Which Full Suspension Bike for a Female??

jbford
jbford Posts: 101
edited January 2008 in MTB buying advice
Right my Fiancee has asked me to post a topic on here asking you all for opinions on which Full Sus. bike would be good for her.

She rides mainly XC / Trail / All Mountain, she's 5'4" and nuts :lol: . So far we've narrowed it down to the following:

Trex EX8 WSD
Orange 5 Pro Diva

We've also looked at:

Santa Cruz Juliana
Marin Wildcat
Specialized Era, Safire, Myka FSR

As you can tell these are all Female specific, are there any opinions on taking "male" full sussers and female spec-ing them?

All and any opinions are welcome.

Comments

  • dirtbiker100
    dirtbiker100 Posts: 1,997
    All I can say really is the frame's are designed specifically too so it'd be best staying with a full female bike rather than a guys frame and girlie parts. Also you can't go too far wrong at all with orange.
  • jbford
    jbford Posts: 101
    I remember reading an article (I think in MBR) that stated if you don't necessarily need a female specific frame for women so long as the components are specced for women.

    I know you can change the reach through stem lengths, the cranks can be changed to suit leg length and the stearer tube can be stacked to raise the stem. Handle bars can be chosen to allow for smaller hands and saddles for the difference in pelvis shape and anatomy.

    The Orange does look good but there is no frame option and £2100 is alot for a first full sus!
  • zero303
    zero303 Posts: 1,162
    I'm pretty sure they'll let you spec the 5 diva like the men's 5 S and I'm also pretty sure they'll let you have the diva frame only.

    Orange are very flexible I've been told - my LBS have said i can pretty much have a five made to spec (within reason)
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    A lot of it depends upon the manufacturer. Some (example, Specialized, Trek), do actually make the frame to be biased towards the female anatomy. Others (notably Kona), don't - all they do is take a small man's frame, paint it in girly colours and used smaller/lighter components to finish it off.

    The critical thing to remember is that generally speaking, men have proportionately longer bodies and shorter legs, where women are the other way around. Obviously there are exceptions - a good example being my mate's girlfriend who found a man's FSR more comfortable than a woman's. But then she is pretty tall anyway and found the shorter cockpit too cramped.

    The best thing to do is to get your other half to try both men's and women's bikes and see which she is most comfortable with. Grips and saddles can be swapped out at point of sale and many better brake levers can be adjusted for reach
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  • jbford
    jbford Posts: 101
    Excellent! Thank you for the responses. We're going to drop the Trek back with our LBS and then nip up to North Western Mountain Bike Centre to try out the Orange and Spesh bikes.

    The Trek frame is really sweet, rides very well. Just not sure about some of the components, mainly the wheels as they don't seem to be able to handle hard riding.

    My better half has also just taken a shine to the Spesh Enduro so we'll look at that and see if it's an option we can fuddle to suit her.

    Cheers again, will report back when we've been!!
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Have you thought about buying just the frame then building it up yourself? That way you can cherry-pick the parts that you want. It will work out a bit more expensive in the long run and will take longer to get right, but at least your missus will get the bike that she wants.

    Either that or buy the bike, plus what ever extra/alternative bits she needs then bung the rest on eBay?
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  • zero303
    zero303 Posts: 1,162
    If she likes the Enduro but the fit isn't right, the Safire is All Mountain choice of the women's Spesh bikes...

    My concern with the 5 Diva is the 14" frame only - I'm in the market for a full-susser for the missus, yes she's a women and she's smaller and struggles with the reach on a blokes bike etc but she's not a midget for christ sake!!
  • prophet_1000
    prophet_1000 Posts: 307
    Guys before you make any decisions on bike choice for your better halfs, check out Shecycles at http://www.shecycles.com/default.asp?sp=&v=1

    Post on their Forum or look up this topic as it has already been posted a million times already I imagine?

    I also remember reading that the TITUS motolite is a pretty good womens full susser

    Hope this helps?
    www.27gears.com

    Sore ribs.................I must start walking the trail 1st before steep descents into the unknown!
  • jbford
    jbford Posts: 101
    Going down the frame route is something we're considering as it means she can custom build. It's the old story though of how much money is it going to cost and what is the best package we can put together straight of the bat. Trial and error I feel are the only way.

    I must admit I too was a little perplexed as to why the 5 Diva is only available as a 14" but then I suppose they're looking at a developing market with relatively low volume numbers at the current time.

    prophet_1000 thanks for the link!

    One last thing does anybody know where you can get a good dynamic fitting done?
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    jbford wrote:
    Going down the frame route is something we're considering as it means she can custom build. It's the old story though of how much money is it going to cost and what is the best package we can put together straight of the bat. Trial and error I feel are the only way.

    Which is possibly where buying a complete bike comes in - at least you've got a starting point which she can ride anyway and swap bits out as and when she decides she's not happy with them.
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • iiJonnyii
    iiJonnyii Posts: 76
    stif are selling a ex demo juliana http://www.stif.co.uk/gear/select_options.asp?productID=5984
    Specialized Big hit (custom build, nearly done!)
  • Chaka Ping
    Chaka Ping Posts: 1,451
    Don't dismiss the 14" bike out of hand without trying it on for size, it might be exactly right.

    My wife is 5' 1" and has a 13" Giant XTC, which is still a little too large for her.

    All I've done to sort it out for her is to cut an inch or so off each end of the bars, fit a tiny stem with a bit more rise and swap the 100mm forks for 80mm ones to lower the standover a little - and those tweaks have transformed the way it feels for her.

    On the other hand, if she likes the Enduro, it might be worth looking at the Giant Reign? There are some great deals to be had at the moment such as these...

    http://www.cyclesurgery.com/ProductDeta ... 936390087d

    http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

    http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension
  • zero303
    zero303 Posts: 1,162
    My wife is 5'6" - 5'7" so I reckon it's probably safe to dismiss... :?
  • Chaka Ping
    Chaka Ping Posts: 1,451
    Oops, sorry - I got you and the OP confused there somehow.

    :oops:

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