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Currently looking at potentially a new bike for my vertically challenged girlfriend, she test rode a whyte at the weekend which she loved, but hand on heart is probably a little too big (no room between her & the top tube)
So... since then we've been looking online at bikes & bike specs - & I've noticed something a little odd... the standover heights quoted on a lot of bikes are greater on the smaller sizes than the medium (see [url= http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa_en/2015/bikes/mountain/trail/sensor-al-comp-20634 ]here[/url] & [url= http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/trail/lush_womens/lush_s_27/ ]here.[/url]
Any idea why this is?
As a side note - looking on the Canyon site, there doesn't seem to be any difference between the geometry on the Nerve Al men's & women's versions.
& finally - any recommendations on a 120-130mm travel full suss 26" or 650b bike for someone of around 5'1"?
What bike's she got at the minute? Just get something with similar measurements if her current one fits
Being 5'1" I have this issue. Standover is at point in front of saddle. shorter top tube + sloping top tube = smaller standover.
Orange 5 diva, Meta Girly or Myka FSR (only ridden Myka HT and Diva HT of these - loads of standover but very short). Or something Juliana?
Any idea why this is?
I guess the front ends all start at the same point for small and medium, near enough. Then the top tube has to drop as it goes back, but a shorter TT would need to drop more steeply even to get to the same total drop, never mind going further down. Might interfere with shock placement or movement, or make it look shit, or .... ?
Is a Kona Process 134SE in XS small enough? They have very low top tubes on all the sizes.
http://www.konaworld.com/process_134_se.cfm
4x/slopestyle frames have loads of room, but are a bitch to climb on
Are you saying there isn't much stand over room or there's no stand over room?
I've never found the old ideal of 4ish inches of clearance has ever worked for me. So long as you're not making contact with the top tube while stood over the bike, I'd say you're okay. Reach is critical, stand over (within reason) is a "nice to have" but not a deal breaker.
However, if she can't touch the ground all I've just said is irrelevant.
When she's err standing over the top tube it's touching her where only I'm allowed to touch her....
She's got a myka far at the moment but it's a little short and she would like something a little more playful.
The reason the stand over increases with smaller bikes is because you decrease the reach. On womens bikes the top tube is usually angled down. A longer top tube means it can go down further and give a lower standover. The other issue with short people is that when you decrease the reach you still have the same saddle so you end up standing even further forward over the bike when the stand over is higher. A "scoop" at the saddle is good but you need to have room to stand at that point.
You might want to consider:
Orange five (the diva and the men's five are similar in size I believe, it might be whatever fits best).
Trek Lush (I have two!, and don't fit on much else)
Pivot Mach (the 5.7 is bigger than the trek lush 26" 14.5, the mach 6 is even bigger but the mach 4 is probably smaller).
Cotic soul xs is pretty small if long travel hard tails are your thing.
The new kona process looks very small, the smallest stand over around (The lush is probably the next smallest).
Other things to consider:
If you want to drop the seat to ride down hill, will the post go all the way into the frame? Check a dropper in compatible. I think the diva would be, the lush is with some bodges (see my previous posts on this), not sure about the kona, the pivot mach 5.7 isn't.
Shorter cranks: get 165 and shorter stem
Narrower saddle (so when you have to move behind it it doesn't get in the way)
I'm 4ft9, ride a 14.5 Trek Lush but they are 26 inch wheels, they are making 27.5 now.
Don't buy a bike that is too big, as she gets better she'll want to ride it harder and it will limit her. You can make lots of minor changes but if it feels too big she won't ride it. You're welcome to try mine if you're anywhere near Sheffield but unless you can find one second hand you'd need to go up a wheel size (grrrr).
BTW. A lot of the new bikes are going smaller wheels for the smaller sizes so check that out too.
Oh, don't get a jump bike unless you can get it really light. All the other components weigh the same so would be very heavy.
Giant do a great range of womens bikes which are smaller.
This years models are all 27.5. http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bike-catalogue/series-for-block/?block_id=32&gender=women&level=&segments_id=
But I like this 2013 model 26er http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.liv.giant.trance.x.w/11878/56933/
Not a massive fan of Giant - quite like the Trek tho, just a shame our local Trek shop is bobbins.
if standover is a problem (it is for my similarly perfectly-sized wife), maybe err on the side of 100mm travel compared to 120mm travel, it might sound daft, but it means extra room.
don't forget cranks, the number of small bikes with 175mm cranks is shocking.
now, where can we get a 3" dropper post?
Shame you are not a fan of Giant, excellent quality bikes, good warranty, cheap and superstars like Danny Hart win world cups on them.
now, where can we get a 3" dropper post?
The Whyte she test rode came with a 125mm dropper, it was fine, although if we were to purchase we'd see if we could swap it for a 100mm one.
Giant do a 100mm dropper too, I think it comes one some of their Liv range.
Its a problem my wife struggles with (5ft on a good day). She currently rides a Yeti ASR5 in XS and the quoted stand over is 28.7. This is ok and gives a bit of room but could be better. I was worried with the advent of 27.5 wheel that any future replacement would inevitably have increased stand over. I had even considered that she may need to run a 27.5 frame with 26 inch wheels and shorter cranks to compensate. However we recently had the opportunity to test out a Santa Cruz Bronson and 5010 in small at the factory (28.27 and 28.42 respectively). Despite the bigger wheels they appear to have managed to drop the stand over heights a smidge. So all good for the vertically challenged. Not quite the end of the story though as despite the Bronson having a marginally lower stand over, the bigger forks push the front end up quite a bit. So even with the higher quoted stand over the 5010 had much more real world clearance.
On a side note she was of the opinion that given that the Juliana frames were in fact just rebranded Santa Cruz frames with no change in geometry she would far rather go for the less obviously girly specific Santa Cruz. This may have been different if she was looking at a complete bike rather that frame only, as some of the component choices would certainly be a plus. But she does seem to sit very much in the anti girly specific branding camp. Not sure if other ladies agree but there are some who are put off by this branding and would seek to banish the pastel colours and flowers for good? Horses for courses I suppose.
My wife on the other hand is very much into girlie specific branding and wants to distance herself from anything too manly. Hence she prefers the Juliana branding. As you say horses for courses.
I think it's good that Santa Cruz don't dumb down their Juliana bikes like some manufacturers tend to do for their girlie specific options. A full fat Bronson in a pastel colour seems like a good girlie option to me.
Had an email back from Canyon - the difference between the men's & women's version of the bikes is.... the colour... & the saddle!
Bronson in small. It was ok for my 5ft wife but 5010 was much better and more in line with your 120-130mm needs probably not all that helpful but just a bit of bike porn. Sorry didn't take a pic of the 5010
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5604/15013589833_c066a07398_s.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5604/15013589833_c066a07398_s.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/oSGzc8 ]P1040398[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/81570286@N05/ ]MikeH78[/url], on Flickr[/img]
compass - that Bronson actually looks more girlie than the Juliana version in green!
Good point!! but then I will never get my head round the contradiction that is the fairer sex.
I like the green version myself myself, saving hard as we speak