Recommendations please- what bike?

[Louisa911]

I'm a female, 5'7" tall.

Preferably meeting all, or most, of the following:

Under £800 (new or secondhand)
All mountain / strong XC, for trail centres such as Glentress and Dalby. Small jumps and dropoffs, very light DH, but a good climber.

Less than 32lbs weight or thereabouts.
Would rather have a top spec hardtail over a poor spec full suspension, but if I could get a decent full sus for the price, I'd rather go with that.

Preferably more than 100mm travel if its a hardtail, unless you reckon it would take the type of riding I hope to be doing in the next couple of years eg. glentress blue, red. (won't be able to afford another for a while, im a student!)

Open to ladies specific bike suggestions, although I doubt I would benefit over a mens model. Been looking at the Orange Diva but I'm not sold on the idea yet due to 100mm travel on a hardtail, possibly not versatile enough Oh and not too keen on the womanly decals either!

Thanks

[a11y_m]

I found THIS GIANT REIGN X searching online...

Perhaps overkill for XC but certainly a very capable bike. I reckon you could get it down to your budget (or close to) if you asked. Not sure if the sizing might be a bit big for you.

[Roman]

The Boardman FS Comp for £850 has great reviews, full suss 120mm, 29lb & non 'girly' colours:
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_comp.html

Wiggle have an excellent offer this more 'all mountain' orientated Felt at the moment:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_Compulsion_...

[R2FU]

My wife and I have been looking for a bike for her to do similar things on to what you describe so we've been through a similar investigation. We have pretty much got to the point where it's between the Orange Diva hardtail or spending a little more and going full suspension with a Specialized Myka FSR Comp.

I think what has held us back from taking the plunge is the sense there isn't actually all that much choice if you stick to a women's bike. She frequently rides my bike which on paper is a "Mens" bike and arguably a bit big - but she just lowers the saddle and off she goes with no obvious problems.

You seem to be on the page that you don't necessarily need a women's bike? My wife's not particularly tiny (about 5'8" I think) such that she might need special dimensions or anything. Is the general consensus that "Womens" bikes are just a marketing thing and we should widen our search to include mens bikes? Some of the deals pointed out in this thread seem good (quite like the look of that Felt).

[pdV6]

R2FU said:

Is the general consensus that "Womens" bikes are just a marketing thing and we should widen our search to include mens bikes?

Well, women specific bikes do usually come with slightly modified geometry and component sizing, but nothing that you can't adjust at point of sale in a decent LBS on a small men's bike.

Key would be "Does it fit?" and "Is she happy riding it?". If both are "yes" then who cares if it has a women-specific label on it or not?

[Gnarlybluesurf]

R2FU said:

My wife's not particularly tiny (about 5'8" I think) such that she might need special dimensions or anything. Is the general consensus that "Womens" bikes are just a marketing thing and we should widen our search to include mens bikes? Some of the deals pointed out in this thread seem good (quite like the look of that Felt).

I agree with this, my 5'8" other half happily commutes 13 miles on a Large Boardman Hybrid Pro. Comparing specs on the womens and mens bikes the womens seem to be under specc'ed compared with similarly priced mens bikes. The womens bikes do have a different geometry and I think may be appropriate for much shorter women but who said all 'men' and all 'women' have similar length and proportional legs/torso/arms... i think the cross over is far higher than the manufacturers would have you believe.