16" or 18" Sintesi 707 frame for the wife

supertwisted

Won one of these on Merlins ebay site for £56 so I can build up a bike for the wife out of some spare bits, just need to pick the size now.

I'm 99% decided on the 16" for her, but am canvassing for opinion.

She's about 5'9" with 29" inside leg. She's not the most confident of folk on the bike and wants something she can easily move around under her and not struggle to get her leg over. She won't be doing anything more extreme than riding across a field and she won't be going on any 3hr marathon rides.

My thoughts are that the 16" will probably be a little on the compact side (565mm horizontal TT), but with a 100mm stem and saddle adjustment it should be plently comfy.
Whereas the 18" will have decent reach, but I'm thinking the size might knock her confidence a bit.

Skonk

I'm about 5'9 too (but im a chap), not sure what my inside leg is but I found 16" to be too small.

The bikes I own are all 18" and feel about right; though I've always felt a 17.5" would be perfect if they made them in that size.

supertwisted

Skonk wrote:

I'... I found 16" to be too small.

This particular frame in 16" or 16" frames in general?

Da Mighty Chicken

supertwisted wrote:

Skonk wrote:

I'... I found 16" to be too small.

This particular frame in 16" or 16" frames in general?

It sounds like she'll be better off with the 16", you said yourself she isnt overly confident and wants room to move about, if by chance the 16" did feel abit cramped then its easy to get a layback seatpost & longer stem etc but a frame thats too large cant be altered for top bar clearance etc....

supertwisted

Yeah that was more or less my thinking as well.

It's a lovely looking frame from the pics though, I might have to give it a damn good test ride.

xtreem

I have two sisters and from the past experience, because they are not
involved seriously in biking, they prefer smaller frames and seat height.

They don't want pedal efficiency, they want comfort.
Go 16".

supertwisted

Gone for the 16". Figured I was on the right track but good to run it past a few folk first.

Looking forward to having a new project to keep me in the garage for a while now.