New Bike - advice needed

Trek Gal

Over the past couple of years my mountain biking has improved but my trusty Mongoose Rockadile is struggling to keep up with me. I am 5ft 1 so think I may need a womens specific bike due to sizing but have no idea whats a good buy. I want to spend between 450-550 (600 tops) and it must have disc brakes and a good fork as the main issue with my Mongoose is the poor brakes and forks with serious rebound problems.
I have been in a number of different shops but none have had any bikes in my size and as most only sell one or two brands their opinion is somewhat biased!
I dont have any female friends who mountain bike so I am relying on the web for help!
Thanks!

miss notax

Hello and welcome to the forum

I would keep an eye out for bike demo days to try as many bikes as you can, or maybe even see if you can hire a few different types (in your size) to at least see what you like. Alternatively is there a bike club you could join up with, just to be able to have a quick 'sit' on a few small frame bikes? Any you like, you could then investigate hiring / trialing for a proper go?

Sorry I can't be of any more help! I Sympathise with the situation - its this that forced me into buying my frame and building it before I had even tried an Orange :oops:

kathg

Hi there and welcome . My biking pal is exactly your height and rides an Orange 5 Diva (14" short). She absolutely adores it and it transformed her riding! Problem is, it's quite a few pennies over your budget. It is a nightmare finding shops that stock small, size decent performance bikes but I can only advise you to persevere and keep phoning shops in your area (and beyond) and ask them can they get in a small size for you to try or let you know if anyone has ordered one that you can at least stand over and sit on before they take it away! It took me nearly 4 months of doing this and going to demo days before I got a bike I was happy with and I'm 5ft 4. I ended up with a small blokes bike as the women specific ones didn't fit me. All a bit of a pain TBH but hey ho

Good luck!

miss notax

Where are you based Trek Gal? That might help us advise you!

Trek Gal

Thanks for the replies. The Orange looks good but yes its a bit over my budget.

I am based in Bristol so in theory should have lots of choice however I did end up having to go to the lake district to buy my road bike!

miss notax

Ok, I'm not near Bristol and I don't know know any clubs / shops down there i'm afraid :oops:

Keep an eye out on Ebay? I know that doesn't help with the testing and sizing, but there are some great second hand bargains on there. My first full susser was second and off Ebay - a small Santa Cruz superlight for £600 :shock:

You can also tweak most bikes to fit with shorter stems, saddle position etc - although there is obviously a limit to this!!

Good luck and enjoy choosing!