Female Bike up to 1K

mattbell
mattbell Posts: 203
edited August 2014 in Road buying advice
Hi guys,

It's not for me.

Road bike probably 52-54cm upto 1K. Any good deals, does anyone know if female specific is essential?

Cheers Matt

Comments

  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    I never thought about the gender of my bike before now...
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Female specific is not really vital IMO as long as the bike fits and the gearing is right.
    Planet X offer a female specific Pro Carbon for £999 and the only difference is the crankset size IIRC.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Grill wrote:
    I never thought about the gender of my bike before now...

    Really :shock:

    ikpyyh.jpg

    :lol:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    Boardman Team Carbon Fi edition is under £800 with the right discounts I believe. Friend bought one recently and I thought it was great value.

    Whilst I agree that female specific isn't essential, you can end up needing to shorten the stem and change the saddle which is money wasted if a female specific variant exists. Another friend bought a Colnago Ace and, by the time we'd bought a Pizza Express pizza in Waitrose for a a Wiggle discount voucher, the overall discount made it great value so a few mods were worthwhile.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • mattbell
    mattbell Posts: 203
    meanredspider wrote:
    Boardman Team Carbon Fi edition is under £800 with the right discounts I believe. Friend bought one recently and I thought it was great value.

    Whilst I agree that female specific isn't essential, you can end up needing to shorten the stem and change the saddle which is money wasted if a female specific variant exists. Another friend bought a Colnago Ace and, by the time we'd bought a Pizza Express pizza in Waitrose for a a Wiggle discount voucher, the overall discount made it great value so a few mods were worthwhile.

    Thanks, think the Boardman if worth a look. Whats the Wiggle Pizza Discount?
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    mattbell wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    Boardman Team Carbon Fi edition is under £800 with the right discounts I believe. Friend bought one recently and I thought it was great value.

    Whilst I agree that female specific isn't essential, you can end up needing to shorten the stem and change the saddle which is money wasted if a female specific variant exists. Another friend bought a Colnago Ace and, by the time we'd bought a Pizza Express pizza in Waitrose for a a Wiggle discount voucher, the overall discount made it great value so a few mods were worthwhile.

    Thanks, think the Boardman if worth a look. Whats the Wiggle Pizza Discount?

    Yes - investigate the British Cycling discount with Halfords. See the other recent Boardman thread on this forum.

    Sorry, that was a Wiggle promo with Pizza Express last year (or maybe 2 :oops: ). My point was simply that, provided you get enough of a discount, a unisex or male frame can still make sense. Have a scan through the bike sales for the small frames (think the one we bought was 49 or something) and you might find something really good
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    If you look round now there are a lot of new bikes in the sales and some very good deals. The main thing is you like the look of the bike, it feels OK to ride and it fits you properly. Road bikes are a bit of pain compared to mountain bikes as they need to be setup to fit the rider a lot more accurately as you don't move around as much. (I am guessing you already know this bit :) )

    My wife has a women's specific mountain bike as it fitted her better than similar sized general mountain bikes. She preferred the shorter reach, more upright position and stand over height of the bike (this does not really matter for a road bike). The same can be true for road bikes including the saddle fitting. Best to test ride a few.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    arran77 wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    I never thought about the gender of my bike before now...

    Really :shock:

    ikpyyh.jpg

    :lol:

    Thats a Giro D'Italia winners bike dontcha know
  • izza
    izza Posts: 1,561
    Saw a Merida ride Juliet 94 in my LBS. RRP is £1k. Could be a deal to be
  • muppetteer
    muppetteer Posts: 5
    If you're spending that much don't worry about a female specific bike. Just get a bike that fits and feels good to ride. Don't buy a bike based on the saddle, stem or bars, as its the frame and group set you'll most likely get best value with. Worry about the finishing bits afterwards.

    Its worth noting that most off the shelf bikes will come with 42cm bars. Unless the female in your life is built like a linebacker, its best to change them right away to some which fit. Measure their shoulders and try a few different bars to see what's best. Even going down to 40cm bars can make a massive difference. And when do the stem at the same time, as bars vary in reach a lot too.

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