So my wife has done a few rides on my jumpy and other than 1 “toys out the pram” moment has been enjoying it.

I have a hack bike project on the go which has a 16″ frame, the geometry just looks like it’d be so much better for her. Unfortunitley the hack has rigid forks and no disc’s so I’m after suggestions for a frame to get.

Wife is 5ft 7.5″ so I’m guessing it’ll most likely be a 16″ man’s frame or 18″ lady specific frame.

Going to go second-hand as the budget will only be about £100, any pointers on frames to checkout, guessing something light would also help?

Rock Lobster in a 17″, reasonably light for steel.

Can’t beat the classic ‘Bicycle for a Lady’

I don’t think the classic bike would go down too well, although that basket would be handy for the mid ride snacks….

Cue Little Britain posts…

More helpfully – If the frame looks right, why not stick a suss fork on thee rigid bike and go disc at the front, V at the back. I rode like that for a bit and it works fairly well. If you decide to go for a disc capable frame later then you haven’t lost anything.

Have you tried asking her what she wants?

Or perhaps discussed the pros and cons with her while walking round a bike shop to see the sort of things she might be interested in, then looking for similar 2nd hand?

Personally I would not recommend a woman’s frame. The first decent bike I got, I foolishly picked the women’s version rather than the men’s in the same model. Women’s frames are less robust plus are a dead loss for carrying water bottles, locks and lock mounts etc as there is no room in the frame – don’t underestimate just how inconvenient it is not to be able to easily carry a lock. The 3 bikes after were all guys frames and a big improvement all round.

As an aside, I came across a couple in a bike shop a couple of months back and the women was very keen on a mens frame cycle. All I could hear was her bloke trotting loudly round behind her whining ‘you should get a women’s frame, so you can wear a skirt’ and her oft repeated statement ‘but I never wear skirts when cycling’. I felt really sorry for her having such a prat of a husband who thought his getting a hard on was more important than her having a decent bike!

Have to agree that a woman specific is not the way to go.

I’m about the same height as your missus, had a Trek WSD a few years ago and after trying other bikes realised it was way too short a reach for me. Women specific bikes seem to be mainly aimed at our shorter sisters!

I now ride a Maverick (mens) and the most recent purchase was a men’s Giant (16″). Even my road bike is a bloke’s after being measured up by an expert at the local roadie shop.

My advice, stay away from the women’s range !!

Just built up an inbred for my girlfriend, who’s reasonably new to riding off road. Secondhand frame (paid about £40 as it was a bit rusty), powdercoated in a colour she likes (pastel blue I believe) then built with a mix of secondhand and new/sale bits (Marzocchi mx comps, deore/lx drivetrain, lx hydro brakes, cheap planet x wheels).

She’s probably about the same height (5’7ish) and fits the 16″ inbred (with an 80mm stem) pretty well. We sat on loads of bikes in bike shops to try and get a feel for what felt right, and decided that the wsd frames weren’t for her. Apparently they are designed with a shorter top tube as most women have longer legs and shorter bodies, which wasn’t true in our case.

Also managed to get some nice custom graphics on there which she really likes, and works out loads better spec for less money than even a relatively boggo wsd trek/scott etc…

Thanks for all the replies, I have a full Hone groupset / brakes & wheels that will come off of the jumpy, will start the search for a cheapish 16″ frame now.

May also need some MX comps or something similar as the 130mm 2001 Bombers probably won’t help either.

I will have a Medium womens FSR frame for sale in a few weeks (need to swap the bits onto another frame). And possibly some matching 100mm forks (as I don’t think the steerer will be long enough for the new frame)

Drop me a line if it would be of interest.

smurf (simon AT murfin DOT uk DOT org)

Why dont you let her choose?

Women specific bikes seem to be mainly aimed at our shorter sisters!

Sorry but this simply isn’t the case. The WSD bikes are (generally) aimed at those women who have proportionally longer legs (or shorter bodies if you want to look at it that way) for a given height. My girlfriend is about the same height as me, 5’8″, and we can’t ride each other’s bikes as mine are too long for her and her’s too short for me. She has WSD Scott as well as a WSD road bike, although her Slayer isn’t WSD.

I’m not saying that WSD will be the correct choice for all women, just that it shouldn’t be dimissed out of hand.

Silent what bombers are they?
If they are drop off ones you can change the travel by:
opening the fork, removing the cartridges, and changes the spring kit. Shouldn’t be more than one hour job.

It also sounds like there’s some confusion about what Women-specific means. Nowadays, it means designed for women with a typically shorter top tube to account for the average woman having longer legs/shorter torso than a bloke of the same height. It doesn’t refer to a dropped top tube as below!

My wife’s 5’9″ and rides a 16″ Merlin. If anything it’s a fraction long.

Juan they’re 2001 Z1 Drop Offs, still running strong.

She could choose one for herself, it’ll be her choice in the end just doing some research on her behalf.

well if they are drop off you can easily change the travel.
Unscrew top nuts.
Remove oil.
Unscrew bottom nuts. You should be able to separate the UCA and the cartridge from the lowers.
Then remove the clip from the bottom and you shoud be able to remove the two small negative springs (2 cms long).
Swap them for the long (5 cms) ones.
Now put it all back together. Use the correct size of positive springs.

Et voila job done 😀

maybe she should demo a few and see what she likes and how it feels for size and then try to find something second hand? i’ve got a 16″ kona and a 15.5″ cove hustler and i’m only 5’2 – so she might be a 17/18, rather than the 16 you suggest?

i personally don’t like WSD, except for on the road bike.

I recently bought a brand new Carrera frame off ebay for £40 disc specific and a very nice bit of kit, especially for the money, however in a bid to build something nice and that didnt look like a mash of odd bits I ended up blowing near £400 without too much trouble, unless you really have a lot of parts to donate, or not overly worried about it looking new it might be better just buying a bike..

I got most bits 2nd hand but mint got Deore SLX shifting, but a cheapo chainset… I think I ended up with something better than a £400 bike but not by a great deal and it was a lot of effort.

Anyhow in long winded answer, the frames are a great buy if there are any on Ebay.

It doesn’t refer to a dropped top tube as below!

So then how does she ride it whilst wearing a dress?

So then how does she ride it whilst wearing a dress?

a prat of a husband… …getting a hard on

I am a short lass and I ride a 16″ Kona Kula Lisa. I used to have a lads bike and always ended up with a sore back. I have been riding this bike for over a year and the lads keep complaining that I “kick their ass” so I think they want me to return to my old bike!!

I think if you are taller there is perhaps less difference between a lass and lads bike. What makes the most difference though for me is the fork – air suspension fork made a HUGE difference to my riding and to overall comfort / confidence on the downhills.

Good point on the fork – the air forks are just so much easier to get setup right for a given weight, and usually weigh a little less themselves too! We used an air MX comp on the inbred build.

And just for reference… girl+bike+dress+flowers+ribbons=

😉