road bike for shorter ladies

[robpearson]

A good friend of mine is only a wee lass at 5ft tall at age 24, and is looking for a road bike. Foolishly she has asked if I can help find her a bike, and help her train for a London to Paris next year, she'll be doing it in 5 days, so I'm not too worried about fitness as she already boxes, runs, and does other silly zumba type things. I'm thinking that as she is going to take so long over it, comfort is probably the order of the day, followed by lightness rather than out and out speed. Does anyone on here have any suggestions regarding ladies road bikes for a shortie? or general advice for her, apart from getting the bike properly fitted?

all sensible suggestions gratefully received.

[T350 Al]

The wife is only 5ft 2 and we managed to get her a Specialized Dolce on Saturday; might be worth a look? The spec isn't exactly dazzling, but the frame is good and more importantly, she likes it. They do them in fairly small sizes; the wife got a 51cm and it fits her perfectly. They go as small as a 48cm if I recall correctly. Think the 2012 bike can be had for about £550 online if you have a look around.

[robpearson]

Cheers T350, we have a Specialized concept store a couple of miles away.

[BadgerBenji]

The Dolce is a good option, Cannondale do a very nice selection of ladies specific bikes as well. In fact most of the major manufacturers do now have something in their range which is a big improvement over how it was 10-15 years ago, where it was just by a small frame and if it doesn't quite fit well just put up with it, it's nice to see the industry has caught up. Interestingly it's appearing on lots of ladies christmas lists, which is great to see.

[julianm]

Have a look at the `Islabikes` range of road bikes for kids, which are light & well made with good quality components, some adjustment to spec possible - could be just the job. They get great reviews & hold their value.

[Magic919]

Giant, believe it or not. My wife is 5'2" and had one. She went hybrid more recently and has a Trek FX 7.6.

[robpearson]

my wife has a 7.6 wsd actually, really impressed with it.

[village idiot]

show her much you like her and build her one from scratch...

this is what i put together for my vertically challenged social-handbrake.

way WAY WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY lighter than anything you can buy 'off the shelf' this side of £1k and with a spec more akin to a £1,250 bike... cost me about £650 in total with almost all brand new parts.

by the way, did i mention it was light? most low-mid range ladies road bikes weigh a bloody tonne!

Edited by village idiot on Monday 8th October 20:31

[robpearson]

I'm sure she'd love it, but i don't think the wife would be too impressed with me spending hours working hard on a good ride for another woman.

[Gizmoish]

What does Emma Pooley ride?

[Jimbo.]

robpearson said:

Cheers T350, we have a Specialized concept store a couple of miles away.

Then you're in luck, Spesh female-specific stuff is very well thought out

[R500POP]

I've been looking for something similar for my vertically challenged other hals, she's 4'11" though!!

[Simond S]

Have a look at the Kuota Korsa - lite

http://shop.tribecasport.com/bikes-frames/kuota/ko...

It has a few other differences from mainstream small bikes in as much as the handlebars can be much slimmer and they change the gearing to suit a shorter leg (not just shorter arms).

at 5' the xs would fit i think, they also have a xxs for short people

[itsnotarace]

Giant do an XS and XXS size that should fit, my Mrs is 5ft 2 and she rides an XS

[IroningMan]

650c wheels make things easier.

[anonymous-user]

Gizmoish said:

What does Emma Pooley ride?

A completely standard 48cm Cervelo S2. She's 5'2".

I've building a bike for my eldest daughter. She's 5'0" with an inseam around 29.5". I'm using a 48cm Soloist frame, a 9cm stem and have some Salsa Poco 38cm low drop bars. At the moment all I've done is put wheels in the drop outs, fit a BB and cranks and add the stem and bars to check for sizing. It fits well. She's looks comfortable from the hips up, and the seatpost is not slammed by any means. It's got about 30mm of spacers, although as she adapts to a roadie position I'll look to move those above the stem.

Other things worth thinking about are:
- gearing. I'm using a compact 50/34 for this, and swapping the 50 ring for a 48. With 165mm crankarms.
- cassette. at 24 yo she should be strong enough to run 12-25, but you might want to consider 12-28, esp if she's going to be riding with more experienced (ie fast) riders from the off.
- saddle. Very important. Lots of options here. I'm starting 66 major on a women specific saddle which Mrs 66 couldn't get on with. But if your OH has a narrow build, think about looking for a 130mm wide saddle.
- shifters. Small hands? Might be worth getting her down to a bike shop to try out Campy/Shimano/SRAM hoods to see whether she has a preference.

Personally, if you have the skills, I'd say gather the bits from ebay or other places* and build it yourself.

• in particular, the for sale forum on weightweenies is a treasure trove of nice, used kit.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 9th October 16:20

[Simond S]

Good point by greg. Levers for a smaller person can be a nightmare. Sram force which use a single lever to go both up and down the gears can seem a very long throw.

Something that uses a short throw and a button would be better, or, probably easier to buy her Di2 and be safe

[village idiot]

specialized do some shims for shimano sti levers which bring the levers closer to the bars for people with small hands... i put some on the ambrosio and they work fantastically.

[HundredthIdiot]

A short arse friend of mine had a Spesh Dolce and now a Ruby and loved/loves them.

I built my wife a little Trek (old Alpha alu frame) with a Campag Veloce triple groupset (50/40/30) and she loves it.