My SO is interested in buying a new hardtail. Unfortunately it would appear that if she wants something of an XC type bike, quite probably in carbon then she’s more or less forced to go 29er, the majority of which appear to have a standover greater than her leg length. She’d like something that might equate, say, to a Yeti ARC (but not one, because that’d be really embarrassing).
Any suggestions?

Giant Talon 1W in XS? Son2 rides one and it equates to a 14″ frame. He’s 5’1″ with a 27″ inseam and it is a fantastic bike.

EDIT: it’s alloy.

http://theweek.com/article/index/224875/limb-lengthening-the-radical-new-plastic-surgery-craze

How short?
If she wants 26, go second hand.

On One Inbred, all the way 🙂

16″ do?

http://www.cube.eu/en/hard/cross-country-race/elite-super-hpc-26/

These are a bit of a steal-

assuming she’s 5’6″ or over…

She’s 5’3″ tall, so those on-ones aren’t any good unfortunately. She still has her 2004 Yeti ASR-sl, but she’s currently fancying a new geared hardtail.
Just as a thought how easy would it be to convert a SC Chameleon to run a rohloff?

Whyte 802 comes in an XS size for riders down to 5′ or so.

my girlfriend is 5’1″ and i’ve just built her a 14″ inbred but have had to flip the stem negative apart from that it fits her great and she loves it..

hmmm… niner EMD9?

I thought 29ers were for tall people. I don’t quite get why you think it would be a good choice.

5’3″ here. Specialized fate. My 4’11” wife also much prefers it to her 14.5 trek hardtail.
Not all 29ers will fit small people, ie rode a small giant trance and my wife the womens anthem, neither were very great. But the specialized has a nice short head tube, small travel on forks, and pretty short chain stays. Its a great bike.

IMG_0606 by Captainsideburns, on Flickr

Carbon, XC, 26″ wheels, XS size.
On One Whippet
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FBOOWHCAB/on_one_whippet_x9_carbon_mountain_bike

Contessa Scales are tiny. Sounds like the right sort of bike.

14.6″, the one pictured, 29er.

Could put 27.5 in a whippet^

I read it the OP did NOT want big wheels. On an XS bike why would you?

I read it the OP did NOT want big wheels. On an XS bike why would you?

Not sure where you read that. He even pondered an EMD9 half way down the page.

she’s more or less forced to go 29er

I took the “forced” to mean he was not too bothered about big wheels on a small bike.

Little bikes look nicer with 26″ wheels in my eyes.

I had missed that he had dismissed On ones, but was that inbreds or whippets?

If she wants carbon, the new Yeti ARC Carbon is 650b in the small and XS sizes.

[coughs] The choice of bike will not be mine. If I was to turn round and say I’ve found you a nice pink bike, I’d probably wake up the following weekend to the smell of mountain oysters frying in the kitchen (she’s vegetarian).
This was just a post to put something out there to see what was available as she was interested in getting a new hardtail, partly caused by me occidentally buying one of the last Yeti ARC frames at Easter and then building it up recently, and partly because we’ve spent the last 5 years almost exclusively riding road and cross usually with a couple of biggish rides each year ie touring holidays in the high Pyrenees or French Alps, la Marmotte, Maratona dles Dolomites, RvV, Paris Roubaix, GF Stelvio etc…. followed by a season of cross.
She doesn’t want a hardcore hardtail, or a pink ladies starter bike, she wants a decent quality, lightweight, capable XC oriented hardtail, and it was quite surprising to us both how hard it is now to buy a decent quality hardtail in anything other than 29er, or 27.5 or 650b, and in XS, and definitely not with pink flowers (cos she’s a woman).
She’s quite taken by the niner EMD9… I am told that there’s a XS frame currently in stock at Cycleworks.

I am sorry I am still struggling with what wheel size you actually want?

If you want 26″ then look at the Whippet, its an out & out carbon XC bike that wont break the bank, & at 5ft 3 she is bang on for a 14″ if & when they are back in stock.

Bianchi still do 26″ carbon race hardtail too.

If you do actually want 29″ wheels on an XS bike then your already looking at the Niner.

In my opinion the small frames with the big wheels look a little at odds.

Has she ever tried out a 69er?

Juliana

Made by santa cruz, not carbon but small.

I’m confused. “its hard to find a small 26″ wheeled hardtail” – apart from the various suggestions above, obviously 🙄

On One Inbred in 14″, but not carbon….

(It is, however, available in ‘Taichung Green’. Hmmmmm!!!!)

druidh – stop being difficult, anyway, its not my decision – its hers.

She doesn’t mind which size wheels she has but she cannot see the point of 29″ wheels for a 5ft 3″ person. Having 26″ wheels would keep down the cost a bit.
She isn’t a fan of On-One bikes.
She likes the Yeti but her budget is more in the region of £500-700 for a frame.

😆 Good luck with that!

This was just a post to put something out there to see what was available as she was interested in getting a new hardtail, partly caused by me occidentally buying one of the last Yeti ARC frames at Easter and then building it up recently

There are still a few of the older ARC frames kicking about. Silverfish still have 1 each of the small and XS. http://www.silverfish-uk.com/ProductDetail/0/7260/Arc-Frame

Ibis Tranny. Thank me later.

“She doesn’t mind which size wheels she has but she cannot see the point of 29″ wheels for a 5ft 3″ person.”

The point for 29″ wheels is exactly the same for any sized person. Getting a frame that works well for a smaller person may be another matter.

I can’t speak highly enough for my Specialized Fate, but I understand Specialized isn’t very niche 😛