Womens Bikes?

January 16, 2006 12:53 AM

What kind of bike should my friend buy?

It will be used mostly to ride on bike trails and on some dirt tracks but not for hard-core mountain biking. A hybrid/ touring bike would probably be OK, or a mountain bike. It needs to be reasonably lightweight so she can get it on her bike rack and preferably would be something less likely to be stolen as it will live outside most of the time. Price under $500. As far under as possible.

Here's the kicker- she's 6' tall (at least) with shorter arms than legs so large mens bikes can be uncomfortable for her to ride if the frame is long front to back. Her old bike is getting the boot for this reason (Trek Mtn bike). None of the local stores have anything suitable in stock or are much help with finding women't bikes. Any suggestions for brands or modifications to fit we can check out?

posted by fshgrl to sports, hobbies, & recreation (11 comments total)

You need a store, there's no way around this. Go to a larger city if there's not one around you. What feels comfortable to one person may feel awkward to someone else, even with the same build.
posted by devilsbrigade at 12:59 AM on January 16, 2006

If it's mostly going to be on-road or nicely packed dirt riding, I'd stay away from the true mountain bikes. The knobby tires and soft suspensions make pedaling more difficult, in my experience. As long as she's not going to be pounding any rocks or tree roots with it, a hybrid bike is probably the best bet.
posted by knave at 1:16 AM on January 16, 2006

I'm going to second devilbrigade's rec that you go to a store. Even if they don't have anything in stock that you like, try to get measured ("fitted") for a bike and see if you can find out at least what brand and frame size that will work. Even better, go to multiple stores, because no single store carries all the brands. If you find one that you like and its out of your price range, try ebay - bikers are always upgrading and so you can often get a 1-2 year old bike for half its original price.

Your friend definitely has my sympathy, I'm fairly tall for a woman (5'9") and none of the women specific bikes out there will fit me. Right now my mountain bike is hard tail cannondale that has been my most comfortable, favorite bike ever.

One last note, as far as bike comfort goes, don't underestimate the importance of your contact points with the bike (butt, feet and hands). Its amazing what a good, properly adjusted saddle can do for your ride, not to mention some good shoes/peddles and gloves.
posted by dicaxpuella at 1:32 AM on January 16, 2006

Has she looked at Terry Bikes? Terry was started by a woman engineer with exactly your friend's problem. Terry's can be a bit hard to find though.

Trek also makes bikes specifically for women. Their WSD (woman-specific design) may be a bit easier to find, just look for your local Trek dealer and they should be able to source them.
posted by bonehead at 6:41 AM on January 16, 2006

Keep steel in mind when choosing a frame. Everybody wants aluminum (boring), carbon or titanium, but steel is great for this kind of frame. It is often nearly as light as aluminum, it is much more durable (especially after a bit of a wreck), and many find it much more comfortable on bumpy terrain.
posted by jmgorman at 6:51 AM on January 16, 2006

Keep steel in mind when choosing a frame.

The choice between aluminium or steel (cromo) is mostly about ride feel than anything else. A bike of either type will weigh roughly the same and survive for a roughly similar amount of time. In the extreme case, steel may last a bit longer (given something like a 5+ year timespan), because aluminium tends to fatigue, but I'd think that's so distant as to be of little importance. The main difference between steel and aluminium is that aluminium is stiffer, whilst steel will flex more. A stiffer frame has better power transfer, but can be twitchy, whereas a flexier frame will absorb some of the pedal power but might seem to have very slightly better handling in extreme conditions.

However, if your friend tries a few bikes, she shouldn't concentrate on what the frame is made from, that'll just contribute (ever so slightly) to the overall feel of the bike.
posted by veedubya at 7:03 AM on January 16, 2006

Don't worry about frame material. Worry about fit.

The "comfort" of various frame materials is a much discussed topic, but most bicycle engineers agree that this is largely an old fish tale. There are good reasons for picking one material over another, but comfort isn't one of them. There's a lot of nonsense about frames (soft, whippy, stiff, comfortable ride, "aluminum will fail", etc), but most of it is quite free of any understanding of the engineering. Don't worry about any of it. Just worry about how well the bike fits.
posted by bonehead at 7:32 AM on January 16, 2006

Hit the bike stores, lots of them, just to see what is out there and what she likes. Since the local shops don't have it you will have to travel. Fit is everything and finding a shop that can fit her is the trick. To go under $500 and still get a decent bike I would recommend buying used. It might still take some mods to get it to fit though, narrower handlebars, adjusting the stem length, etc. Everybody seems to measure frames differently in these days of sloping top tubes. However, my guess is that she needs a fairly large frame, but with positioning and handle bar adjustments. Here is an article about how to adjust your bike for comfort and efficiency: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm If you want to read a large number of these articles look here: http://www.cyclemetrics.com/Pages/FitLinks/bike_fit_links.htm
This system works for me: http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm

posted by caddis at 7:42 AM on January 16, 2006

OK, I screwed that up. The cyclemetrics link appears to be down (too bad as it is quite good) and then I put it into the Colorado Cyclists link. You can find the Colorado Cyclists link here.
posted by caddis at 7:49 AM on January 16, 2006

Thanks guys that is really helpful- esp the link on Terry and Trek womens bikes and the cannondale suggestion. The problem with the regular mens bikes is lower back pain and shoulder issues due to having to stretch so hard for the handlebars. She had extenders on the bars but you can't use those all the time. Narrower handlebars are an excellent suggestion- will look into that.

To clarify: don't need suspension, definetely want bike to last more than 5 years! and most bike stores really don't seem to know how to fit her or else just want to sell her something they have in stock even when it clearly is wrong. I think a trip to the big city is in order and I'll tell her to look for Terry and Trek dealers.
posted by fshgrl at 10:02 AM on January 16, 2006

When you friend gets her bike setup, tell her to make sure that the handlebars are high enough. Too many bike shops will set racing/touring bikes up with handlebars below the seat level ('cause that's houw Lance rides). For people with less than perfect backs, that can be the source of a lot of pain. Her bars should be above the level of the seat, probably well above.

Also, since she has known problems with fit and pain when riding, she should ask for a bike fit. This sometimes costs more, but it's really worth it. It takes about half an hour to do properly and should result in handlbars, crank lengths, seat heights etc.. fit to her properly. I can't open caddis' liks above for some reason, but here's a form for one possible procedure.
posted by bonehead at 10:24 AM on January 16, 2006