Looking for options, women's road bike with rack mounts

robthehungrymonkey

Hey,

My girlfriend has a Spesh Vita (a girl's version of the Sirrus) that's a few years old. It's a road orientated Hybrid, but it is noticeably slower than a proper road bike.

She has now got to the stage where I think a faster, more road orientated bike would be of benefit.

The one thing we would like would be eyelets for a rack. Not heavy touring, but the capacity to put a rack on and carry a couple of small paniers is essential.

There are a few men's options out there, but the options for Women seem to be significantly less.

Any ideas?

Bobbinogs

Hi there Rob, if your girlfriend likes the Vita it might be worth looking at the Dolce, which is slightly more racy but similar geo and (I think) has the eyelets for rack mounting.

My wife has also got the Vita and uses it every day for commuting (but gets me to change the Schwalbe Marathons to something slicker at the w/e when she fancies a faster spin, grrr).

robthehungrymonkey

Cheers, I had looked at the Dolce, but didn't realise it had rack mounts... looking at some photos it appears it does.

Sweet.

Any alternative branded bikes?

SouthEastLondonCyclist

Condor? I'm a woman and have just bought an Italia RL. OK, not a women specific bike but I'm really pleased with it.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

robthehungrymonkey

SouthEastLondonCyclist wrote:

Condor? I'm a woman and have just bought an Italia RL. OK, not a women specific bike but I'm really pleased with it.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

I do like condor, but i think £500 just for the frameset is a little over budget for her.

thanks for the tip though

Bobbinogs

Hi there Rob, not sure if you have caught the latest version of the comic but there is an interesting review of the new Trek Lexa S, which is a replacement for the 1.2 womens' range. Only comes in a compact but has a nice range on the back as standard and the drops look to be well thought out. It also has the same rack capability as the Dolce (I am going to read the mag and then hide it in case my wife gets hold of it )

carrock

wouldn't necessarily limit the search to a bike with rack mounts. most sportier bikes dont have them but you can use a seatpost rack....

robthehungrymonkey

carrock wrote:

wouldn't necessarily limit the search to a bike with rack mounts. most sportier bikes dont have them but you can use a seatpost rack....

I've tried that before. They might work for a trip to the shops, but not a replacement for a proper rack.

We've been on some tours before, and plan to do more. I generally take the bulk of the stuff (i've got a full on tourer), whilst the misses takes the smaller panniers...