finsfree

I have a friend that is 5' 2" and 132lb. She wants to start biking and needs to know the right size bike to get.

Help me out with this one.

I am thinking a 50cm frame?

urbanknight

There's much more to it than height (and weight isn't important, although I'm shocked she told it to you), but 50cm is probably a good starting point. Make sure she tries it out first.

finsfree

Gotcha!

Velo Gator

I'm 5'5" and ride a 48.

Nelson M

I'm 5'7'' and I ride a 51 or 52 (depending of the geometry) so 50 for a person 5' 2''

A good bike store will be able to tell her the size she needs

eofelis 

I'm 5'2" and the size bike I ride varies by the bike. The size bike I ride is generally in the extra-small range.
I can ride a 42cm Surly Pacer or LHT. My Specialized Ruby is a 44cm. My Gunnar is a custom but was described as a 41cm.
Some are officially measured center-center, some center-top, some center-virtual top tube.

Best if she goes and tries some small bikes out.

trek2.3bike

A 50 will be too tall.

Look at the Treks in the 43 and 47 cm frame size. Their WSD bikes are great for a smaller woman's proportions.

urbanknight

And yet the next 4 responses act as if you didn't post this.

FactVord

I'm 5'7" and I've tried the 5.2 WSD XS 50cm (not knowing it was a WSD) and I have to admit it fit me pretty well if I were to choose a more comfort/relaxed frame geometry. For OP, I'd say 47cm would still be too large for 5'2", but she definitely needs to get a feel for it before making this expensive purchase.

SkyDog75

There are a number of online calculators. Take measurements, plug them into the web site, and they'll return frame size suggestions -- not just seat tube length, but other important measurements like top tube length which some people might argue is even more important than the seat tube length. (Most bike manufacturers list these frame geometry specs on their web page.)

I tried the fit calculator at Competitive Cyclist's web site and its measurements seemed pretty good to me:
https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO

Paul01

I'm 5-6 with short legs and 29.5" inseam, and I ride a 50 cm frame. Because my upper body is long, I ride with a long, 13 cm stem.

djb

my wife is 5'1" and has been test riding a 44cm framed "youth" road bike--this "44cm" is the seattube, the toptube is about 49cm (middle to middle, measuring directly on the toptube) or from middle of seat to headset is 51cm , and it appears to fit her quite well when I ride beside her and see her back position. She has never used a dropbar so feels very much forward and down, but I am sure that it is just being unfamiliar as well as not riding a lot and "toodles" too much, so doesnt distribute her weight between bum, pedals and hands.

tricky thing with all these bloody bike "sizes" is how seat tubes are used still for stating a frame size, where reach is really the most important. Then you get someone like my wife who is not used to dropbars, so having her try something out is not always the best feedback, as she doesnt know proper bike fit anyway, so proper advice is so important. I do feel that some store employees just want to get it out the door, so its tricky.

djb

I agree. See my other recent post.

igknighted

Height is not everything... my better half ride a men's 52cm (and a long one at that... almost a 54cm top tube), and she is 5'2" as well. Fits her just fine, she's got probably 8k miles on it with no issues. There really is no substitute for sitting on a bike and seeing how it fits, but if you can't get to a shop, the next best thing would be to get out the tape measure and go through Competitive Cyclist's fit calculator, as it will take into account much more than just overall height.

djb

and of course flexibility. My wife is not flexible at all, you combine that with not riding much, age and probably like most women-a shorter torso than the equivalent male, a shorter reach of seat to bars will help her quite a bit (throw in minimal seat/bar drop for good measure too)