New Road Bike for Xiaoqin

 After riding the Roadini 50cm I built earlier this year, Xiaoqin decided that a road bike would be something she would enjoy.

I started down the path of acquiring another Roadini, but Rivendell wasn't going to have any until September, and used Roadinis were either too highly priced, or spec'd with weird components that don't reflect Bay Area cycling requirements (most bicycles are spec'd with too high a high gear and insufficiently low low gears, and many builds seem to be for big heavy guys rather than lightweight women).

The reality is that while the Rivendell ethic of having easily adjustable stems is ideal for building a bike for a growing kid, for an adult once the fitting is done, there's little need for adjustability. I wasn't willing to buy an off-the-shelf bike, however --- again, most of the frames aren't designed for Bay Area needs and Xiaoqin's been riding off pavement on the same paths I'd take my road bikes on. I also didn't want a bike with disc brakes, since I don't really know how to maintain them. Again, most stock production bikes don't come with gears sufficiently low enough to enable a beginner to enjoy climbing hills in the Bay Area. I consider a 40x50 low gear the bare minimum for riding Bay Area hills, and the standard 36x34 or even 34x34 drivetrain would pray for bankruptcy for many of the local rides, and that's even ignoring the fact that I enjoy riding my road bike off road.

The Ritchey Road Logic came immediately to mind. It's compatible with dual pivot calipers, comes with a carbon fork (but that's designed for the off pavement work a Bay Area cyclist would want), is made with steel with external routing for easy maintenance, and can clear 30mm tires. I was nervous about cutting the steer tube on the carbon fork, but a quick message to Terry Shaw pointed me to Wade Hall of Spokesman Cycles for a fitting, so I ordered the frame, parts, and arranged for a fitting.

Under Wade's directions, I built the frame up with wheels, derailleur, cranks, chain, and brakes but no cables attached. We then showed up at the fitting with a selection of saddles, handlebars, brake levers, and pedals for him to assess. "Oh, you have the S900 brake levers --- I'd ordered those for my own bike and mine will arrive today." He approved of my selection of the brake levers at least.

The fitting took about 3 hours and was involved, first starting with measuring the sit bones, then checking on the flexibility and various physiological components of the cyclist. Then the bike was put on the trainer with frame, fork, and headset installed but uncut, and with an adjustable stem. The process is iterative, with Wade first adjusting the fore-aft and the seat height, and then adjusting the stem, and then switching over the handlebars (the Beacon bars don't come narrower than 40cm, and he'd measured her shoulders at 36cm, so wanted 38cm bars for her), and then finally the seat, and then readjusting everything. At the end of the session Xiaoqin looked more comfortable and posturally correct than many cyclists who'd ridden road bikes for years. He installed footbeds for her and you could actually see her stance change immediately!

At this point, Wade cut the steer tube, installed the correct stem, spacers, handlebars and star nut. The recommended saddle was installed onto a seatpost, and the seatpost cut to save weight. The whole affair was not cheap but the most expensive way to spend money on bicycling is to buy a bike and not ride it. The entire build for the bike looked like this:

• Ritchey Road Logic (Rim Brake) 51cm
• Neugent EZMount TwoX Wheels
• Shimano CUES 11-50 cassette
• Shimano GRX 810-1 crankset, 170mm
• Shimano U8000 rear derailleur
• Tektro Medium Reach Calipers
• Salsa Guide  Seatpost 27.2mm (cut)
• Specialized Power Arc Pro Elaston Black 155 Saddle
• Specialized Hover Alloy Flare handlebars +15 rise, 38cm wide
• Specialized Comp Stem 17deg 9cm
• SRAM S900 brake levers
• Microshift SRAM 11s bar-end shifter
• Shimano BC-9000 brake cable set
• Shimano R9100 Optislick cables
• SRAM PC-1110 chain
• Michelin Power Cup Competition 700x28 tires, tube type
• Michelin Airstop tubes
• Cinelli Cork tape

Total weight came to 8400g with heavy pedals. On the bike she's fast on the flats (enough that I have a hard time catching or over-taking her), and the bike has low enough gears to climb 9% grades on her first serious ride on it. It's a great bike. We're both excited. Even just riding it around to test ride while building the bike I could feel how light it is.