Slightly OT: What bike should I buy for my (short) wife?

I want to sort out a new bike for my 5′ 1″ wife, but a bit befuddled what to get. Basically it needs to be:
– the right size (currently 17″ C-T, but ‘ladies’ frame – she likes that so maybe a 14″ normal frame would do the job too?)
– ok for road/light trail use
– have rack/mudguard braze ons etc.
– fully rigid
– as light as poss given such a small frame
And the killer budget – £200ish.
There are some good deals on hybrids around, but they tend to be 700c which is silly for such a small bike. Cheapish MTBs might do, but hard to find one without rubbish sus forks. Would it be silly to consider a kid’s bike? I reckon this EBC one might do it, but 31lb still seems heavy for something this size – although I know at this price it’s never going to be that lightweight. http://preview.tinyurl.com/7drrn7
Any other ideas?
Cheers

£300 a bit too much? from pauslcycles, 14″:

Thanks Stoner – the budget might stretch a bit, and that’s a good deal, but she won’t really make use of sus forks. I could swap them out for rigids I suppose, but a bit of a palaver…

mrs antigee (5ft 2″) has a trek (6700 i think) women’s specific and loves it – before that always complained of back ache and numb hands

the edinburgh bike coop offering looks good

sorry to hijack thread (but at least bump it up) am looking at building mrs antigee a bike for her commute and can’t find any women specific frame only to buy – anyone any ideas – other than the classifieds and watching ebay?

mrs antigee (5ft 2″) has a trek (6700 i think) women’s specific and loves it – before that always complained of back ache and numb hands

the edinburgh bike coop offering looks good

sorry to hijack thread (but at least bump it up) am looking at building mrs antigee a bike for her commute and can’t find any women specific frame only to buy – anyone any ideas – other than the classifieds and watching ebay?

mrs antigee (5ft 2″) has a trek (6700 i think) women’s specific and loves it – before that always complained of back ache and numb hands

Exactly the same with Mrs. Dudie – same height, same bike, same problems beforehand.

Better check she’s not a bigamist when I get home…

well mrs antigee was claiming to commute to work – not so sure now – maybe doing “housework” round at Dudies!

That’s not a short wife – 4’10” is a short wife, and if anyone has any tips on a similar spec bike for similar use for MrSwadey, I’d be really grateful!

I’m not sure on pricing, but I found the Giant Rincon (their XS is 14″), surprisingly light for a cheap bike (I think about the £300 mark). Although I’m pretty sure I had to swap the forks out.

One thing that may work for your wife, is to not put any air in the forks, I found that worked very well for me (approx 50kg)

My wife has a small specilised hardrock WSD which she has upgraded. She would sell it for £150. It has very little use and is about 7 yrs old (i think). I’ll find out more detials about what size etc.

If I bought a bike for my OT I’d go for as light as possible- extra weight must be really hard on the fairer sex and the cheaper budget bikes must weigh a ton!

cheers for the suggestions. willb if you want to email details I’m benwheeler
at lycosdot codot uk

well, ages ago I got my wife (4’11”) an MTB bike from Terry’s in the USA , not a cheap option I’m afraid. Its a great fit, it has 24″ tyres which allows a rack to be used. My son is currently about the same height as my wife and his kids bike is one of those specialised ones also with 24″ inche wheelss. Larger wheels on a small bike don’t look right and can interfere with rear racks and seat post bags/lights.

I live with a midget as well, got her a 13″ WSD specialized hardrock and it fits perfectly.