.

ps. Try finding extra wide shoes in a women's 5...

Good thing is that shoes are no problem for me. I wear the normal 7 - 7.5. When I walk in to buy shoes, the sale's people assume that I wear a 5 or 6. I have even had sales people bring out the 7.5 that I request and then bring a size 6.

Did have some issues with wetsuits until I discoverd Desoto. I am short, but have big quads and big round butt and most wetsuits do not fit. I need a small size to fit the length and torso, but everything was always so tight in the legs and butt. I'm not a skinny 100 pounder so most small tri tops fit although some shorts come close to my knees.

Both my bikes are 650's, but my husband also has 650's on his tri bike so we can share race wheels. Good luck in getting her bike fixed.

---

________________________________
Lisa Walser-Anderson, ATC,CSCS

sharad@kestrelbicycles.com or sharad@advancedsports.com

Oh I hear you on the shoes. A lot of manufacturers just stop at 38. Sidi didn't make their high end carbon sole in women's at all when I bought tri shoes 2 years ago. Another complaint I have about bike manufacturers is when they only offer their low end bikes in small/women's specific. If you've got 5 bling bikes and two cheap aluminum ones and those are the only ones you've got going on for chicks, I'm going elsewhere. And I'm not buying anything from that brand. Because they aren't taking us seriously. My business goes to brands that take women seriously. Example: Orbea has three tri bikes. None of them are small enough for women. This year they started offering a women's specific model - in their cheapest aluminum frame. I currently ride an Orbea Diva but may never ride another Orbea after that. The other one that's peeved me recently is the Scott Plasma Contessa. They do offer the bling bike for women. But get this, there are no geometry changes and their description literally reads "women's specific graphics package." Come on Scott, could you talk down to me a little more? Maybe I can have a widdle pink bike and go outside and learn to ride on it. Srsly. Some things just irritate me.

A good option would be Brent Ruegamer at www.ruesports.com. Brent could build you any geometry in carbon, he does some nice work, he built a TT bike for a local rider who is under 5' tall.

Kevin

Last night I went to a local bike shop to explore how well I might fit on a Kestrel Airfoil. We set up the serotta fit bike with the Airfoil xs measurements and I did fit well. It also allows for adjustments in several areas which is also pleasing. What is not so pleasing is that they told my bike shop that the bike is only available as complete bikes, not as framesets. Since I already own two sets of wheels, have no interest in spending 8k on a bike with SRAM Red and also do not want Ultegra components, I guess that means I'm still looking for a bike.

But it's good to know that something fits I guess.

Oh and for anyone interested in the new Fuji, it's not even on the manufacturing line yet and won't be available until the end of March at the earliest. That's too late for me since my race season starts at the beginning of April and I require some time to get used to the bike before I jump on and race.

Oh and for anyone interested in the new Fuji, it's not even on the manufacturing line yet and won't be available until the end of March at the earliest. That's too late for me since my race season starts at the beginning of April and I require some time to get used to the bike before I jump on and race.

This is so amazing, isn't it? Why are manufacturers so out-of-step? The whole trade show/buying/delivery calendar needs to be revamped.

Custom. Independent Fabrications. Yeah!

---

__________________________________________________

I love France. I just hate Toulouse. I'd really hate to lose le Trek.

Yeah, people keep trying to sell me titanium race bikes. I've never ridden one and I'm not willing to buy one site unseen, untested, unridden. When you stock a bike in my size that I can test ride for an extended period of time, like a couple hours of a ride, then I might consider buying Ti. But until then, I'll stick to carbon.

 
I had a lynskey custom built for my wife (she is 5'2"). Here is a link to the pictures and discussion.

Lynskey was great to do business with. The result was outstanding.

I suspect that you are going to find it best to use 650c wheels... which is actually good because the market for 650c wheel is very depressed and you can get outstanding deals.

Alan

---

Checkout http://www.iotexpert.com

Wasn't Lynskey the genius behind Litespeed? Yes, I think so. Very highly recommended. Also custom Seven. Merlin.

And I think IF makes a carbon road bike now.

---

__________________________________________________

I love France. I just hate Toulouse. I'd really hate to lose le Trek.