Womens Specific History

I ran into a woman a few years ago who was riding on Rodriguez. She boasted that it was basically the first Womens Specific bike ever made. Ever! I took her word for it but did some extra research on my own. I think she is probably right. I was showing off the picture I took of her bike to one of my racing buddies, Joel. When he asked me what made it WS this is what I told him.



Angel Rodriguez was a US Team Mechanic who, by 1976, had begun building custom frames. In 1993 Angel sold his frame building business to Dan and Estelle who both worked at R+E Cycles and Dan's wife, Marcia. Marcia saw a little opportunity to focus on the Womens Specific frame geometry. Between all the fits they had taken over the years and Marcia's R & D they decided that the investment a Womens Specific line was well worth the effort.

The Stellar was 20 years and 6000 womens fittings in the making.* What makes the Stellar a Women's Specific bike is, in general, what makes other bikes WS bikes. The top tube and seat tube dimensions favor a body that has a shorter torso and longer legs. The current Womens Specific Stellar Rodriguez frame now comes in 18 standard sizes.

Whether or not you are into custom and semi custom steel bike is personal preference. The really cool part about all of this is that the foundation for WS geometry was laid and the Rodriguez Bikes is part of that foundation.

www.rodcycle.com

* The first mainstream Womens Specific model was the Trek 1000 and 1000c and didn't show up until 2003.