[Closed] wimminz full sus bike advice, you experience pleasez me 🙂

my mrs wanted a bike... or rather i wanted her to get one so she liked the look of the Specialized Rockhopper and tried the womens equivalent... the Myka. She preferred a 15" mens rockhopper tho and got that. It was a HT tho but may be worth trying smaller mens sizes as she didt like the geometry/riding position of the women specific bike at all.

cheers creamegg, mrsconsequence is a long legged, taller than average lady so there's a big chance she might need to consider a bike that isn't 'womens spec'

i juat know she's going to go all squishy and gooey inside when she see's the myka haha

MrsP tried a lot of women's spec bikes from Lapierre, Trek, Spesh, Giant etc. and ended up on a 'normal' Zesty. If you look at the differences for women's versions they're normally just a tiny bit shorter in the TT and only available in 1 spec level (normally toward the lower end of the range). Oh and they're usually a different colour, normally pandering to gender stereotypes. If you do end up with a non-womens spec bike then it's worth getting the LBS to swap the saddle for one that MrsConsequence likes though.

I found the specialized Myka really short in the reach, felt really upright for me. Far shorter than the Womens Specialized Stumpjumper I've got which is shorter than the Mens equivalent.

yeah found a review saying the TT is especially short... think she'd need a large to end up with something similar to a normal/men's medium. long legs and arms like a monkey.

Mrs|TJ has a specialized myka hardtail. Availiable in a load of spec levels and very nicely put together. Not only does it have the women's spec frame with a short TT but it also has a lighter sprung fork, womens specific brake levers and a womens saddle.

I bought the better half a Specialized Saffire. It looks exactly the same frame as the Myka. Its a bit of a different situation as she's a beginner, but i wanted to get her something decent so she'd get the best start.

She's doing unbelievably well on it. Already happily attacking some of the red at Gisburn and Llandegla without hesitation. I'm putting some of this down to having the confidence that a decent bike gives you. And some of it to the fact that she's mental 🙂 She may well be along shortly to give her opinions. Actually... then she'll spot that its available in pink. She's got the grey and blue one

Oh... she's not the tallest and the frame seems bang on for her

TJ.... are you a:

fine sexy and incredibly lovely bikeling ladee

? 😈

the lighter sprung fork is a good point! she's not the heaviest beast in the woods, as is the wimminz spec brake levers... does that mean they're shorter or summin? she has to wear wimminz gloves in a large size cos of her long creepy witch fingers

(cheers again or the comments and advice everyone!)

long legged, taller than average lady so there's a big chance she might need to consider a bike that isn't 'womens spec'

"women's" bike tend to have a shorter TT for the reason that women tend to have proportionally longer legs and shorter torsos than men - I'm 5'9", Mrs NBT is 5'4", we both have a 32" inseam.

As MrsConsequence is leggy (by your admission, I've never met her 😉 ), a bike with a shorter TT is not necessarily a bad thing, if the bike overall is the right size

The lever on the rear shock is a lock out. I haven't seen/ridden a Myka but recently bought a Giant Cypher 1 super cheap from Paul Cycles it is ace. Good luck

cheers again 8)

i'm sure i've read about a couple of people, or their partners having mykas on here?

as is the wimminz spec brake levers... does that mean they're shorter or summin?

On Mrs TJs bike they are techtro levers - they are a different shape to mens levers so they are parallel to the bar with a shorter reach than mens levers - however with most levers being reach adjustable its a very minor point and these are the only brakes I have seen with womens specific levers

TJ.... are you a:

fine sexy and incredibly lovely bikeling ladee

Have you seen my legs?

only in my dreams TJ, but the benefit of that is i dont need to drive to skotland to see them, i can just close my eyes and [s]unzip[/s]imagine.

cheers creamegg, mrsconsequence is a long legged, taller than average lady so there's a big chance she might need to consider a bike that isn't 'womens spec

That's why you WOULD need a women's spec bike. Women tend (apaprently) to have longer legs and shorter torsos, so women's bikes are shorter in reach for the same seat tube length aka 'size'.

Mrs Grips has very long legs - 2" longer inside leg than me despite being 5" shorter overall. She has a Spesh FSR WSD from a few years ago, and it's very good. I think Spesh have done a brilliant job in really thinking carefully about ergonomics for both their men's and women's stuff. Seems to be their WSD stuff in particular is better thought out than most manufs.

phil - why full suss? Why not a lighter hardtail?

C_G
serial bike swapper

it wasnt the weight of the bike that jedi was making a point about, it was becca's jumping 🙂

Phil - this belongs in the bike forum anwyay. You do know there's a bike forum here, don't you?

yeah, it was intended for the bike forum, but forgot that starting a new topic whilst in the chat forum automatically puts it there instead of gives you the option.

i'm sorry molly 🙁

There's a bike forum? Blimey! You'll be telling me there's a magazine next

[img] [/img]

magazine!

OK, I reckon mrsc is 2"/3" taller than me, yes? I would say for what you are paying for that one, you will get a better value hardtail. For example, it has a basic 100mm fork. Don't know the weight but it won't be light.

Anyway, definitely look at mens as they are often better spec'd.

probabaly about that yeah 🙂 seen bike shops got it for 800 at the moment but not sure what size that is... looks like a medium so that plan could be wiped out the water purely down to size.

think mens might be the way forward!

Don't rush into anything - research is key. 🙂

Give me a shout if she'd like to try mine - got a lightweight hardtail that may help for comparison purposes. All mine are blokes bikes in any case.

A new bike is always exciting. 8)

It comes in pink???????????????

I'm mental??????????????

Binners - no 'special hugs' for you for a while.....

Harummmmmmmmmmph!!!

The SO of one of my mates has a SC Juliana which she really likes. I believe it's basically a women's specific version of the Superlight, probably not cheap but certainly worth checking out

Another recommendation for the Superlight.

SC are the only people who under-build their women's bikes on the basis women are on average lighter than men, afaik.

Curses! 🙁

Just to whet yours and mrsc's appetite - my old Juliana allbeit with a short top tube:

[img] [/img]