Any womaen out there ride mens bikes ?

elPedro666

Getting back to bikes... :P

Done a whole hell of a lot of demoing with my lady & none of the ws bikes were long enough, despite her being long in the leg (lucky me!).

It's the saddle to cranks ratio that we've been struggling to get right, finally there with a fairly short man's frame (specifically, mine!), laid back a little with longer forks, shortish stem & inline post centring her on the bike just nicely.

Ditch Witch

Hey, this is the women's forum, afterall :roll:


such good news that she found a good fit. It'll make her riding experiences (and, consequently, yours!) that much more enjoyable


AMcD, I cut my hair of years ago and it was so liberating! I've tried having it long again and it just doesn't suit me or my lifestyle

supersonic

6 ft?!

I shaved all my hair off, but need the tattoos now lol.

elPedro666

Ditch Witch wrote:

such good news that she found a good fit. It'll make her riding experiences (and, consequently, yours!) that much more enjoyable

I'm glad you think so, it's my bloomin' bike that we've made fit her! After 12years of 'development' and surely the wrong side of two grand spent on it (probably waaay on the wrong side) we find it's the only solution for her & I'm squished onto my dad's tiny, ancient Giant ALM1! I bet you're not even old enough to know what one of them is! :evil:

I suppose that does put me in the market for a new bike though, Blur XC perhaps...

Maybe it's not all bad news after all! 8)

AMcD

Ditch Witch wrote:

AMcD, I cut my hair of years ago and it was so liberating! I've tried having it long again and it just doesn't suit me or my lifestyle

I couldn't possibly go through the 'growing it long' phase again - life's too short . It's so liberating as you say. The hairdresser should have paid me the £28 for the priviledge of cutting it - she was having such fun - left one side long whilst she worked on t'other side .

Ditch Witch

Pedro, bless you, but I'm older than you think


AMcD: I did try growing it long briefly, then cut it off again cuz i hate having it in my face and whatnot. Not to mention only taking 3 seconds to wash

AMcD

Ditch Witch wrote:

Pedro, bless you, but I'm older than you think


AMcD: I did try growing it long briefly, then cut it off again cuz i hate having it in my face and whatnot. Not to mention only taking 3 seconds to wash

Three seconds? You must condition it as well then? .

Ditch Witch

That's with two washes as well

Sourmash

Never tried a ladies bike - I can't get past all the pink and flowers.

I've just changed components on my 'man' bike until I've got to what feels right and it seems to have worked a treat.

Do what feels comfortable and ride confident.

LondonMTB

Have only just got back to mountain-biking recently, and am also the long-legged, no-torso type of girl, so tried a few WS bikes but found them way too stump. Have just got a Specialized Expert Disc, and even needed the 19' one, which seems ridiculous, but the 17 really was too small, the saddle had to be put up like a flagpole and I was too off balance - even I could tell that! I gues it's because women with particularly long legs also have long arms, so the particularly short top tubes don't always work.

And I agree with those of you who don't like the girly look on some WS bikes...but them I am a bit of a tom-boy wanna-be-chav with my black MTB and japanese sports car...A little scared now that I can see why you guys chop your locks off....but if I do that it would NOT go down well with 'him in doors'...!!!

What experience do you men's-bike riders have with changing the coils in forks? My bike feels lovely if only I could make more of the recon forks, I'm too light for them

lexiekay

I changed the coils in both my rockshox tora forks (which i no longer have) and my fox 36 vans. The rockshox ones they did in my LBS - i just told them my weight and they ordered in the correct coil, think it cost about £12. The Fox forks I actually took in to Mojo suspension on my way to cwmcarn, again they checked my weight and got me the right coil (although frankly i reckon i could have got a softer one). anyway yeah definietly change them. keep the old one though in case you want to sell the forks one day!

LondonMTB

Cool thanks Lexiekay!

Ditch Witch

supersonic wrote:

6 ft?!

I shaved all my hair off, but need the tattoos now lol.

CUT, not shaved

easyg

My girlfriend and I went out and bought here a mountain bike a few weeks ago. She tried a few womens, and then some small and extra small men's. She liked one of each gender type and in the end went for the male GT (a fine choice) because it felt slightly better. I would say in my experience the geometry of a bike is what defines the comfort more than any single factor. Whilst top tube lengths are shorter on womens bikes, I actually think there is no need, and agree its a gimic as someone else said. As most know, or could figure out, bike geometry is determined by numerous factors, not just one, so surely it has to be tosh :?:

Of course it is good that they exist so the option is there, and hopefully makes a woman/ women wanting to get involved feel welcome. I bet most, if given the proper advice in an LBS, end up on a mens though as the variety is so much larger.

Is it me or are more women becoming interested in off road biking? Or is it the boyfriends, much like myself, wanting the missus to come along for a spin? (And then forgetting she hasn't ridden a bike in 10-20 yrs as she screams her way down some unexpected decent on a rocky red route!!!)

Etiher way I think its great that women are getting involved.