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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.

The Chalk Board Talk

ANATOMY OF A BICYCLE

In the interest of the full disclosure, here is the best picture I have found so far showing the basic anatomy of a bicycle. If the picture is too small to study, it's also a link. Click to see it bigger.

This next one is not a link and highlights a few things on an MTB that are different from road.

The Glossary

There was a special about George Carlin on PBS last night. That guy was a really good entertainer. A majority of the stand-up PBS played was about his hatred for euphemisms. When I came to work this morning, I was snickering to myself. The bike industry is full of convoluted acronyms. Sometimes it happens because someone is really trying to make things simpler to recognize. Sometimes even with all the right intentions, the acronyms take the fun out of researching and buying you bike.

So, We are going to start a dictionary of bike terminology. If there is anything you want to add feel free. If there is anything you want me to look up and post, let me know.

The Glossary

ISP -- Integrated Seat Post. When the seat post is the same as the seat tube, the result is a stiffer joint.

BSC -- Bonded Skeleton Concept. An improvement on the way that aluminum and carbon used to be joined. BSC is essentially a larger and tapered "lug" that improves ridigity and is designed to be a safer joint.

TCC -- Tuned Compliance Concept. This is an explanation for how carbon fiber sheets are stacked and pressed together in varying directions and thicknesses to specifically be lighter in places that can afford to be light and stiffer in places that need to be stiff.

105 -- Shimano makes bike components and 105 (one oh five) is the best entry level group of components. Shimano makes cheaper stuff and more expensive stuff and 105 is the best middle ground for price and quality.

MTB -- Mountain Bike

SPD -- Shimano Pedaling Dynamics. A very common pedal/cleat system. Because they are very common they are inexpensive. This is an excellent entry level pedal cleat system, an excellent MTB cleat system and found on Spin bikes.

NOS -- New Old Stock. This means that something is "New" as in it has never been installed or other wise used but "Old Stock" in that it may be an outdated part.

OCLV -- Optimum Compaction Low Void. In reference to how carbon fibers sheets are pressed together. Sheets are laid multi-directionally, sheets are pressed to squeeze as many air bubbles out as possible (it is virtually impossible to get them all but you can get them smaller), and carbon is placed in specific ways to take stress.

OEM -- Original Equiptment Maunfacturer. OEM parts are the parts that come on the complete bike at the time of purchase. A parts manufacturer that sells thousands of handlebars to a bike manufacturer for installation on the bikes has made their handlebar an OEM handlebar.

CPSC -- Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC stamps a logo on every helmet deemed safe. Helmets from department stores might not have this logo. Check.

CE -- Committee European. The European Committee for Standardization typically has higher standards for helmet safety than the US. When a CE logo is stamped on your helmet you'll know your head is as safe as it can be.

UST -- Universal System Tubeless. A standard for tubeless mtb wheel design (or tire and rim combinations) that is compatible with itself regardless of the brand of tire or rim you choose.

iSC -- Integrated Skeleton Concept. Tubing at juncture points are reinforced.

WSD -- Women's Specific Design. Term coined to denote the design of products that work best with a woman's physicality.

HM carbon -- High Modulus Carbon Fiber. This means that the carbon is better at taking impact. It's cooked at a higher temperature and as a result has a slightly higher elasticity.

HT carbon -- High Tensile carbon fiber that is cooked at a lower temperature, a little stiffer and better at transferring power.

Thanks for the pic Teresa. Does anybody know who this TT machine is?

Designer tastes, Budget bars

A clean crash* at San Dimas resulted in a new handlebar purchase. I have some very specific requirements for a handlebar. I don’t presume to say that what I need from a bar is what every girl needs from a bar but I’ll tell you why I need what I need and maybe it will help you choose the right bar for yourself later.

Stiff
The only time a person doesn’t put torque on a bar is when their physicality AND situation don’t require it. The only time stiffness wouldn’t take the number one spot is if I was a 95lb triathlete. And I’m not. Not even close. The BF says I’m built like a powder puff line backer. I think he likes the idea of being able to draft off me.

Ergo
I had this one pair of bars that would hit the forearms every time the hands were in the drops. After a while my brain tried to figure out how to sprint so that the forearms wouldn’t slam into the bar and deepen the bruising. I developed a funky little sprint for a season. This is actually the whole reason for this post.

Some handlebar manufacturers don’t make ergo bars. Some do, but they just don’t have very many options. Finding a bar that has the bends that won’t fight the natural movements of a body and allow for a drop and reach that works with a body is essential.

Weight & Color
Weight is a property of the material. I would rather have a stiff bar than a light bar. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s carbon or aluminum, black or white. Function trumps all else. For example, I would never ride a RAM Leopard bar. That’s a lie. I would totally ride that bar with clear tape.


Researching R&D
I made a phone call to FSA and spoke with Manuel about how FSA has developed their handlebars. I called FSA because it seems that while they may not necessarily offer the largest number of different bars, the do offer the widest variety of different shapes. For example Deda makes boat loads of high quality stems and bars but the shapes are pretty similar. FSA does have 14 different road styles, 12 different mountain styles and 1, brand spanking new, “metropolis” style. Their sizes run between 36 and 46cm which is great news because 36’s and even 38’s used to be very hard to come by.

FSA started out making bearings for bottom brackets and hubs15 years ago. In 2000 the idea of the modern ergo bar with the “2 kinks” had been developed. In about 2004, FSA saw an opportunity to improve on this design. They made the “new ergo” bar and essentially ironed out the kinks of the ergo bar. FSA made the bends smoother so that your hands were never forced into a position on the bar.

FSA’s research and development process is enriched by the smaller size of their company. Manuel boasted about being an “idea driven” company. What happens for FSA is a cleaner implementation of design. The larger the company, the further removed it’s R & D department is from humans. FSA really likes that they are smaller and that the ideas that are generated are very closely examined and tested.

The Specifics on women’s specific.
FSA didn’t go into making any of their bars necessarily women’s specific. They did go into making bars based on what riders need. When they examined need, they found that shallower drop and shorter reach both needed to be addressed. They found that width needed to be addressed. FSA’s approach to making handlebars seems to be pretty progressive. They really want rider feedback.** They want to make good handlebars. Because of this philosophy it seems that FSA has successfully taken gender out of the equation without compromising what they can offer.


Bar End
I ended up purchasing a 40cm Omega bar. It’s a really good bar for a really good value. It made sense.

-If I crashed it, then I would have only spent $40 and could replace it easily.
-If I hated it, then I would have only spent $40 and could replace it easily.
-If I loved it, then I only spent $40!

The bar is awesome. It is really stiff and I can feel how much better it is at sending my energy into moving forward instead of absorbing my energy by being flexy. It was cheap. The ergo bends are smooth and allow my hands to move freely within the drops. The reach is short so I can use all the bar I need and none of the bar I don’t. The tail of the drop is long enough to sprint with. I might prefer a bar with a little more depth so I could take advantage of my physical flexibility but this is a great bar overall for me.

* The dérailleurs did take a beating in the crash but the good news is it will not be necessary to do a helmet review at this time ;).

** FSA really wants to hear about how you feel about what they have to offer. Manuel shared this email address as a good way to get in touch with FSA. http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?taxid=62&layout=contact