Good bike for a little lady?

[NEvans]

Finally convinced the wife she should be spending more time out on the road with me. The children are older and noiser now (please leave home, its that time!). So the idea of a day or weekend ride, carrying plastic and little else, with a nice warm bath, prepared meal and bed awaiting her is sounding very appealing.

So looking for something light and comfortable for generally no more than weekends (although trying to inbed the idea that she has to LE2JOG in the not too distant future is being worked on).

At 5'00" I have been very disappointed with the lack of bikes on offer (or in the ranges) in local shops. So have been looking further afield. Reviews for Longstaff have been good, but their website doesn't contain any information. Other major thought is the Orbit Alfine. I've had an Orbit Harrier for plus of 12 years, been a great bike. Thinking of her (being small and a lot less milage), the Alfine comes in a 46" frame, 11 speed hub, butterfly bars if she wants them, standard extras such as rack, mudguards, lights.

I like Orbits and it sounds a great bike, but at £1,449 is a lot more than I wanted to spend £800 - 1,000. Do people think its worth paying the extra for that bike, or can I get better for my money?

[Brucey]

you mean a 46cm frame, not a 46" frame right?

IIRC the orbit alfine

http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/index.php/bikes3/orbit-alfine-detail

is a 26" wheeled bike, I.e based around an MTB-esque platform. I think it would make an excellent load-lugger, but would probably be somewhat overbuilt as a credit card tourer.

Good choices for a light tourer around that frame size are somewhat limited and in any event I would suggest a careful trial fitting/test ride to be sure that the bike will suit.

Have you considered something based around a lightweight road bike? If you are not carrying a heavy load maybe that would be worth considering?

cheers

[reohn2]

Thorn Audax Mk3 or Thorn Club Tour.
Spa Ti tourer or Audax.

[jezer]

My lady friend is of a similar hight and she bought a Trek from our local LBS. They offer bikes in small sizes and she is fine with it. I don't like the brand myself, probably due to the Armstrong connection, but many of our newer club riders have them

[Valbrona]

1/ Simple laws of physics say that 700c wheels are a bit big and clumsy for a small frame, so 26" would not be a bad idea.
2/ The most important measure on any geometry chart is fast becoming the 'effective horizontal top tube'. Women typically can't reach very far.
3/ Look at the 'kids bikes' section of websites as well as the 'women's bikes' section.

If she is keen on drops I note that Dawes and Isla Bikes do these in 26" wheel flavour.

[Sweep]

Check out the specialized Vita range - they do an XS.

It's female specific as well.

I know a few women riders who are pleased with it.

I bought one for a small woman from Edinburgh Bike Co-Op who are great people to deal with.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... ed-vita-14

They have a fair few shops around these days though unfortunately they haven't got close to London yet.

I know what the poster above means about 700C wheels looking odd on a small frame but it seemed to me that somehow Specialized had managed the trick.

You need to do a bit of jiggery pokery to get a rear rack on because of the geometry but nothing too extreme or that compromises anything.

[pete75]

If you are considering a road type bike check out the Decathlon offerings. They seem to have more idea than most about bike sizing for the vertically challenged eg varying crank length with frame size and fitting 650 rather than 700 wheels to frame sizes below about 52.

[jessand]

Don't rule out 700c road bikes such as the Trek mentioned or the Cannondale Synapse feminine. I know theory states that you shouldn't have 700c wheels on such small frames, my experience is that they work fine. A 46cm Synapse will have enough seatpost showing for a saddlebag or large seat pack. It has mudguard eyes but not for a rack so you'd need a 3 point fixing lightweight rack (which would proably more than adequate) if she wants panniers.
Another thing you might consider iis what the bike is like when not doing marathon rides, a light, agile road bike is a lot more fun. Be sure to check for toe overlap if that's an issue (at 5' you might cosider cranks of 160mm or a bit less), fit is everthing as you know. If she doen't want drops there are flat bar variants from both manufacturers. There's more choice than people think if you look around.
Good luck.

[bohrsatom]

You need to do a bit of jiggery pokery to get a rear rack on because of the geometry but nothing too extreme or that compromises anything.

What did you have to do to get a rack to fit? I am trying to do the same thing with a Tortec rack but struggling to fit it properly as the arms are too short! I even have a seat clamp mount but still can't get the rack completely level.

As to avoid derailing the topic, count this as another vote for the vita. My OH (5'1") had difficulty finding a bike with the right geometry (in general the reach of a dropped-bar bike was too long) but the Vita was a good fit.

[hamster]

Islabikes now do very good bikes aimed at teenagers / shorter adults.

[Pickers]

Most manufacturers don't seem to cater for the vertically challenged, I had a heck of a game finding a bike to fit my wife.
She's not only just 5'3", but short of leg for her height as well.
I eventually went for a Surly Pacer as a frame only buy, in 42cm size. This uses 700c wheels but doesn't appear to trouble her with any toeclip overlap.
She loves it to bits.

[bikerta]

This is a great looking bike and well within your price range. Nice small frame size and comfortable bars.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161252979376? ... 1423.l2649

[mercalia]

This is a great looking bike and well within your price range. Nice small frame size and comfortable bars.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161252979376? ... 1423.l2649

wow has nice beefy bars, not the silly skinny tubes u normally get. Some one after my own heart

[Sweep]

You need to do a bit of jiggery pokery to get a rear rack on because of the geometry but nothing too extreme or that compromises anything.

What did you have to do to get a rack to fit? I am trying to do the same thing with a Tortec rack but struggling to fit it properly as the arms are too short! I even have a seat clamp mount but still can't get the rack completely level.

Hi there bohrstation - sorry - only just seen that this is a question to me.

I got in touch with the wonderful Edinburgh Bike Co-op.

Despite the fact that the Vita had been bought from them in a sale and I don't think the rack (possibly a Tortec as well - sorry - can't check - bike not with me) had even been bought from them, they sent me a bag of various metal fitting bits. This overcame the problem of the arms being too short.

The rack (though as I said not from Edinburgh) was very possibly this:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... te-carrier

With a bit of fiddling and a seat clamp mount everything worked fine and the rack is perfectly level.


Have checked on the Edinburgh iwebsite and found this:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... er-fitting


though I'm not entirely sure that that is what they sent me. I seem to remember that it was some fairly generic far-eastern-chinese looking bag of metal bits.

Have a trawl round the web if you want to do it yourself - alternatively a local bike shop may be able to help if you buy something from them - I wouldn't be surprised if they have a random box full of such bits of metal.

Your rack will almost certainly fit.

all the best

[Sweep]

PS:

I'm certain this wasn't the kit (and it was substantially cheaper)

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/blackburn-bl ... prod25871/

but from memory (again as I say I am not living with the bike) those 4 long metal bits at the bottom of the pic look familiar - use them with bolts (threadlocked of course) to extend the existing rack arms.

I seem to remember that the list price of what Edinburgh Bike Co-Op sent me for free was around £6. About 2 or 3 years ago.