I quite fancy building up a bike for the SO, she was saying that she'd like a bike for "pootling about on" but can't afford one.

I reckon I've got enough parts stashed away in various murky corners of the garage/around the house to put something together, but I will definitely need a frame.

Should I be looking for something designed for the fairer sex, or will any small frame (she's 5'7) be OK?

Any suggestions, or should I proceed directly to the classifieds…? :o)
Thanks,
Adam

I've just built my fianceé a bike out of all the spares I had. well, mostly, I was missing a set of brakes so it was a great excuse to upgrade the ones on my bike in order to have a set left over for hers! 😆

Anyway, Sarahs the same hight as me at 6' and so my old hardtail did the job nicely and she absolutly loves it! I guessed if she got into it, I could always change the frame at a later date if she felt it wasnt right.

She's completely over biked, with a set of fox vans on the front, yet she wont ride down the slightest gradient, or attempt anything other than flat trail, well, not yet anyway. She did ride over a short 2foot wide bridge the other day without getting off, and come to think about it, she rode under a canal bridge where the footpath was very narrow, so theres hope yet.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that the chances of a womens specific geomety making much difference to her riding pleasure or ability are slim whilst she's learning, so picking up a cheap small frame will probably make more sence now, until she's a little better and decided she likes the sport before investing in a new bike later on when she understands what she wants. 😕

Kinesis do a nice one. We've taken the plunge and got some on the way.

I'm not totally with Grimy but to a certain extend don't disagree too much.. I did exactly the same (well maybe not to that spec level), I bought a bike for spares and suggested jokingly she try it, and then had to go and buy more spares…

She has ridden it but after the initial period of getting used to a bike again, she isn't terribly comfortable on it (due to years of horse riding leaving her battered & slightly broken), but just trying a friends WSD Myka it looks like a WSD bike will be the way ahead for her.
So a normal frame has got her going but she now needs a WSD one, but we didn't know this to start with. So I'd suggest it depend on what spares you have available to you, if you have enough that you just need a frame, then go that way but remember that the likes of the Specialized Myka do pretty well 2nd hand if you bought her one and she didn't get on with it….

Now if some-one would sell me just a (17") Myka frame I'd be happy… as I can't justify/afford buying a complete bike for her.

well worth a read
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fanny-bashers
😆