My Understudies Debut.

Late Friday night, after the car was loaded and all set for our early o’ dark hundred training start, my husband takes the car to the market. Unfortunately, my bike was on top of the car when he entered the underground parking garage. For the sake of brevity, I’ll tell you that you may insert bad word, bad word here and that the bike is now at the Trek Hospital (Helen’s Cycles) on life support.

Saturday morning had me trying the first climb with a 40 year old bike who’s gears were rusted stuck in 3rd or 4th gear. I tried with two hands to shift and could not do it. I struggled up that climb and finally thought that it was too stupid to try 70 miles of Charlie’s tour like that. I rode back to town via the bike path, bought a new bike to return to training (20 miles round trip). I didn’t have a whole lot of bucks and I wasn’t about to leave without a bike that day but I think the understudy bike will do nicely.

Here’s the new addition to our family:

Trek 1.2 WSD

Specifications
Frameset
Sizes Women’s 43, 47, 50, 52, 54, 56cm
Frame Alpha White Aluminum
Fork Bontrager Approved, carbon
Wheels
Wheels Alloy hubs; Alex alloy rims w/eyelets
Tires Bontrager Select, 700x25c (43cm: 650x25c)
Drivetrain
Shifters Shimano 2203 STI, 8 speed
Front Derailleur Shimano 2203
Rear Derailleur Shimano Sora
Crank Bontrager Sport 50/39/30
Cassette SRAM 850 12-26, 8 speed
Pedals Nylon body w/alloy cage; clips and straps
Components
Saddle Bontrager Select FIT CRZ+ Basic
Seat Post Bontrager Carbon
Handlebars Bontrager FIT VR, 31.8mm
Stem Bontrager Select, 7 degree, 31.8mm
Headset Aheadset Slimstak w/semi-cartridge bearings, sealed
Brakeset Alloy dual pivot w/Shimano 2203 STI levers

Why a woman’s bike when I generally don’t have a gender specific bike?

WSD Comfort: Contact Points
Contact points are customized to fit a woman’s anatomy.

1. LESS PAIN
Narrower handlebars keep hands in a more natural position for greater control and less shoulder pain.

2. MORE COMFORT
A woman’s specific saddle with key anatomical features provides optimized comfort and support.

3. LESS FATIGUE
Shorter-reach levers and smaller-diameter grips are sized to fit a woman’s smaller hands.

4. MORE POWER
Shorter crank arms improve leverage for a more efficient pedal stroke.