Wife is 5ft 11″ with 37″ inside leg. Can’t think what attracted me to her in the first place…. 😉

Anyway, she’s after a bike as the kids are now getting into biking (6 and 3 years old) and she’s feeling left out. Not convinced she’ll stick it so looking to give her every chance by getting her a decent first bike. So we’re looking for a hardtail and something light(ish) but “light” may be relative as absolute max budget is £500.

We were in Dales Cycles today and the assistant who helped us suggested that a ladies bike is probably not for her given her height and reach, so he had her sitting on things like a Spesh Rockhopper (size large). It “looked” the right size and Mrs Chief said she felt ok with the size. As she has absolutely no experience of MTBing I’m not sure what a demo would achieve as absolutely everything would be new to her so not sure i’d get any useful feedback from her in terms of the bike…..

So, looking for the STW collective advice on hardtail buying for 5′ 11″ ladies with looong legs. She’ll mainly be touring but also doing easy trail centre stuff (i hope) with the kids. 27.5″ or 29″??

Thanks in advance.

Saracen Mantra.

Fatbike! 😀

Generally speaking women have shorter bodies but longer legs Some hardtails will have a long top tube so if mrschief does have a short body this won’t fit.

Do you have any parts lying around, just thinking that perhaps it could be worth checking Classifieds for a frame/forks etc.

Edit: Boardman, Cube?

Chief on those dimensions I guess she will have a short torso? Therefore a men’s bike is surely less suitable not more!

I got mrs gd a bike years ago because my spare bike was wayyyy too long for her and it was very uncomfy from her being lent forward. Similar situation to you only she wanted to do social rides with me before children. At the time I found a fisher women’s specific model heavily discounted at Evans cycles. We now ride as a family.

My advice fwiw is do have a hunt about for a suitable women’s frame as the TT s are often shorter and seat tube more upright which suits the more ladylike long legs short torso

And for a new rider – lots of spacers on the stem is good, for pootling early rides you can get the bars nice and high and comfy.

Other top tip my wife hates wide bars. 24″ as is big as I can persuade her to go for.

Why not just get a larger size of whatever bike your short wife has?

Just to add that at 5’5″ all my bikes are men’s. I have a short body, long legs and long arms. I do have lots of spacers. 🙂

On average women have exactly the same leg:torso proportions as men, although i found a US anthopological paper which showed that white people have proportionally shorter limbs and longer torsos than African-Americans.

Your wife however clearly fits the (generally incorrect) women’s bike fit stereotype but as she’s tall she’s also on the border of a medium and large frame. As she won’t need the length of a large frame she can just ride a medium with a long seat post and as short a stem as feels comfortable.

You can have my Chameleon for your wife, when can I pick her up? 🙂

You can have my Chameleon for your wife, when can I pick her up?

Deal if you’ll take the kids too 😈

Thanks for all the input…. Think a ladies specific is the way to go. Just need to choose one now!

My wife actually bought a smaller bike, with a long seatpost and many spacers. The reduced length of the top tube made it more comfortable for her. I’m smaller than her and I find it too small for me. Her road bike is bigger than mine, but has a shorter stem and the seat is a long way forward!

So the only option is to try different models and see what she finds right for her (and stuff the mens/womens branding!)

The “longer legs/shorter torso thing” has been debunked and largely seems to be based on models where that’s generally regarded as a positive body shape.

As above, for your wife in particular, a shorter TT’d (WSD) bike may well be right but many brands don’t do them that big. In that instance, a “men’s” bike in a smaller size with longer seat post is likely to be the best bet but equally just get her to try them out and see what she likes and more importantly, feels comfortable on.

Why do ‘compact’ models, with shorter top tubes they are not women’s specific as such but are Girlier colours so they are really. 604 is £525 I think

Found a Cannondale Tango 7 27.5 2015 in a large at a local shop which is discounted by 37% to £283…. Might be worth a try. Anyone any knowledge of this model? I know at that price it’ll be basic but that’s all we really need.