Mountain Biking - Womans Bike Question

My girlfriend is interested in getting into mtnbiking. I was just wondering what benifits are there to getting a womans bike instead of just a regular bike. I know the geometry is different, but do you think it just ends up being personal preference. How many women ride regular bikes, and how many ride *womans* bikes and what are their opinions.

Any suggestions would be great. THanks :)

i just learned that it was a fit thing. i took my wife to get a new bike and learned a womens bike has a shorter upper tube for short women. my wife is 5' 7" and was kinda cramped on the womens hardrock sport so she tried the regular 17" and it was a perfect fit.
i recommend going to the lbs and fit test some bikes

Well, generally women have longer legs and shorter torsoes, thus the frame geometries correspond to this with shorter top tubes. Also, the tube diameters can be smaller allowing for lighter frames. Many companies also provide smaller diameter grips for smaller hands and narrower handlebars. Also a big feature is a women's specific saddle.

My wife is 5'6" and hated every WSD available. She rides a standard Cannondale Raven in a size Medium. I did take 3/4" off each side of the handlebars and put a different saddle on the bike for her.

L8R

I think WSD is primarily a marketting thing. A friend of mine was shopping for a roadbike and she felt great on a Specialized Dolce (a WSD labelled bike) while she felt better on the traditional Trek geometries than the Trek WSD bikes. Also, be aware that not all WSD bikes are designed with the same level of thought and detail. Specialized seems to have done well with their roadbikes at least. I know that Fisher has a nice line of WSD mountain bikes that may be worth a look. I agree with the previous poster in that it's all about fit. Ignore the label but pay attention to the bike.

Alright, we'll do. Thanks for the input.