I’m trying to get my lady friend involved with riding. She is keen, and has come out for a spin with me on a few occasions.

I imagine there are a few female riders on this forum? Or do any of the guys have girlfriends/wives/female friends that go riding with them?

What bikes do they ride? I know the range of female bikes is increasing all the time, but I really dont know what it suitable and Jenna thinks you decide on bikes depending on frame colour….

I’d like to get her a short travel XC full suspension bike, but whats best for under £1300?

The other snag is that she’s very short – She’s only 4’11”, so she’ll need a super small size with a short top tube.

Recommendations please!!

Have a look at Giants their XS frame is 14.?? inches. I have a Giant Reign 2 although probably not really a bike for someone getting into it.

I also have a Cube hard tail, this one:
http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/ACCESS-WLS-SL_id_31120_.htm#anker

which goes down to a 13″ frame. I think their full sussers only go down to a 15″ however that may fit you.

Hope this helps.

At 4’11” I thnk the choice will be slightly limited. My girlfriend is a little taller, and the only bikes we found a year ago that fitted were the Santa Cruz Juliana and the Titus Motolite. These were the only two bikes which had enough standover. I believe the Orange Diva could be another option. I am afraid these all are above budget especially with the increase in component prices in the last year. Feel free to contact me if you require any further information. It worth just looking on the websites and checking standover dimensions. It is also a nightmare trying to find shops with the xs sizes in stock.

All of my bikes are XS and I’ve never had a problem getting them! Guessing I’m lucky as I’ve also always managed to get them at super discount prices as they want to get rid of them as they don’t sell so many! Feel free to e-mail me as well if you want a hand, and I can tell you where I get my hands on my bikes. Good luck!

Oh Santa Cruz Juliana I’d like one of those ….. dreams on ….

How tall are you Munque-Chick?

I’ve had a look at the Cube Access – that looks like a pretty good option. Decent weight, short toptube and small sizes.

I dont think getting a full suspension bike at a decent weight is going to be an option under £1300

Jenna thinks you decide on bikes depending on frame colour….

You mean that’s not how you’re supposed to do it?!

If getting her a bike in a colour she likes means that she rides it more then that’s better than getting the ideal bike that she doesn’t ride because it looks crap…

Can’t help with sizing as I’m 6″ taller but would suggest a lightweight hardtail. Decent forks and wheelset make such a difference.

Munqe-chick – the Juliana is definitely a lovely bike 😉 Saw your holiday pics, sounds as though you had a great time!

My GF is 4’10” and I built her up a 14″ Merlin cycles MALT frame with a load of spares I had kicking about. With a short stem, inline post, narrow bars and short cranks it fits pretty well, but there isn’t a great deal of standover. If she were going to get into MTB properly, I’d def try and find her something smaller, or better still get a new XS bike.

If you’re buying new you may have more luck, so get her to sit on a few XS stock frames, and crucially, straddle a few top tubes.

I’d be wary of cheap heavy OEM kit though, something 24lbs is much harder for her to push around than it is for me on a similar weight bike. Light rims or wheels really help.

Yeah, I second CG. A lightweight hardtail (especially light wheels & fork) will be a lot more fun than heavy full suss… your budget is on the edge though so you could find a full suss bike reduced – but the height issue really limits your choices imo. I’m 5’3″ and that’s tricky enough! (I think MC has just been very lucky!)

My wife and sister both have medium Santa Cruz Juliana SLs. They are 5’4″ and 5’5″ respectively. When they bought them, the chap in the bike shop said you’d only need a small if you were under 5′.

Both would recommend the SC Juliana though. Just not sure they fit into that budget though.

My wife has a Kona Kula Lisa (hardtail, I know) that she loves – and she’s not much taller than 4’11”

Merida do ladies bikes too and the Juliet is nice (but another hardtail)

I can’t speak for all women, but according to my wife, comfort score fairly highly when it comes to bikes! So, I think you’re right to go for FS if you can afford to.

I bought a Specialized womens specific full suspension (FSRxc/’Myka’) for my wife and she absolutely loves it. Because it was the previous years model, and was cosmetically damaged, we managed to haggle the the price down to £550!

As shes quite new to mountain biking (only learnt to ride a bike 2 years ago), I think the comfort and neutral ‘beginner friendly’ handling of the bike has helped. I’ve had a couple of sneaky ‘test rides’ on the bike and it’s really very good, TBH the handling is so close to my bike (whose frame alone cost over a grand!) that I was a bit miffed! The handling is nice a relaxed, but then if you ride it more aggressively (weight over bars type stuff), it really comes alive – it’s the sort of bike you can grow your skills into (if that makes sense).

I think that for ’09, Specialized may have replaced the type of ‘Myka’ (FSRxc) frame that my wife has – and I’m not sure what sizes the new ones go down to. (but you might be able to get an ’08 ‘Myka’ if you shop around tho.)

Anyway, hope you find a bike that suits 🙂

Oh, P.S. Agree what other people have said about weight of cheaper FS bikes. However, one option is to try and get the bike as cheap as poss., then put some nice light wheels & cassette on it. Then, upgrade other bits for lighter stuff as & when. Recently put Hope Pro3 SPXC6’s wheels on wifes bike – she now leaves me for dead on most (er..OK all) long climbs.

Yeah actually I guess bowglie might be right. Plus if you can get a bargain like they did you could afford to upgrade the fork and wheels within budget too.

Comfort is important but I find my ti/steel HTs are pretty good (a BIG improvement on my old alu HT) but admittedly since I’ve been riding more rocky descents (especially sketchy natural double-black runs in Spain!) I’m thinking about going full suss. I still stand by the fact that weight (especially on the wheels) is really important though!

Cheers!

Edit – just seen Bowglie’s P.S – I couldn’t agree more!

When Katie was that tall she ha a XS Giant Trance

and Abigale was on a S Giant Reign

which has since been girliefied

Tracey

having looked around for my other half

finally settled on the scott contessa range of hardtails, a fair bit lighter than the specialized

in the end bought a commecal normal , non wsd an xs, shes 5′

great spec for the price and for that money you could get here a decent wheelset forks and a suspension seatpost

Uh oh, I’m stuffed if my wife sees that Giant in the previous post:wink:

heres the commencal normal

definitely have a look at a Giant, Paulscycles has some on offers as well if they fit

What about this?

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/08specializedmykafsrcompbikewomens.aspx?&id=2377

She might need to swing a let over it to check on standover and length, but with some Mavic Crossride wheels it should be light enough (29lb as stock I beleive), comfortable and most importantly for me, below budget!

Thanks for all your help guys and girls!

I’m 5ft 3inches however I have massive stand over height on the Cube and it is just an awesome bike. I don’t agree so much about the comments of “comfort” on a FS. When I first got a FS having spent 13 years on a hard tail (I know it’s slightly different if she’s just getting into it) I hated them. I think HT’s are often better as a starting point. What area are you in? I can give you some details of bike shops that could get you a Cube.
To be fair though now I’m used to FS the Giant is awesome however the Reign is quite heavy on the ups and need to be reasonably fit to lug it up the hills. How about a Trance? Anthem? (not sure on price ranges of them so sorry if they are super expensive!)

CG the holiday was awesome .. another shameless plug and hijack .. go to Morocco MTBing with cycle active was the best holiday EVER!!

But does she like the colour though? Now that IS a key factor!!!!

I think she would prefer the colour of the 09 Myka FSR, rather than the reduced 08 model…. haha!

I’m in Brighton Munque Chick, but happy to travel to check out various shops!

I bought my Cube from Cardiff Cyclopaedia, 029 20 377 772 at a very good price definately worth giving them a ring. Or Summertown Cycles in Oxford sell them but I’m unsure on their reputation. I know Cyclopaedia will post them out if you find them else where (and this isn’t a shameless plug either!). Thing i like about cube is they are still quite rare nice bits on my bike and super light too.

Definitely agree with M-c on a hardtail as a starting point.

seriously the scotts are well worth a look and lighter than the spesh mykas…..

I had a Turner 5 Spot for years but then i got this:
http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/upload/lapierre/2009/fp550/9437.jpg
The Spicy is better than anything else i have ridden and is womens specific 🙂

sticking 24″ wheels on would also give you an extra inch of standover height, and 160mm cranks should hopefully prevent pedal strikes.

try again :

Have a read on WMB last month, there was a feature on womens bikes, I know someone with the Trek as featured, it’s a capable little bike and very light. They go down to 14″ IRC. Evans are now stocking them I’ve just noticed £999

Foxylaydee, you’re makin me want a Lapierre again! 🙄

I love the look/idea of Zesty 514L but I really can’t justify the cost, so am looking at a teh Trek EX8 wsd instead…

Damn you though, I’d just got all psyched-up about the Trek and then you had to go and post that 🙄

With your budget consider a second hand bike.
I have the medium Juliana, so at you gfs height the small should be o.k.

Agree with the others above about starting on an ht. I’ve got a 14″ on one and love it, not sure what the standover height would be like for her though.

As I always say, go and demo as many as possible, it may mean some travelling around. Or can she try out a few friends bikes out?

If you do decide to get a nice light HT then the on one inbred Bunnyhop mentions is a cheap way to try it out – being steel they’re pretty comfy too. I’ve got a 14″ with masses of standover, so would probably be just about OK for your GF. If you’re ever Bristol way she’d be more than welcome to have a bash on mine…

I know this is completely not what you had in mind budget-wise.. but if I were a bit shorter I’d want this:
pretty!
🙂