Best women's road bike for a grand?

newcrossroadie
newcrossroadie Posts: 11
edited February 2010 in Road buying advice
This may have come up before on this forum - apologies if that is the case.

My girlfriend has a Specialized Dolce but wants to upgrade and sell as it doesn't fit her properly. She can spend £1k CTW voucher through Evans. Ideally she would like a carbon frame, but that doesn't seem possible from Evans' website - all aluminium Treks, Cannondale etc. Men's bikes are out of the question as she is too small.

Does anyone know what the best buy would be at this price, whether carbon or not?

Many thanks.

Comments

  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    newcrossroadie wrote:
    Men's bikes are out of the question as she is too small.

    Does anyone know what the best buy would be at this price, whether carbon or not?

    There are lots of men the same height as short women... in fact there's very little difference between men and women other than in the average, she should look for a bike that fits as that is all that matters.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • hopper1
    hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    Here's a link to a current post on here...
    I would suggest getting your GF a proper bike fit.
    As you'll see from the other post, women are not necessarily happy with 'pink' bikes and triple chainsets, and most of them, with the help of a bike fit and minor adjustments, can ride the bike that they actually want. :wink:
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • bikergirl17
    bikergirl17 Posts: 344
    comes down to fit, agreed ... but check out cannondale. they are sickly price inflated in the UK, but it is the same frame regardless of the group set. you could get the carbon synapse (or caad 9 wsd, which is really comfy even for al) but with low end components ... and over time, just upgrade the components.

    if she is under 5"3, i don't fully agree with the comment about trying to use a men's bike -- if you look at the specs on the smallest male cannondale (47 cm i think), it is different than the wsd in the same "size". if she is 5"5' ish, then i wouldn't limit her to wsd.

    in general, wsd bikes tend to come with short-release shifters and smaller cranks (e.g, 165 vs 170 or 175). the smallest sizes have 650 wheels (which are much maligned, but i ride them and think they are actually a benefit for climbing).

    i assume if you go for the same price point evan's will swap out components for you as need be.

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