Mrs Blobby is thinking that she would like to do a bit of road riding. Anyone recommend a good road bike for a lady?

I suspect most men’s frames would be too big so maybe a ladies model would be best. She rides an extra small Giant Anthem Xw and it’s the perfect size for her.

Not a huge budget (under 750 preferably.) Would like a carbon fork. Maybe a triple chainring.

Been looking around for an used one but not many seem to come up for sale in small sizes.

Thanks.

Halfords have some excellent deals on the already good value Boardman road bikes which include a women’s range.

Not sure that’s quite what mrs blobby has in mind, though the shopping basket may come in handy 🙂

Well I had checked out the boardman web site and there was no sign of ladies bikes on there, but seems they have them in halfords. Thanks for the tip.

Quite like the look of the canyon roadlite 5.0w but probably a bit too expensive.

Well I had checked out the boardman web site and there was no sign of ladies bikes on there

?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/fi/index.html

You probably can’t go far wrong with the Boardman wsd bike – a couple of others to look at would be Scott contessa speedster 35 triple or the Trek Lexa although the Trek has a compact chainset. A triple isn’t really necessary IMO – I ride a compact 48/34 with a 12-29 cassette – gets up most things although sometimes my legs don’t want to.

loving my Specialized Tricross, 2010 model should be within your budget but not sure if you’ll get one small enough

Sorry, hadn’t spotted the “fi” link on the boardman site. How are you meant to know that “fi” means ladies bikes???

The boardman does look excellent value and a great spec. Shall have to check them out.

london_lady, reckon a compact would do the job, but Mrs blobby is quite attached to her dear old granny on the mtb so no doubt will be initially concerned about her absence!

The one that fits.

To be fair any road bike is basically the same in that price range. So try as many as you have the patience for and choose the nicest.

And triple is good – if you don’t need it don’t use it, but it’s there as backup.

Thanks molgrips. Already arranging some test rides for mrs blobby over the weekend.

Mine ended up with a Spec Allez, she really likes it.

triples are rubbish 😯

compact is the way to go IMO, if she can get up what she needs to get up on 34-28. Lighter, narrower, simpler, easier to set up…

You could even go lower still, with a 33t ring and 11-32 cassette.

I think the top tube may be too long on the Allez for the right size of seat tube. Got a Dolce lined up for the weekend, we’ll see how mrs blobby gets on with that.

Thanks Reggie. I’ll definitely be pushing the compact (hopefully not literally!) over a triple.

Definatly go compact – my Mrs is reknowned for not being a pedaller (typical DH’er) and she gets on fine with a compact & an 11-25 cassette on the back.