Bikes for small people

ddraver

Hi all

My Mummy Raver and Daddy Raver are starting to get into road cycling and I'm trying to point them in the direction of good bikes. Dad ignored me and got a Tricross but Mum is particualrly small and needs a frame size of 48cm, Does anyone know of people that do them as we re stuggling to find anything half decent so far...

I see plenty of kids around here with road bikes so they must exist but they re not having much luck back in Blightly

Any ideas welcome...

DaveK

suzyb

I wouldn't have said 48cm is small :?

So I can't really help as it's too big for short me.

mowflow

I thought most of the big brands and I dare say some of the smaller brands do lady bikes of that size and smaller.

For example
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec023875
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/edd ... e-ec025733

ddraver

well that's interesting....I hope she'd not being fobbed off because the shop does nt stock smaller frames....

She's about 150-155cms tall...how tall are you (if you don't mind me asking!)

ddraver

I dunno, I ve never looked but she's struggling to get below 50cms (apparently)

Monty Dog

I was going to ask what height the rider concerned was - the problem is that with 700c-wheeled bikes its very difficult to achieve a toptube length of less than 50cm without compromising handling e.g. front-wheel overlap - any shorter requires smaller wheels and I expect a 700c-wheeled bike may be too-bike as most 48cm frames have a reach of 51-53cm which is the size I ride and I'm 165cm tall.
As well as the women's specific designs mentioned, there's also the likes of Isla Bikes to consider.
Kinesis UK also do a road frame in a pretty weenie size - about 42cm - a friend has one.
The best solution would be to get a bike-fit at a secialist and based on that information to inform the choices - I see a lot of people riding bikes that are too big because that was what is available, rather than what they need. A 5cm stem and bars higher than the saddle is not a good solution, but often what shops force customers to buy out of their laziness.
Finally, because of the smaller tube sizes, steel frames can be made a lot smaller than alloy or carbon, but expect custom is the expensive option.

tx14

surly does 46cm traditional geo (more or less) frames. they only have framesets in the uk though.
I want to say that toe overlap isn't such a huge issue, unless you do a lot of traffic weaving.
at normal riding speed, if you turn enough to hit your toe, you will fall off even if you don't have any toe overlap.

Stiff_Orange

ddraver wrote:

well that's interesting....I hope she'd not being fobbed off because the shop does nt stock smaller frames....

I think you're being fobbed off. A guy I know races both road and MTB and has no probs getting bikes and he is only 5ft. In fact he gets some get bargins because shops/online store sometimes get stuck with smaller frames in stock.

merak

A lot of manufacturers make women specific bikes. 48cm is a pretty standard size. You can get them from Felt, Trek, Giant etc. I rather like the Spesh Dolce ones. You don't say how much Mum Raver is wanting to spend. Rutland Cycling have various ones for sale:
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/c/657/Lad ... Bikes.html

hammerite

Giant do XS bikes, which I think are about 45-47cm. Jnr Hammer has an XS adult mountain bike. But then he has an Isla bike kids road bike Luath 26.

The Luath is specced for kids, but they do bigger frames, can't see why they wouldn't be appropriate for smaller people (apart from gearing perhaps). Bonus of a Luath is that it's really a CX bike so plenty of options for road or slightly off road riding.

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/pdfs/sizes/Size_Chart_web.pdf

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath700.html

suzyb

ddraver wrote:

well that's interesting....I hope she'd not being fobbed off because the shop does nt stock smaller frames....

She's about 150-155cms tall...how tall are you (if you don't mind me asking!)

I'm 5ft.

And as hammerite mentioned Giant does (or did) small bikes. Mine is an XXS Giant SCR 3 which I think is 41cm and has 650cc wheels.

I have noticed other manufacturers do smaller bikes as well though, Cannondale I think is one, possibly Specialized as well.

The guy in the shop could be thinking of reach more than height for sizing, if your . Or he could be fobbing you off.

ddraver

Well she's been quick and got herself a Spesh Dolce in 44cms, seems to be enjoying it thus far so all good...

Thanks for your help all!