Fitting the bike to the lady
Discussion
Wrote a long rant about the indecisiveness of my dear lady wife but frankly it's irrelevant..
Basics are, bought Mrs Scruff a Specialized Ariel Elite today to replace her ageing Rockhopper (17", gents version). She mainly commutes or rides well maintained woodland paths with Scruff jnr so thought would be ideal. Bike chosen by her and fitted by good LBS.
10 miles in she's in tears as doesn't like it as much as the Rockhopper. I've changed seat height, stem angle and seat angle but 2 remaining grumbles are tyres and forks.
Tyres easy enough, she feels the Specialized Trigger Sports that are on there aren't grippy enough so will get something else but any recommendations? Wet leaves seem to be her issue and they need to be available as a 700.
Forks are harder, she's complaining not soft enough even when on softest setting. They're Suntour NEX 63mm (compared to the old 100mm Judy's she had). She only weighs 45kg or so, can the springs be adjusted? What are my options? Be gutted if she doesn't use the new bike as a result!
Basics are, bought Mrs Scruff a Specialized Ariel Elite today to replace her ageing Rockhopper (17", gents version). She mainly commutes or rides well maintained woodland paths with Scruff jnr so thought would be ideal. Bike chosen by her and fitted by good LBS.
10 miles in she's in tears as doesn't like it as much as the Rockhopper. I've changed seat height, stem angle and seat angle but 2 remaining grumbles are tyres and forks.
Tyres easy enough, she feels the Specialized Trigger Sports that are on there aren't grippy enough so will get something else but any recommendations? Wet leaves seem to be her issue and they need to be available as a 700.
Forks are harder, she's complaining not soft enough even when on softest setting. They're Suntour NEX 63mm (compared to the old 100mm Judy's she had). She only weighs 45kg or so, can the springs be adjusted? What are my options? Be gutted if she doesn't use the new bike as a result!
Looks like those forks are a very simple design with literally just a single coil spring and damper cartridge in one of the legs for shock absorption. Only way you can make them softer is to replace the spring for a weaker one. I guess the ideal would be a fork with an air spring that you can tune to her weight but that's much extra £££ :-(
lufbramatt said:
Looks like those forks are a very simple design with literally just a single coil spring and damper cartridge in one of the legs for shock absorption. Only way you can make them softer is to replace the spring for a weaker one. I guess the ideal would be a fork with an air spring that you can tune to her weight but that's much extra £££ :-(
Bum, was concerned that might be the case. Will speak tot LBS and see if they can fit a weaker spring....Mr Scruff said:
Wrote a long rant about the indecisiveness of my dear lady wife but frankly it's irrelevant..
Basics are, bought Mrs Scruff a Specialized Ariel Elite today to replace her ageing Rockhopper (17", gents version). She mainly commutes or rides well maintained woodland paths with Scruff jnr so thought would be ideal. Bike chosen by her and fitted by good LBS.
10 miles in she's in tears as doesn't like it as much as the Rockhopper. I've changed seat height, stem angle and seat angle but 2 remaining grumbles are tyres and forks.
Tyres easy enough, she feels the Specialized Trigger Sports that are on there aren't grippy enough so will get something else but any recommendations? Wet leaves seem to be her issue and they need to be available as a 700.
Forks are harder, she's complaining not soft enough even when on softest setting. They're Suntour NEX 63mm (compared to the old 100mm Judy's she had). She only weighs 45kg or so, can the springs be adjusted? What are my options? Be gutted if she doesn't use the new bike as a result!
Probably just misses her original saddle!!Basics are, bought Mrs Scruff a Specialized Ariel Elite today to replace her ageing Rockhopper (17", gents version). She mainly commutes or rides well maintained woodland paths with Scruff jnr so thought would be ideal. Bike chosen by her and fitted by good LBS.
10 miles in she's in tears as doesn't like it as much as the Rockhopper. I've changed seat height, stem angle and seat angle but 2 remaining grumbles are tyres and forks.
Tyres easy enough, she feels the Specialized Trigger Sports that are on there aren't grippy enough so will get something else but any recommendations? Wet leaves seem to be her issue and they need to be available as a 700.
Forks are harder, she's complaining not soft enough even when on softest setting. They're Suntour NEX 63mm (compared to the old 100mm Judy's she had). She only weighs 45kg or so, can the springs be adjusted? What are my options? Be gutted if she doesn't use the new bike as a result!
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