triggersd

Attn guys and gals alike.

Disclaimer: I haven't done all the bike geometry research as it's not all too easy to find on some sites. Not sure if it matters at the end of the day anyway.

I am looking for a race quality xc rig for a 4'10 woman. There are a handful of mainstream manufacturers who have interesting options. I'm curious as to how important these woman specific designs, genesisters, or women specific labels bikes are in terms of performance. Off the rack or without going overboard on a custom build what really makes sense?

A friend of mine races on a woman's specialized epic comp and loves it. I don't know anyone with experience on a trek, gary fisher, scott or others.

Size is going to be an issue (rider height is 4'10). Does anyone here have first or second hand experience in regard to pint sized sisters charging the trails?

I expect the bike to be used for weekly rides. A 12 or 24 hour race isn't out of the question either.

Thank you. . . .

jm01

The WSD bikes are great for women who are built like women...meaning that they have longer legs and shorter arms when compared to average men.

My daughter rides a WSD Stumpjumper FSR and tells me that its the best fitting bike that she has owned...no more back pain. My 5'5" wife has shorter legs and a longer torso and rides a traditional small frame MTB.

At 4'10" there's a lot of product that will suit...the Julianna is a nice bike, but only if the rider's physical proportions meet the criteria...best to try a few manufacturers and see which has the best fit

Notice on these pics of my wife's and kid's bikes how they are set up to fit their leg and arm lengths

born2bahick

My wife is 5 foot nothing and about 95lbs, she rides a WSD Specialized Epic. We were also looking at the Santa Cruz Juliana, Both are great race platforms.

triggersd

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't considered the Juliana.

I believe it's going to come down to test riding a few bikes. Now the difficult part: finding them in stock somewhere. Time to talk to buddies at the shop. . .

born2bahick

That is the hard part! not enough demand for them to make many dealers keep some in stock. We didn't have a Santa cruz dealer close by but our local shop is a specialized dealer and Let us order the bike on a conditional "if it doesn't feel right we don't have to take it" agreement. Maybe your search for test bikes will be more fruitfull than ours was.

muteseh

If she has to she may have to drop down to a 24" bike. The geometry of 26" bikes are limited to the height of the fork, so the smallest frames have around a 26" standover height and a pretty steep top tube angle.

jm01

One option that we considered (almost built) for my wife was a small frame with 24" wheels...her shortish legs and longer torso made her a perfect candidate for a regualar bike but standover was an issue. Fortuneatley we were able to find a perfect frame (no longer in production) and go with the 26" wheels

There's a lot to choose from, but the first decision will be to WSD or not to WSD...it works for some women, but not for most

kenseth03

My wife rides Gary Fisher Tassajara GS. She loves it and says that she finally found a bike that she can be comfortable with. After riding several "regular" mountain bikes she is finally happy that she can ride this bike and not get overly fatigued, her back doesn't hurt and she feels like She isn't so stretched out as she was on the other mountain bikes she had ridden. Another girl in our area has the same bike and says she wouldn't trade it for anything.

edbikebabe

I have never tried a WSD. As others stated, with shorter legs & a longer torso I have no problem with finding a good fit in a non-WSD bike.

Good luck with the search.

triggersd

This is going to be an interesting experience, to say the least. Once the process has started I'll to my best to provide reports on the different bikes tested. She's excited to get on the trail! Again..I (and she) appreciate everyones comments and feedback.

-gone riding

triggersd

It's been awhile since this thread started, but the mountain bike has FINALLY been decided upon.

After riding hardtails, and some full suspension rigs she decided on a Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail.

duty calls....gotta run. More detail about the experiences and feedback later. . . . sorry.

paulwwalters

heh this is quite opposite my situation, I'm 6'6" and the gf is 6'3".

aballas