Bontrager

g/f is transitioning from a hybrid to road. We've looked at LBS' that have Trek and Specialized entry level bikes including the WSD specific ones which she prefers. She's 5' 6" and fits (and prefers) a stock 51 cm Trek and Specialized perfectly and 52" Trek and Specialized "mens" frames with a moderate amount of adjustment but I wanted opinions from some of the ladies.

Her goal is to ride 50-75 miles comfortably.

Hirohsima

Well, I am not a female, but my wife LOVES her Dolce Eliete (2006) WSD bike. She has a 48cm bike which I think could have been sized better had they chosen to use 650c wheels.... however the overall fit was great for her. She finds it very comfortable. She preferred the Specialized over the Trek since she felt the S- was more comfortable. The bike in that size came w/ 38cm bars with short reach brakes which was a real plus.

My wife is 4'11" for reference.

Her only gripe on her bike was that the stock brakes did not stop well. We swapped them out for some Ultegra calipers and she no longer has that complaint.

Good luck.

johnny99

The main feature of a WSD bike is fit and comfort. How well the bike fits a particular person depends on that person's body dimensions and riding style. WSD works great for some women, but not for others. Also, different brands implement WSD differently. Your GF needs to test ride a bunch of different brands and buy what fits the best.

jigger

First post, my wife is 5'1" and we're looking at the trek 1600 wsd 47cm or the Cannodale synapse fem 3. She is going to test ride next tuesday I'll let you know. Leaning towards the trek but only a test ride will tell.

Psydotek

My girlfriend really likes her 2006 LeMond Reno WSD.

WSD bikes usually have a relatively shorter top tube compared to a regular bike with the same seat tube length or standover to compensate for the usually shorter female torso.

Pedal Wench

I have two WSD bikes, but I can adjust my standard geometry bikes to fit similarly - changing out stems and raising the seatpost to give me the same fit. I do prefer the narrower bars that seem to come standard on WSD bikes, but again, they're easy enough to swap out after the fact. I use Campy on my bikes, which fit my hands better than ShimaNO, and I prefer their performance as an added bonus!

recursive

I'm not a girl, but I do shave my legs and....



oh.

AnthonyG

At 5' 6" your g/f is more likely to fit a standard bike properly than a WSD although it deffinitely is worth finding out what WSD feature she wan't/feels she needs.

While a short top tube is often cited as a WSD feature the truth is that all they do is steepen the seat tube angle (move the seat forward) rather than what they should do which is shorten the front-centre distance (pull the headset back). This leaves the rider with too much weight on their hands/shoulders which is VERY uncomfortable for long rides.

I would reccomend having her fit on a bike assessed for KOPS (knee over pedal spindle) to make sure she can sit far enough back for comfort and then fit a short stem as required.

So what WSD features does she wan't?

Short reach, narrow bars, womens saddle?

See what suits her but be careful that she is not on a bike that places her so far in front of KOPS that she is uncomfortable seeing as comfort for long rides is your goal.

Regards, Anthony

Bontrager

Wow only 1 or 2 ladies in this forum???

Snicklefritz

I have the Ruby Pro and really like the WSD fit as I need something with a short top tube. I'm 5'3" and use a 48cm frame. I bought a Dolce for my sister who is 5'1" and the 48cm also works well for her.

At 5'6" I think your gf will have more options than gals that are a few inches shorter. The big problem I had with most men's frames (even in 48 or 50cm) were that the top tubes were too long. If she has a lon reach then maybe many of those might work for her.

valygrl

I agree w/ the comments from AnthonyG & Johnny99.

There are more ladies, but not all of us are bike fit experts, or pretend to be. I'll pretend, though....

I'm 5'2". My road bike is a Wylder "Queen of the Road" titanium frame, that I had my LBS build up with an Ultegra/DA mix w/Velomax Ascent (700c) wheels. Not entry level. It is a WSD frame. I sure wish the company had not gone out of business, or I would be recommending the heck out of it.

My tour bike is a trek 520, 17", that I had the shop swap out shorter cranks and a shorter stem. It fits great, too.

My twin sister (exact same size as me) rides an Orbea Orca, the men's model, and it fits her great.

Not all women need WSD. But some do - ladies w/long legs can end up with bikes with too long a reach. Sometimes that can be corrected w/ stem length, if it's not too drastic.

It's not a question that can be answered on the internet, it needs to be answered with a professional bike fitting. At 5'6", your g/f should have plenty of choices, that's not that far down the bell curve.

And as for saddles, I think anyone, man or woman, will need to do some experimenting to find one that works for him/her, and i would plan on swapping saddles, whether you buy a women's or a unisex bike.

Oh yeah... entry level blows. Advise her to spend a little more, if she really is committed enough to be riding 75 miles regularly, she's gonna use the heck out of that bike, and it will be worth it.

Bionic Pammy

I'm 5'6" and can't ride WSD because I'm long waisted. I ride a Cannondale and had a different stem put on it so I'm more sprawled out on it. That's just the way I'm comfortable.
I would suggest she test ride them (if possible) for at least 1/2 hour or so outside to see how she's most comfortable. If your LBS won't do that, maybe they can set up a wind trainer she can spin on for a while to see what suits her.
For what it's worth, I was sold a poorly sized road bike 20 years age by a shop that just wanted to get rid of an older model. That was my first road bike and I had no idea how they were sized, so I just trusted them. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and I'd hate to see anyone on a bike that doesn't fit them.
Good luck!
Pam

Bontrager

It's funny that whenever someone asks which bike to buy out of a given 5 they've tried everyone replies "the one that you feel most comfortable on when you test drive them." Yet when it comes to WSD everyone is saying to pretty much ditch WSD when that's the one she felt best on

Personally I'd love if she got a 52 cm men's frame because then I could use it as a beater bike it if she lost interest since that's my size

IchBinDarren

My mom has a Trek Pilot 1.2 WSD and she likes it a lot.

kleng

Giant TCR W

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/...en/1245/29292/

foxymop

I'll agree with what everyone else has set - test rides are the most important.
I'm a 5'8" female and have both a WSD bike and a standard bike. They both are very comfortable for me.
The only WSD feature I've found that makes a huge difference for me is the narrow bars...if she likes a bike that doesn't come in WSD, consider switching the bars to make it more comfortable. Once I rode a WSD bike with the narrower bars, I could never go back to the men's bike without switching the bars.

craign04

i bought my gf a lemond reno last summer. She tried both the WSD and regular and she preferred the regular model. As others have said give some more traditional non WSD bikes a shot as well you never know how it would turn out. My GF was convinced that she wanted the WSD to start with but once she rode the "men's" version she decided that going with the standard model was a no brainer for her. (FWIW she is 5'5")

AnthonyG

I thought that your origonal post was a little ambigious. If she likes the WSD bikes then she likes them although I would assess more carefuly what it is that she specificaly likes. There's a multitude of reasons why one bike feels better than the other and one might be better in one area and onother fits better somewhere else.

To cut through some of the ambiguity I recomend that you assess her for KOPS (knee over pedal spindle). If the WSD bike has her way in front of KOPS then thats a big problem. If the mens model has her closer to KOPS but she needs a shorter stem then I think that that is a better option. Look at whether the crank lengths are different on the different bikes as well.

OK I just had a thought. If she can nominaly fit on your bike then play around with fit on your bike for her and that will give you both a better idea of what you are looking for. Measure where everything is first before moving anything. Paticuarly measure saddle height and how far the nose of the saddle is EDIT: behind the bottom bracket first.

Regards, Anthony

velomedieval

I'm 5'5" and I started out on a stock Lemond that never fit me correctly. Tried Specialized Ruby and a Scott Contessa and couldn't believe the difference in fit. I chose the Contessa and regularly do 50+ mile rides. She should definitely try as many different bikes as she can. Her bodily proportions are going to determine whether or not she will feel better on a WSD. Personally, I'll never have another "men's" road bike after riding a WSD bike.

Jay Gloab

My wife has the Trek 2100 WSD, in (I think) 51 cm. She's 5'7", but has the long legs & short torso proportions that is typical of women. This bike was the first she test rode that she didn't feel stretched out on, and also had the most comfortable saddle for her. It was also the only WSD bike she rode -- in retrospect, it probably would have been good to try some others, but she's happy with the bike, so it's all good.

I would definitely suggest trying a WSD bike or two, but if she's comfortable on a men's frame, then that's cool.

Red Rider

I'm 5'6" and ride a '05 Specialized Dolce Comp. I chose it for a couple of reasons. I am well-proportioned, but still liked that the reach wasn't as long as on standard bikes. The diameter of the handlebars is smaller, the reach to the brifters is shorter, it's a smooth ride and extremely reliable. I've ridden 6 centuries and numerous shorter rides on it and have absolutely no complaint. It's been an excellent bike for me.

I'm currently test-riding a Fuji Supreme RC because I think I want to race (well, time trial, at least). My hubby has the Fuji Team Pro and the frame is the correct size for me but nothing else about it is. The Supreme is a very comfy fit, and it goes fast, too.

I know there a dozens of bikes out there with WSD, so she ought to test-ride as many as she can before she makes a final decision.

desert_tortoise

I just purchased my very first road bike today and I couldn't be happier.

I chose a 51cm Trek 1600.

The fit is great (I am only 5'3"), the components set is all Shimano 105 or Ultegra, and it's plenty light.

I've only ridden about five miles because it was getting dark, but I foresee lots of happy miles put on this bike.

DLBroox

I had a wsd Specialized Hard Rock (mountain bike) and didn't feel any different on it than an older model Giant that was not wsd. Both bikes weighed a ton! I switched to a cross/road ss Bianchi San Jose, 44cm, and absolutley adore it. I am 5'3" with the typical short torso long leg thing going. It couldn't fit me any better. I think I might reach a bit more than some people like, but I never have knee, or back/neck pain, and I can handle the brakes where they are without a problem. I also ride hands on the hoods, on the bars, wherever...

Your wife needs to be comfortable. WSD or whatever. She needs to make sure braking won't be a problem since that's the one thing that is really different about riding road, I think, and you really need to be comfortable reaching for those brakes.

edbikebabe

I've only ever had "standard" rides. I currently have a Cannondale R700, 52cm (I'm 5'6"). I got the stem swapped out, but other than that it fit perfectly. I also have a longer torso, so the reach isn't a problem & I'm very comfortable with the brifters (some WSD use smaller brifters with shorter reach for smaller hands).

If she prefers the WSD go with that. You gotta love it to ride it.

Pedal Wench

I think we all said that there is no one bike that will fit everyone. Even within "men's" frames, there is a difference between what will fit. I know what length top-tube I'm most comfortable on, and if I can get the seatpost where I need it, and the drop down to the bars, I'm okay.

And, why can't you use her WSD bike as a beater bike if she loses interest? It might fit you just fine!