Thought I'd settled on a bike for my girlfriend – she's buying it through the cycle to work scheme,

The Carrera Kracken W at £399 looked streets ahead of anything else – hydro brakes, half decent forks and looks pretty snazzy to.. It makes the £449 Spesh Myka look cheap and nasty…

However, tonight she tells me that Halfords are not on the list for the scheme that the NHS use 🙁

So the big question is – are Women specific bikes really worth it ? I'm guessing yes but would a mans bike with a womens saddle be the way to go ?

There is so much more choice with mens bikes !

Any help greatly appreciated !

Womens bikes tend to be shorter in the top tube

It depends on if the women is 'typically' proportioned. My partner rides a women's-specific Stumpy FSR as she preferred it to the men's frame; but then again, so do I! The only way your girlfiend is going to to know if one bike is more comfortable than another is by sitting on them.

thanks – problem is shes a total newbie really so doesn't know what feels right..

It might depend on height? I've got a Medium mens Spesh FSRXCpro and I love riding it. I'm quite tall though, slightly under 5'10. I have a shorter stem and WSD saddle but TBH have never tried a WSD bike.

Roughly if she is less than 5'4" then WS may be the way to go. However, some mens bikes have a short top tube. She does need to sit on a few.

mrs tlr suffered with small mens frames for 13 years.
just got her a juliana and already, ergonomically and efficiently she can feel the improvement.
steeper seat tubes on proper womens frames combined with shorter top tubes helps too.
however, she is small at 5'2" whereas tlaaer female friends get away with mens frames.
how tall is she justa ?

thanks – shes 5 ft 6

erm can I say she has a quite curvaceous figure ?!

It depends on proportions – I usually adapt my bikes with a shorter stem, and saddle that I like (even if you get a women's specific saddle, it might not be suitable)

have a look at evans for the gary fisher marlin gs 09. for another wsd at £400. she'd probably want a 15"

Would also stress that a lightweight bike will make a huge difference.

I used to have a Juliana (I'm 5'5") but the top tube was too short. All my bikes are now men's. But, over the years, I've made many mistakes with geometry but also riding style/position can change as can body (well, reckon mine has).

mrs tlr's juliana now weighs in at 25lb dead.

It's all about feeling comfortable.
My hardtail is a mans 'on one' inbred, which has loads of standover height. As a novice she may prefer something that when needed she can quickly get her feet on the ground.
My other bike is a Juliana, and at 5'4" (which I think is the average height of a British female) feels perfect. What I'm trying to say is there is no real answer, apart from getting the saddle right.

When I used to commute I used an old second hand GT timberline, which felt fine.

Is she going to be mtbing on it or using it purely for commuting?

My GF gets on well with a men's frame.

Most stock bikes, especially, XC and cheaper bikes have long stems compared to what a random sample of friends have so it was easy, cheap and effective just to stick a shorter stem on rather than limit her to a womans specific frame.

Changed the saddle and thought about cutting down the bars but never needed to.

My SO is 5" 6. She rides a regular hardrock. It's perfect, from memory the tt diff between it and it's wad counterpart was about an inch if that. Bikes in this price range tend to be quite sit up n beg anyway.

Womens bikes tend to suit those who have longer legs and shorter torsos (women generally have proportionally longer legs for their height than men), mens bikes are likely to suit just as well if she differs from this.

Generally though, there's more variation in dimensions between manufacturers (and even between models by the same manufacturer) than between mens and womens versions. No substitute for just trying out lots of different.

thanks folks – Bunnyhop – its for communting and hopefully the odd off-road jaunt with me !