Godzuki26 Wife's Cannondale Evo HiMod 48cm build [3.96 kg] or [8.73 lbs]

[godzuki26]

Hello,

I thought I would get my wife involved in cycling so that we can do some hobbies together. She is a little person so I need to build a bike for her that will fit. I am a weight weenie so I cannot purchase a bike for her in a stock type of configuration. Thus, I will put this bike together with components from my parts bin as well as looking for woman specific parts on the internet. This bike must be under 10 lbs and I think I will be able to pull it off without getting too crazy.

To start, I will go with a Cannondale Woman geometry HiMod frame in 48cm. The frame weighed a respectable 732 grams. The fork was 296 grams. The female version of this frame has a shorter seat tube and shorter top tube than the male equivalent. I will also be using a Lightning 160mm crank set so that I can push the seat post a little bit higher. I want to get her an 80mm MCFK stem mated to a 36cm handlebar because she is tiny. I have a spare set of Ax Lightness Orion brakes which will also go on this bike.

If she gets into cycling, she will be asking me to get her Rapha kits in multiple colors. Lol


Here is the frameset

[godzuki26]

There are not too many options for a 36cm handlebar for Weight Weenies. Schmolke, Ax Lightness, MCFK don't make handlebars that small. The lightest bars I can find were the Specialized S-Works Shallow Woman Carbon Road Bar in size 36cm. It had a claimed weight of 180 grams which is reasonable but definitely not Weight Weenie.

[godzuki26]

Here is the S-Works handlebar with all the clear coat and ugly decals sanded off. I saved 12 grams.

[godzuki26]

Ok the heck with it!!! I am sanding the fork down too.

[godzuki26]

I cannot stop now. I am going to take everything off the frame too. I think this frame will be sub 700 grams stripped to bare carbon. Let's see.

[caballero]

This is what you should do for her AFTER she's into cycling. If she ever becomes interested.
A lot of money invested in your hobby, for her !
Nice bike though !

[Calnago]

I'm with @caballero on this. A stock bike would be fine for the purpose, but I get it, so carry on. Just try to act really excited when she gets you a new super nice expensive refrigerator for your birthday.

[godzuki26]

My friend's wife has a Cipollini RB1K with Lightweight Obermeyers. Her top speed is 18mph. All her friends ride Pinarello Dogmas and Colnago C60s. How do you expect my wife to fit in? She wants to look cool riding to Starbuck's.

[caballero]

New friends

[AUOC1OC6]

My friend's wife has a Cipollini RB1K with Lightweight Obermeyers. Her top speed is 18mph. All her friends ride Pinarello Dogmas and Colnago C60s. How do you expect my wife to fit in? She wants to look cool riding to Starbuck's.

LoL... I would prefer my significant other to have this expensive hobby instead of her Birkins and Chanel bags! At least, when she got tired of it, I could strip her bikes for parts to use on my other builds. Can't do that with handbags and shoes!

[godzuki26]

@AUOC1OC6 - You understand my agenda. I can get 5 sets of Reynolds RZR 92s for the price of 1 Hermes bag. I am trying to push her interest towards stuff I like. Wish me luck. The good thing is she likes black on black. I showed her a pick of Nifty's Cannondale Evo and she likes it. She also liked Prendrefeau's stoked bike but mentioned that it will be difficult to match bike clothes to pink accents.....Lol.

[godzuki26]

Does anybody have experience with SMUD? Are they still in business? I sent an email requesting a seatpost and 30mm seatpost clamp and have not heard anything back in over 2 weeks.

Also, what is a good saddle for a female? I was thinking a DASH P3.

[KarlC]

Here is the S-Works handlebar with all the clear coat and ugly decals sanded off. I saved 12 grams.

What do you think of these bars ?

I was thinking of trying some narrow bars and these came up in my search.

[dudemanppl]

Dammit I'm running the same handlebars as your wife LOL.

@Karl, they've been good for me but I'm only 58kg.

[abrown3mtg]

Was this a used frame or did you chop the steerer? I vote get it built, and get her a quality fit from the start. (And before ordering an exotic stem/specified crank arm lengths/etc. If she is comfortable for her first few rides, she will hopefully like it more and catch the cycling bug!