2010 Ridley Asteria - Competitive Cyclist

RIDLEY ASTERIA

The legends of Asteria are many. There were five of them in Greek mythology, and each and every one sounded formidable. One was an Amazon warrior killed by Heracles; one was the Titan goddess of oracles, prophetic dreams, and necromancy; and another was one of the Danaids -- a group of sisters known for murdering their husbands on their wedding nights. We're not sure which Asteria Ridley is referring to with their women's-specific frameset, but we don't doubt that she would fare just fine in the brutal terrain of Belgium that Ridley calls home.

Why choose a women's-specific bike? It's for one reason above all others: frame geometry. Women fit roads bikes best when the top tube is relatively short, but the head tube is relatively tall. Generally speaking, women have proportionally longer inseams (and, thereby, a shorter torso) than a man of equal height. This means a woman's saddle needs to be higher, which requires her bars to be higher in order to minimize an excess of saddle-to-handlebar drop. When your saddle is high, but your bars are low, you end up having to reach way, way down to your bars, which inevitably leads to back and/or neck pain over the course of a ride.

Ridley Asteria Detail Most women with a decent head tube length can only get there by riding a too-big bike. This means the top tube is too long, which requires the use of a super-short stem to the detriment of overall bike handling. It's a lousy compromise. The geometry of the Asteria is the ideal solution. Compared to standard Ridley geometry the top tube is short and the head tube is tall. Ridley head tubes -- in comparison to other bike brands -- are already generous. With the Asteria, a women can get comfortable with their saddle-to-bar drop without sacrificing handling in the least. Yes, the paint on the Asteria is feminine and beautiful, but the real glamour of the bike is in the confidence you'll feel dealing with high-speed corners, and the comfort you'll feel in your neck and back and arms over the course of 2+ hour ride.

The Asteria is built using the same monocoque Sharp Edge Tubing design and raw carbon fiber Ridley uses for the Damocles -- their workhorse road racing frame. Its seamless monocoque design gives it loads of durability and lightness. But where the Asteria is remarkable is in its ride quality. The true test of a carbon bike is to big ring it down a chip-and-seal country road (after all, every bike feels great on smooth pavement). By now we've had countless experiences drilling monocoque bikes in the boonies and we're almost always jackhammered by road shock and annoyed by the constancy and the loudness of the echoing noise that reverberates in their oversized tubes. Take just one test ride on an Asteria , though, and you'll come to a glorious conclusion: It's the exception to the monocoque rule. Even on chip-and-seal, there's a distinctive forgiveness to its tubes. It has a smoothness and a silence absent from nearly every other carbon bike in the market.

The Asteria comes in 5 sizes from XX-Small to Large. Given its compact geometry, we strongly suggest that you focus on the virtual top tube length as you make a determination of the proper size. The frame comes with a beautifully painted-to-match Ridley 4ZA Damocles monocoque full carbon fiber fork and a proprietary FSA integrated headset. It requires a 31.6mm seatpost, an English bottom bracket, and a 34.9mm front derailleur. It has a 5-year warranty from manufacturing defect.

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