First road bike for 18 year old female
gforrow
Posts: 28
Hi,
Doing some research into a road bike for my daughter, wants to get out there and get some fitness and miles in.
She has a max budget of £500, but that has to include pedals and cleats, already has shoes, so say £450 max for the bike itself.
I have been looking at the Decathlon bikes and also the cheaper end of the Wiggle range. I note also that there are some bikes in Halfords that may work, the Pendleton bike as an example.
I believe the best I can get would be a Claris Shimano system, but if anyone knows of any other offers, please share. Never bought a bike for anyone else, should I be looking at female bikes, or unisex or indeed male, is there really that much of a difference on road bikes? I'm guessing saddle probably?
So any tips or decent bikes to look at for her. Don't have to spend the full whack, but it is an upper limit.
Thanks for any help
Doing some research into a road bike for my daughter, wants to get out there and get some fitness and miles in.
She has a max budget of £500, but that has to include pedals and cleats, already has shoes, so say £450 max for the bike itself.
I have been looking at the Decathlon bikes and also the cheaper end of the Wiggle range. I note also that there are some bikes in Halfords that may work, the Pendleton bike as an example.
I believe the best I can get would be a Claris Shimano system, but if anyone knows of any other offers, please share. Never bought a bike for anyone else, should I be looking at female bikes, or unisex or indeed male, is there really that much of a difference on road bikes? I'm guessing saddle probably?
So any tips or decent bikes to look at for her. Don't have to spend the full whack, but it is an upper limit.
Thanks for any help
0
Comments
-
Giant/Liv do a decent range of women's specific bikes at the lower end of the price range, for example
http://www.bikeshopnortheast.co.uk/inde ... uct_id=9700 -
This looks pretty amazing value if she wouldn't mind a men's/unisex bike.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-prime/0 -
A pal of mine got his 13 year old daughter into cycling and bought her a 2nd had Allez from the LBS. One thing that made a big difference was changing the saddle to a female specific saddle.0
-
How tall is she?
If she is short then female specific may be better.
If not then unisex is an option.
Bar width may be better on a female specific though.
These things are cheap to change if you do it from new and sell the unwanted bits as new on ebay etc.
Its better to get the saddle and bar width/stem length that suits anyway, so I would not let these things decide on which bike you get.
Just make sure the frame is not too big!
My wife is 5'5" with a slightly longer trunk and shorter legs for her height (so will fit on a bigger bike than most 5'5" women) and she has a 48cm unisex SuperSix.
It has a 515mm virtual top tube, which is the same as the 50cm Ribble.
Personally I would not go on Ribbles size guide, as I would say the 50cm would be too big for a 5'3" rider.0 -
Thanks for the links and advice, something to work with.
I guess the best starting point would be to get her sized up at the local shop, and then I can compare geometry from that bike to others I find. She is around 5ft 5in, but no idea on percentage trunk to legs, which clearly will make a difference.
I'm thinking probably a unisex bike as there seems to be more range, and then adjust as necessary to suit her, bars and saddle maybe. Smallest size at Ribble is a 50cm, need to investigate their return policy as I am nowhere near them, just in case it is completely the wrong size.
Cheers0 -
gforrow wrote:Thanks for the links and advice, something to work with.
I guess the best starting point would be to get her sized up at the local shop, and then I can compare geometry from that bike to others I find. She is around 5ft 5in, but no idea on percentage trunk to legs, which clearly will make a difference.
I'm thinking probably a unisex bike as there seems to be more range, and then adjust as necessary to suit her, bars and saddle maybe. Smallest size at Ribble is a 50cm, need to investigate their return policy as I am nowhere near them, just in case it is completely the wrong size.
Cheers
have a look at the Canyon site and their geo charts, gives a fairly accurate guide to sizing.
as for the bike, i d go 2nd hand, £500 doesn't get you a lot brand new, female specific is questionable, just marketing, girls come in all shapes and sizes, just as men do and stems and handle bars are cheap to change.0 -
Ribble do size charts and are pretty helpfull when you ask them which size, spec etc.
September time is when the bike shops start discounting the 2016 models, this is the big brands not Ribble Etc.
I'd get her that Ribble Prime or one of the Wiggle bikes like the verenti Technique and that Merlin P7 looks really good for £350. Thats got really good reviews and it looks a really good option, in the best colour black.
https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-per ... 85148.html0
