Compare and contrast (the lass in orange is the current TT world champ, so you’d think would have a pretty good position – you could pick any other pro woman to compare):

then why don’t the cretinous manufacturers say so instead of spinning utter bullshit about proportions?

Clearly because they’re cretinous and don’t actually understand the science.

So I have been to a local bike shop but all they had was a womens specific Cannondale 16″ with 29″ wheels, it did feel nice but I couldn’t ride it anywhere, so am not sure how I’m going to make my mind up on that basis. I also tried a different halfords branch but they had no men’s 16″ frame bikes and the womens 16″ bikes felt too small and unable to test ride. I have been in touch with my local club so hopefully will get some local help.
Simone I may well take you up on your offer, thanks so much.
Thanks again for all the good advice.

I would suggest being prepared to travel some distance to sit on a bike in your size. Also make phone calls to shops to ask. Yes, it’s a pita but it’s the only way.

As regards 29’ers, I can’t offer any advice as I’m firmly on 26″ wheels.

Good luck, you will get there. 🙂

Where abouts in the country are you, someone will be able to point you to a trusted shop.

Don’t buy without a test ride, and a proper one at that.

If you want to buy new, id take a look at the saracen kili 29er, you can get them under £500 and they do a 15″ model. You can always make a few choice upgrades like saddle, bars etc if you feel its not comfortable. Best thing is to go try a few.

I’m in Suffolk…I know, no actual mountains but some great coastal and woodland cross country potential…
Have booked into a largish bike shop tomorrow to have a sit so shall see what that brings.
Am preparing to travel cinnamon girl, I do not want to be stuck with a bike that could possibly be unsatisfactory.
Am willing to travel about an hour I guess. There’s a specialized concept shop about an hour away in Chelmsford and must admit am quite taken with the rockhopper…probably all wrong but it does look fun…

Thomas Cycles- good stock, happy to let you test, Ipswich. Good service IME.
Elmys- good stock, happy to let you test, female manager, Ipswich. Great service IME.
Pedal Power- perhaps not quite the stock of the others, don’t know about tests but would have thought it’s ok, Ipswich. good rep.
Lifecycles- lots of top end stuff, good rep. Bildeston.
Halfords- bargain boardmans, no test, inconsistent service.
Paul’s Dereham- online bargains if you know what you want.

If your just getting into the sport/hobby I would add extra value to service over getting an upgraded widget on the bike.

Am willing to travel about an hour I guess.

I personally would double that! You need to put the work in cos you can have such fun with a correctly fitting bike!

Thanks Ian, funny you should say, am off to Thomas’ ips after work this aft and Thomas’ Colchester early tomorrow so I can see more of a range. I had ruled out elmys as when I looked online it looked a bit out of my price range but if you think it’s worth a look I’ll definitely give it a try.

Some advice on the part of my wife: don’t be tempted into buying a bike with a very upright position. Earlier in this thread somebody mentioned a Specialized Myka… we bought one for Mrs Gti who is a tad over 5′ and it was a disaster; it certainly felt comfortable thanks to the sitting position but it was too heavy thanks to the fairly useless fork and burly build, it had slow fat tyres and worst of all, the upright position caused huge wind resistance. Consequently it was slow and hard work and she never enjoyed it. When we found a nice Spesh Dolce road bike at a bike jumble she was just blown away at how fast it was and how easy to ride.

My advice would be to go to the Specialized Concept store at a quiet time (not Saturday morning!) and go through the options with the staff. Rockhopper is a respected bike (my first proper mountain bike in 1989 was a full-rigid Rockhopper) and the Concept Store will measure you and fit you correctly then make small mods to the position at no cost.

Another female rider here, though only 5’3″. Just wanted to say that I agree with everything Cinnamon Girl has said, particularly regarding trying stuff out now, so that you can have more fun later.

As globalti’s wife’s experience shows – just sitting on a bike, really won’t give you much of an idea of what fits and what doesn’t. Wherever possible have a (proper) ride. I’ve had more frames than I’m willing to admit in the last 6 years and of the two best, one was a men’s 14″ and one a women’s. But many men’s/women’s bikes in the same ‘size’ have been awful fits for me, so you really need to try wherever you possibly can.

My local Specialized Concept Store ordered a bike in for me and let me take it out for a proper spin before putting the cash down and the follow up service was worth more than an online discount can account for imo. I’d give yours a call and ask them to order a Rockhopper in in your size for you to try out. If it fits well, then I’m sure it’ll do you nicely for now. Really can’t stress how important sizing is!

No problem, just let me know. Email in profile.

Simone

Brimstone-
can you please post a picture of the bike when you get around to purchasing, itll gives those recovering from the ” I’ve been robbed by Jenson Button” thread something to anticipate.

No rush I suggest you drag it out a few weeks at least! 🙂

BTW Concept Stores should give you 12.5% discount if you ask nicely.

Shucks guys…just been to local bike store…am more confused…guess it’s the long haul for me…
Although the have said I could test ride a bike, they were v reluctant to even let me sit on a ‘mans’ bike, so a giant tempt with 27.5 wheels was the ‘fit’. Also advised that they have only sold one ‘mans’ to a 5’10” female…so back to thoughts!
I shall indeed phone specialized tomorrow.
Would it be possible to do a poll on men’s bikes for females and female specific for females?

I think you will be impressed by the Concept Store, they really are pretty good shops.

brimstone – are you the second female rider they’ve ever served? If you lived in the South I would recommend my lbs who treat me the same as their male customers, in other words couldn’t be more helpful!

I’ve got 6 bikes, all are men’s. I’ve only ever had one female specific frame and, actually, it wasn’t a good fit.

Edit: next shop has to be a recommendation from here!

Gutted to hear the lbs responded like that. Like CG says, are they completely unacquainted to dealing with women? My two fav lbs in Bristol were always amazing to me and my hubby alike, so please don’t let that put you off. I’m hopeful the concept store will be a very different – and far more positive – experience.

I’ve currently got a women’s specific frame (Kinesis), but it’s not got a crazy short top tube, like some of them out there have. (And since I built it myself, it hasn’t got silly narrow bars or a heavy, spongy gel saddle either!) My Orange Five and my Ti Hardtail were men’s frames and fit really well (the women’s version of the Five had a horribly short top tube), but then I’ve also had several men’s frames that were too long in the TT for me. So yep, in terms of the best fit for me, one has been men’s and one has been women’s.

It really is a case of each individual bike, so although a poll might be fun, it won’t really help you, unless the women have the same proportions (and possibly riding style?) as you and have the same frames you’re looking at. Stick with it though, it’ll be worth it, I promise!

Ladies, I trust you completely…next stop concept for me!
Who knows, all their previous female customers may feel their bikes are a little unsatisfactory but are not sure why…resulting in much less fun…?…maybe.
I suspect that I came in from work looking so dishevelled that he may have just thought I needed something sparkly to to pick myself up for for the weekend not realising that i’m just not that kind of girly girl…

Ok…I do have a pashley…but…

🙂

Try here:-

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1521634/

Second-hand is best.

Test ride first! Borrow friends/ join a group?

Try Birds on Bikes and Dirt Diva’s for advice from more women.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/birdsonbikes/

Mrs RedThunder

PS What about this…just a thought
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-two-two-alloy-hardtail-mountain-bike-p275612

Thanks redthunders, have posted dilemma on the birdsonbikes Facebook page.
I think best bet concept shop tomorrow…

Looks like you experienced the classic Thomas’s sales experience. My last point of call in ipswich.

An update if anyone is interested…
The best advice is to try and try again, but am limited in my area for actual bikes in actual shops so cinnamon girl I think i’ll have to take your advice and venture further afield.
Today I went to the concept store and it was a totally different experience…I tried the Specialized Jett (ladies medium) first and it was just right in almost every way, right fit, brilliant to ride, felt completely in control at all times and didn’t actually want to get off, the price was £800 though…v clever salesman…
The Myka sport disc was too upright…and…couldn’t compare obviously.
…and the 17.5″ rockhopper was too big although I have high hopes for the 15.5″ rockhopper that they are ordering in for me to try next week.
But in conclusion of my days escapades the £800 bike was sooo much more bike than the £400 Myka…maybe second hand after all…and so now back to the confusion…

Geometry is everything. Compare the Rockhopper with the Giant I suggested earlier. At least you now know what fits you. There is nothing wrong with your budget, but yes, more money buys you nicer things 😉 . But a cheap well-fitting bike will me a lot more fun than an expensive poor-fitting bike.

brimstone – it will keep you something to compare with. What could be a useful thing to do (sorry, bit geeky) but check on manufacturer’s website to get measurements of the model you felt comfy on.

Fingers crossed that one arrives next week in the shop. In the meantime still worth checking out Classifieds. E-mail in profile and happy to answer any q’s.

Don’t be daunted by all this, I understand what you’re going through. 🙂

Something else to consider – see if you can get yourself a decentpair of cycling shorts too, it will make a huge difference to your enjoyment (probably best to start a whole new thread on that topic!)

Hi Brimstone, really glad to hear you had such a positive experience at the concept store!

The 15.5 Rockhopper sounds very promising! From a quick look at the geometry (yes, I’m that geeky), the effective top tube length (reach) of this and the jett are only 1mm difference, so there’s a great chance that it’ll be a good fit. 😀

As for the spec, there’ll be a bit of weight difference, but the quality of kit looks very similar, and if you get into riding (which I hope you do!) you’ll probably want to upgrade things like the forks and wheels in time anyway, so I wouldn’t worry too much. Like TiRed says ‘Geometry is everything’.

In the meantime, like CG says, keep an eye on the classifieds especially as Rockhoppers are relatively common.

Oh and also, if you do go for the new one, ask them for 10% discount (which is standard) and use the money to buy some lighter – kevlar not wire bead – tires, it’ll be the best value upgrade you can make, and will make the bike feel loads lighter and more responsive since rotating weight is waaaay more noticeable than static weight.

My email address is also in my profile if you have any questions you’d rather not ask on here, but CG knows her stuff and has been riding longer than me, so she might be your best bet (though I’m definitely more geeky, so for geek stuff, I’m your woman! 😉 )

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Aha mountainMonkey that’s top finding out bonuses for you…I think the old saying is geekyness is next to godliness…right…
TiRed one of the problems is that there’s just not enough bikes around in stock for comparison, I went back to different branch of Thomas’s and they had not one 15.5″ framed bike in stock.my search shall continue…
CG I have seen a medium spesh epic wsd on eBay and a small trek lush which I’m following, early days but so far bidding still in price range. Not a single jett 2nd hand in any classifieds, am looking here and pinkbike, eBay and gumtree…working hard on this project, oh and missed out on rockhopper practically new on eBay last night it went for £236 I bid £234 pipped to the post, would’ve been a bargain…

.I think the old saying is geekyness is next to godliness…right…

It’s a slippery slope.

.working hard on this project, oh and missed out on rockhopper practically new on eBay last night it went for £236 I bid £234 pipped to the post, would’ve been a bargain…

The thrill of the chase. Welcome to the club; there is no way back now 😉

Just seen an interesting article about Women Specific Bikes pop-up over on enduro-mtb.com which made me think of this thread.

It’s primarily focused on the racing aspect of the sport, so isn’t aimed at the beginner (sorry OP), but there’s still some good points in there regarding different companies approaches to women specific designs.

Opinion: Women Specific Bikes – Softened or Race Ready?

Here it is if anyone is slightly interested…the new bike.
Spent way more than the original budget, but am v v happy with it.
It’s a WSD orange diva 17” frame with 29” wheels.
Ex demo from orange.
Have tested it and it IS awesome…
Thanks everyone for all your really helpful comments and great informative links, especially Mountain Monkey and Cinnamon Girl.
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Gorgeous anda geat choice. Hope you have many happy trails and adventures with it.

Nice bike,hope you have a lot of good rides on it.

Nice bike. 🙂

Usual comments about valves etc seem to be covered. 😕

See you on the trails sometime.

Another Ipswich resident that would advise you to stay well away from Thomas. They have a bad rep with my female friends for advising work not needed.