Just wondering if any of you guys would consider owning/riding a female mtb?As I,m not tall, I was wondering if I could get away with it.Prices seem fairly keen and some of them even look decent.Thoughts and pisstakes all welcome.

Seems ok for these chaps?

More seriously, if it fits then why not?

Bikes either fit or they don’t. And near everyone swaps the saddle, stem and bars to tailor a ride.

Get fitted up for a bike then take note of the geo and spec when choosing. Job done. Should be handy for deals on smaller sizes as you suggest

Interesting article on the different approaches to women’s bikes.

Basically, a few manufacturers design frames specifically for the long legs and short torso stereotype. Others use a unisex frame, and fit smaller grips, women’s saddle, etc. And some simply sell smaller bikes.

So yes, you’ll probably find something you like. And maybe look out for second-hand bargains, as they’re often practically un-ridden!

Don’t see why not as long as it fits…

a mate rides a womans kona full sus bike. he is a tad over 5ft.
cant say that i notice such things.

a change of saddle would be the only thing to alter i would have thought.

Two of these three bikes are ‘women’s specific’:

Go to your local trail centre and take a look at how hard some of the aggressive men ride. Female specific bikes are simply not designed for this level of riding.

I’d say if you’re an aggressive male, you’d be better off looking at one of the aggressive trail bikes, or even an aggressive hardtail; not a bike that’s pink and purple with a big comfy saddle on it (unless of course you’re just planning on riding it around town, in which case make sure nobody sees you).

^^ @davidtaylforth…….bollox

mates bike his this

http://2016.konaworld.com/process_134_dl.cfm

^ DNF speaketh the truth, the metal of ladies bikes is simply inadequate for an aggressive male. Some may even be made of aluminium! Ye gods, it beggars belief.

DTF, you’re gonna need a bigger boat…

Davidtaylforth – have you actually met any female bikers?

Actually – have you ever met any females?? 🙄

Rachel

Not under his bridge.

All of these three bikes are designed and marketed specifically for men and boys:

The troll up there … is just trolling. If the bike and spec fit, then why not ride it? Failing that there are plenty of used ‘men’s’ hardtail, enduro and gravel bikes for sale in the classifieds here. Although, they may be last-year’s season’s colours and sizes 😉

Go to your local trail centre and take a look at how hard some of the aggressive men ride. Female specific bikes are simply not designed for this level of riding.

A ladies MTB clearly pottering around that easy and flat trail centre known as laggan. Ooh look, it is small and pink too.

DTF I laughed, anyway. Teen 2 rode a lovely Giant Talon 1W. It was black with pink accents, had decent spec for £1K and, most important, fit him perfectly! Just sold it now he’s grown six inches to a lovely lady who’s also a perfect fit and loving it.

The absence of manly alloy and clear W on the frame would make it wholly unsuited to those on here of an M persuasion, anyway.

Buy what fits, and don’t fret the big man errr wheel syndrome. This was a 26″ wheeled bike for a 26″ wheel sized person. Other sized people (and wheels) are available.

Ooh look, it is small and pink too.

🙄

There are actual pics of women riding more radical trails, and sans the obligatory pink accoutrements, ie

Buy what fits, and don’t fret the big man errr wheel syndrome. This was a 26″ wheeled bike for a 26″ wheel sized person. Other sized people (and wheels) are available.

What’s a 26″ wheel sized person?

Most women specific bikes are just marketing bs with a special saddle but as above some are genuinely trying.

There are some real bargains out there just not in xl.

Some of the lady’s who I know that ride are on men’s bikes just because there was more choice

DTF, thumbs up…

Most women specific bikes are just marketing bs with a special saddle

Yes – if the frame fits – no problem.
Normally a “paint” and “saddle” thing.

Example: new Bossnut V2 Ladies version. There is somewhere a review about it. The saddle…

😆 DTF

Esme – Member
Interesting article on the different approaches to women’s bikes.

Interesting that the author dismisses the long legs/shorter torso as “for the most part, a myth”. They clearly haven’t met my wife.

She’s always struggled to buy off the shelf bikes and as mountain bikes have generally got longer it’s become almost impossible. She’s more of a roadie and to give you an example of how extreme her bike fit issues are, she has three custom frames all with a 52cm effective top tube and 56cm seat tube. Basically the height of a typical large frame with the length of a small.

With mountain bikes the “womens” range seem to be the mens frame painted pink with some flowers stuck on. Specialized used to import stuff like the Fate (which she owns) but that’s been dropped the last couple of years.

I ride with a few women and most seem to get along fine adjusting the fit of mens bikes. There does seem to me to be a significant minority who benefit from women’s fit frames though.

Can’t she just put the saddle up a bit?

A 26″ wheel sized person is one who can’t stand over 29″ wheel bike. I’ve also recommended decent 24″ wheeled kids bikes for a lady who was even smaller.

Wife has always chosen to ride non female bikes due to what she likes the fit of.

I was looking at Santa Cruz recently (decided against them after a test ride) but was going to get the juliana just for the matt pastel lavender colour it came in.

If a bike fits your needs, it fits your needs.

Ask the Santa Cruz rep about this recently… all the Juliana “women’s” frames are exactly the same as the equivalent “men’s” frames; just a different colour scheme.

I’m now looking at a Juliana Roubion as they seem to be a bit cheaper than a SC Bronson…

Just buy on size, FFS.

None of my bikes (MTB or road) are women-specific. I don’t see the point of it, except to provide women with a limited choice and a bunch of daft names. The long legs and short torso excuse is a myth. I just buy whatever bike I want and put a women’s specific saddle on it.

To try and answer your question some women specific bikes are built to take account of the fact that if you average out the body proportions of men and women then women will have longer legs and shorter upper bodies than men so have a shorter reach for a given frame size . Some manufacturers make the actual frames shorter on womens bikes to take this into account , some manufacturers just stick a shorter stem and womens saddle on and some manufacturers just give them a different paint job .
Some men actually have disproportionally long legs and would be better served with a bike with a WSD frame others might be put off by the paint job or just not be happy to be on a womens bike because it’s a womens bike . Always worth bearing in mind that WSD bikes will be harder to sell on as they appeal to a smaller portion of the bike buying public .

My gfs bike was women specific, that meant it was small size, came with stupid narrow bars and saved us £1000. I obviously spent the savings on coke and hookers, after blowing £30 on wider bars.

Another +1 for DTF, although I’m surprised that there are regular posters on here who still don’t get you. 😆