Forum menu
My wife has decided she wants a mountain bike and asked me to help pick a bike. She has set herself a budget of £650, and will be used for singletrack and local forest trials.
Mrs Good is 5'3" and light as a feather, so bike weight is a big factor.
She would like to buy locally so we are looking at Trek, Giant, Specialized, Merida, Halford range and Tiso/ Alpine bikes.
She would like to look at a short list this weekend. I struggling a bit, from what I have seen so far, the only bike that seemed to jump out a this price was the Boardman COMPfi. Any first hand experience with this bike?
What would you recommend I add to the shortlist?
Thanks.
Specialized myka, Scott contessa, canondale ladies sl range are some others I've looked at recently for my good lady
Boardman bikes do seem to get good reviews.
Don't let her be put off men's frames though. I'm 5'4" and fairly light, both my bikes are not wsp.
As always get her to try as many out as possible.
As Bunnyhop said, don't dismiss non-women specific bikes - I'm 5ft 2ish, and I don't get on with a lot of women-specific bikes, especially the Specialized ones. I find the top tubes far too short!
It does vary massively from brand to brand though - I've got a Scott Scale Contessa 29er that's fine reach-wise (although a bit tight on the standover...).
Can she demo/hire any? It helped me massively in being able to spot the kind of sizing that suited me.
My mates mrs has a Boardman COMPfi, great spec for the price in my opinion, plus get it on a cycle to work scheme to save tax on it too.
I have been looking for a bike for my MRS too, but currently no women's Boardman's are listed on the Halfords site, plus none on the shop floor's in my local stores.......
Don't know if this will help but had the same choices last year, looked at all the above bikes and the boardman was also out of stock in her size. Have you looked at the Canyon Yellowstone AL 5 W? Looks a good spec and that's what I would of went for had it been available. £50 over budget but worth a look.
I ended up building her a bike using a Merlil Malt 3 frame (15in), Rockshox XC32, complete Deore groupset (she has now inherited my XT rear mech) superstar finishing kit, x-king tyres, Madison breeze saddle, welgo copy pedals, Easton bars. All parts were bought at the cheapest I could find (crc, Merlin, German sites etc) and it came to just over £600 and better specced than most of the major brands offerings. It's was the tail end of last year so there were some bargains about.
Sonnyjim
Yes, weight will be the main criteria and it would be worth knowing weights before you actually go to look at any. Don't forget that a lighter pair of wheels make a difference, just in case you have anything lying around! I would also check out the Classifieds.
Don't rule out men's bikes either, as Bunnyhop mentions.
Where are you near?
Would suggest getting out and throwing a leg over a few before making the short list up. Just get a feel for sizes etc. generally the size charts should be ignored and pick the one that feels right especially if you are crossing over into mens bikes.
If she's anything like my other half, whatever one she likes the colour of 😀
NOT a Specialized Myka, Mrs Gti had one; she's petite and she found it horribly heavy and the upright riding position and fat tyres made it as slow as a slow thing. Get her a hybrid or something with a rigid carbon fork - she isn't going to do gnarly rocky stuff and she will appreciate the light weight and good speed for general trail use. Fit some Ergon grips and a nice saddle too.
Orange Diva
just got one for my daughter
half price frame here and build up something half decent
[url= http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Orange-Diva-Frame-4328-107-0.html ]null