No this isn’t a question of what frame for a bloke who rides like a girl but more what frame for an actual girl.

My wife has been riding my old Scott Mc50 and we both agree that it is far too twitchy to ride (Maybe just needs a longer stem perhaps). Last two times she’s ridden it she’s come off badly – like today when she’s sliced her leg open at Afan requiring medical attention.

I’m thinking that maybe I just need to get a cheap frame (Perhaps a SC Chameleon 2nd Hand) and transplant the parts to see how she finds that.

Any thoughts on what frame would be best? I’m thinking an On-one 456 or Inbred or maybe the chameleon 2nd hand.

Has to be something which is cheap but decent if you get me. Cheap being around the £100-£250 mark.

Cheers

B

Chamleon’s are WAY too unforgiving. Handle brilliantly, but they are the most direct frame out there. Would not reccomend one to anyone except as a short ride/messabout bike, for which purpose they are superb.

On One 456 would be ideal I reckon. Rode with someone last night who had just picked up their new 14″ version. She was impressed after its maiden ride at least. Possibly consider normal inbred too.

How tall is she anyway B?

5ft 6″ tall.

I’m thinking On-one might be the way forward.

second an inbred or 456 (how long a fork will you be putting on it? 456 if its 120mm fork or longer.

You may need a ‘normal’ headset as more recent genius’es’ have integrated ones iirc, and certainly a narrower seatpost but this will be the case whatever frame you swap to. Try a longer fork and more sag and rebound damping on the back end first though: mine handles completely differently now and has taken far more than you would expect a ‘marathon’ bike to.

I’l put forward the idea of a small framed Kona, 14″ or so, I’m a small bloke (5’7), and as an even smaller kid I used to love my old Kona, maybe suitable for a woman?

My girlfriend rides a Rock Lobster and gets on with it pretty well. It’s a nice little bike built up with 100mm Rebas. Kinda stiff, but feels nice and stable to ride whilst being surprisingly light.

At 5ft 6 she may be between a 14 and 16″ frame though. And unlike the jump from the 16 to 18″ frame, the jump from the 14 to the 16 is a BIG one in terms of Top Tube length!

15.5″ Dialled Bikes PA perhaps?

Or a slightly leftfield alternative B, which I know they have (or did have) one of in Williams there’s the NS Society Frame. The “medium” is about a 15″ seat tube, but approx 23″ TT length. Bit slacker angles than a 456 though, though not as slack as the Summer Season, and more standover than the 16″ 456. Was tempted myself, but ended up getting a bargain deal on the 853 Genesis Altitude I bought instead.

Gonna be 100-130mm Air Revs going on it (if it happens)

PA then, mine seems very stable and confidence inspiring, its as much fun to ride as my full sus.

My wife, who is 5’7″ – she says, rides a medium Scott Octane and a medium Kona A, finds my 16″ 456 Summer Edition too long, the same for a medium Prophet. I have short stems on my bikes but they’re still long. I’d suggest a 14″ 456/Inbred, a small Kona or a Scott.

What width are the handlebars?

Rode some hire bikes recently and the first one had wider handlebars than I’m used to and felt really ‘twitchy’. Later in the week I rode a bike that was identical but with narrower bars and it felt loads better.

Either on-one 456 or inbred would be great imo – depending on whether you she wants a bigger fork or not. (If she doesn’t want to run a big fork, I’d go for an inbred as they’re a bit lighter and prettier too!)

My ss is an inbred and it’s a great little frame – the tt is pretty long for a women (so a bit long for me at 5’3″/4) but as she’s 5’6″ she could get a 14″ which would probably be ideal tt length and also have masses of standover and be nice and chuckable. Perfect choice. I rode mine at White’s Level the other week and had a great time!

Mrs NBT has an on-one Inbred and loves it. Mrs MartynS tried the inbred and loved it so much she made MartynS go out and buy her one. I swapped my soul for an 853 inbred….

I’m wondering if a longer stem will sort out the twitchyness in the interim but some good recommendations so far.

What length is the stem?

MrsF found her Juliana far too twitchy at first, she crashed a lot, had no confidence and thought she’d bought the wrong bike. The shop had thought “she’s a girl, needs a tiny stem”. A switch to a longer one fixed it straight away. Given that a new stem is £20, it’s worthy a try.

A longer fork would slacken the angles and make it a bit more stable.

60mm – swapped it from a 80 or 90mm sometime ago when she started using it thinking a shorter one would be better as bike is just that tiny bit on the big side for her.

GF – Thinking that longer stem and narrower bars may help – as you say its “worthy a try” 😉

Try an 80mm – I reckon that’d be a better shot than a 90mm – to start with at least. Don’t go narrow bars though – that’ll make it worse, believe me!

MrsF also cut down her bars from 26 to about 24.5 inches. She uses a 100mm stem now and everything’s dandy.

60mm is right short for a stem, not surprised it’s twitchy. I’ve got an 80mm (and maybe a longer one too) you can have to try if you want it.

I’d also make sure you’ve got the forks/shocks set up right for her weight (and that she’s not grabbing handfulls of front brake, which may pitch the bike under her making it feel ‘twitchy’)

In the garage tonight, while looking for a front mech, I found that I have 6 spare stems, all Easton EA50s or EA70s – 4 are 100s, one’s a 110 and one’s a 120mm. No idea how I’ve gathered so many. 🙄

At least you’ll never be short of paperweights.

I think the biggest problem with ladies bikes is the weight issue.

You may remember my Rock Lobster? Great bike in 853 steel so nice and springy, the 15″ fitted me perfectly at 5’5″, with layback seatpost. Sold the frame last year on here, there was quite a lot of interest.

Now have a 14″ Inbred 853 steel, though singlespeed. Huge amount of seatpost showing but I like it.

Used to have a 16″ On-One 456 which was definitely too big.

Would definitely keep your eyes open on the Classifieds here. If you are ever up Swinley Forest way, your wife is more than welcome to try my 14″ Inbred for size.

But would also suggest you look at reasonably lightweight forks and wheels, they make such a difference to a bike when you are a lighter person!

Barney..

My Claire had a trek 4500 which was a bit heavy and she just didn’t really get on with it. got a 14″ inbred and built it up with RS rebas Mavic 717 and lx drive train. She loves it..!
Oh shes 5’6″ as well..
Mail me if you want more info.

see you soon

I totally agree with Cinnamon girl. Having a lighter set up when your light makes a huge difference – especially in the wheels and forks. I used to have a rock lobster too, great steel frame just not quite right geometry for me (and I didn’t like the low BB). Now have a lovely ti frame and a very light set up – it’s great!

I reckon it’s worth sticking with what you’ve got for now though, but swapping the stem for an 80mm and if that doesn’t quite do it, maybe the 90mm. I personally wouldn’t go above that though as the trade off for control is too great imo. If the 90mm stem doesn’t work I’d be inclined to try a different frame, geometry is key and finding the right tt for me was the biggest factor (although the stem choice can influence this a lot).

Regarding the bars, I’m now on my third set of bars as I keep cutting them too short! (D’oh!) I think the whole smaller woman = narrower bars is stupid. Wide bars feel a bit weird to start with but they allow you to put a lot more power into steering, which when you’re light (and so often a bit weaker!) can make an even bigger difference! If you don’t trust me though, check out the thread I started a few weeks ago when asking for advice on what length to cut my bars to. 660mm is perfect for me but most people on here (general trail riders) seem to like them even wider.

Anyway, I don’t know if any of that is helpful, but those are the things that I’ve found to make the biggest difference to my riding.

B

Can lend you a 75mm stem if you want to try that first?

Also, still got this Halogen light if you want it still… Let me know either which way mate

Cheers

Cheers everyone…

We had a long discussion on the way back and she was saying she doesn’t like technical riding – prefers the endurance side of riding and as a result prefers riding on the road – but I think (and maybe I do because I’m slightly biased) that she is thinking this as the bike doesn’t control well when having to negotiate switchbacks, corners or twisty tech bits with roots and rocks. On the road there isn’t as much need to quick changes of direction etc so maybe this is why she prefers riding on the road.

Si – Will take you up on that 80mm to see how it handles.

Mboy – Keen to see the lights although nights getting longer now so not sure how much use they’d be. Might also borrow your 75mm stem too.

Tracey will be around soon and disagree with you about the Chameleon, mboy.

Have you ever thought about sending her on a skills weekend. My wife benefited greatly from the one she did. She used forest freeride. I’d recommend a course as a wise investment. Confidence is more often related bike skills than set up.

Some valid points but don’t underestimate the effect a couple of falls will have. A drop in confidence can make any bike feel crap.

It could be that you’ll have to change the bike now even if it isn’t at fault. A new bike or altered bike might just inspire your good lady.

No disrespect … but how’s her riding ? Have you considered the idea of a skills course ?…I see quite a few people with 2k plus bikes but because their confidence is low the bike actually becomes more of a burden than an asset ( would you learn to drive in a Ferrari ?)

Stuart

She could do with some skills coaching, but from riding the bike myself it doesn’t feel right but I’ve always put it down to me being used to my bike.