[Closed] STW Ladies.. Full Suspension advice please

Firstly, commiserations on the theft of the Inbred

Secondly, congratulations on getting 2K out of the insurance people for an Inbred 🙂

Thirdly, have a look at Cube. Karen's just got one (hardtail), and it's a fabulous bike for the money. They do fully upholstered too, she nearly went for one. They also look the b*ll*cks

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=72934

The advice from my other half would be don't limit yourself to women's bikes. She got a men's stumpy fsr and we just swapped the saddle over.

Fitted her better, she preferred the colour and it was better spec for the price.

Mrs Blobby has the Anthem Xw, she loves it. Brilliant little bike with a good spec (mostly XT.) A suitably small lady size, and for a shade under £2k (thanks to LBS deal) it's nice and light (about 24.5 lbs).

Sorry to hear about the bikes mate. I bought debs a Specialized Saffire - which is the same frame as the present Myka. She loves it! Having ridden it myself (ssssssshhhhhhh!), its a cracking bike

Definitely don't limit yourself to women's specific bikes - my OH at 5'6" is on a Med Camber Elite and loves it (felt waay too cramped on the Med Myka FSR and Sm Camber due to having a long-ish uppper body and arms).

My GF has a 14" inbred, and either a S or XS (i forget, it's tiny tiny anyhow) santa cruz juliana. She likes both, so might be worth a look?

+1 for not just looking at women specific bikes.

For some reason they always seem to be slightly lower spec'd for the price (maybe just ecconomics as they sell fewer). I've always been happy with a std bike (and had more choice), just looked for those with a relatively short top tube. Wms bikes were just too short and cramped for me too (5'6")

Over the past couple of years I have had Whyte, Santa Cruz and Commencal, all good with a wms saddle added.

My missus has 2 14" inbreds and rides a small Intense 5.5 - previous bike was an orange 5 - the anthem is on the 'want' list after a test ride on the right size - nice bikes.

I think your all right about not limiting to womens specific bikes, I (apparently) ride a girls hardtail so it works both ways.

Liked the idea of the Cube.. but the company I have to go through doesn't do them so I'll loose 18% of the valuation if I take cash.

More looking to do!

Any other suggestions??

My GF had a Giant Cypher which was great, and fitted her much better than a Trance even though she is 5'11", as all the blokes bikes were far to long in the top tube for her (women generally have long legs, and short torso's) so whilst you may feel that a blokes bike *fits* it might not, and she has to ride it.

You really need to try before you buy, as if you buy on spec and it doesn't fit then its a waste of money.

Turner FLux, even better than the Juliana 😀

You do not have to accept the limitation your insurer places on you. If they cannot replace the bike you do not have to accept less money for cash nor do you have to accept a different bike from their preferred supplier. the % off the settlement value only applies if you [i]chose[/i] cash. If [i]they are unable[/i] to supply a replacement you are entitled to the full cash amount.

Mrs TJ has a myka and its a very nice bike - includes such things as a ladies saddle and small reach brake levers, thin grips and narrower bars as well as a ladies sized frame.

[i]I (apparently) ride a girls hardtail so it works both ways.[/i]

There's no 'apparently' about it sunshine...

oh.. interesting TJ

They CANNOT replace like for like.. they don't deal with on-one. I guess I might need to push them!

don't push too hard or they might figure out what an inbred is actually worth - and it ain't £2k, although £1640 (18% less) wouldn't be a million miles away at rrp, I guess

Yup - If they cannot replace like for like and you are not satisfied with what they do offer you then the full value should be yours in cash - but you will have to push them hard.

I had this a couple of years ago with M&S / wheelies and eventually they did tell me this - although in the end I settled for a bike from wheelies.

The advice from my other half would be don't limit yourself to women's bikes. She got a men's stumpy fsr and we just swapped the saddle over

You're not my husband. Begone, imposter!

But yar, I've got a 14" Inbred and a small Stumpjumper FSR - I really didn't get on with a lot of the women specific stuff, especially the Specialized Safires and Mykas. They were just too short for me, I always felt cramped and perched over the front wheel. Only downside of the Stumpy is the standover is a bit tight.

I also got on fairly well with the Trek Fuel 8 (the WSD is the same geometry as the men's, just available in a different paintjob, saddle and range of sizes), the Lapierre Zesty and the Orange 5.

Had the same issue with M&S / Wheelies... twice.

1st time I had a custom Cove handjob stolen (small childish s**** when the attending PC had to radio that one out), Wheelies couldn't offer the exact replacement so M&S were fairly happy to offer me the cost of all the parts - and added an amount for it being built 😀

2nd time my Commencal Supernormal was taken and Wheelies couldn't offer any hardtail with that kind of relaxed geometry. This time it took alot of negotiating as the Supernormnal was no longer made, they felt I should choose from the Wheelies range. Each time I spoke to Wheelies / M&S they said that the other insisted on the replacement... eventually got the name of a guy at Wheelies who agreed it wasn't 'like for like' and finally M&S agreed to send 100% cash.

Worth it if you don't mind making alot of calls - paid off to be calm, polite but fairly stubborn!!

I'd say just demo a few. Bikes are different in the flesh than on paper so try a few, I agree the Spec women's specific ones tend to come up a bit short, so worth trying Trek and a few others. I tried quite a few men's and women's frame and ended up going for a men's Orange 5 even though on paper it was longer than my inbred, which I already found a bit too long... the 5 just felt right though!

First of all, congratulations on the £2k payout. Although it doesn't replace a much loved bike, you do have a lot of options open to you for a new bike.

As I'm sure you've already sussed, you need to get your partner to borrow as many bikes as possible and try them out over a weekend to get to know each bike's foibles.

From my own experience on an old-ish Specialized Enduro, I can vouch that the FSR system on Specialized bikes feels great, but it can be prone to pedal induced squat under power, which can sap your energy on long rides. This is offset by the excellent traction and comfortable ride. The Giant system feels very good under pedalling, but isn't quite as plush.

You might be better served not limiting yourselves to women's specific machines, try all sorts of men's frames out too. You might also consider a Marin Mount Vision or a Rift Zone. They pedal very well and the warranty is excellent, even covering you for replacement bearings so peace of mind is a given.

[edit] It's taken a while to find the "perfect" bike for Mrs PJM. We started out with a Spesh Hardrock that she really liked, but it was a tad too small for her. I swapped the frame for a Merlin Malt, which she felt a tad "nervous". Finally, I gave her my old medium sized Marin Rock Springs, which she seems to get on well with, but if I'm honest it's a little too much bike her her. If I win the lottery sometime soon, I daresay I'll be buying her a Spesh Stumpy or equivalent!

As I know the current Mrs S. well, I suggest the Lappiere. However I think she'll need to have a little try out first.

Also get yourself down to NWMTBikes and see what Rick has for her to demo.

She is welcome to try out my Flux (it's a men's frame though).

What height is she and was the 14" Inbred a good fitting bike? Usual womens proportions ie short body with long legs?

@ cinnamon girl..

5'5"ish the 14" inbred was a really good fit which is pointing me towards a small bike rather than a Woman specific one..

Ah, same height as me! All my bikes are men's but used to have a Juliana which, in hindsight, was too short in the top tube. Currently have a small Mojo which is a great fit but probably not what you're looking for!

Definitely worth looking at Cube, also the Canyon seems to get good reviews although I believe that's mail order only.