kingtubby

hi all, i'm trying to help a friend find a new bike. she wants to use it for commuting! i'm trying to give her some advice, but don't know much about women-specific frames, and she's interested in these ... what's the difference here? geometry? thanks for any info, and if anyone has any bike choices, feel free to share

mastershake916

Mixte frames are often marketed as ladies frame.
Basically the frame geometry is different as in the top bar is much lower.
She should go to her local bike shop and see if would want a mixte, or to go with the tradition frame geometry.

JeffS

Trek says their WSD bikes have a shorter top tube than a traditional frame.

magalino

Women-specific bikes--the good ones--have smaller frames, shorter top tubes (to accommodate shorter female torsos and arms), brake levers set closer to the handlebars, narrower handlebars, and shorter cranks.

tokolosh

i don't know your friend's physical build or commuting style or the reasons for her preference, but fwiw: there's nothing particularly jock about me, but when i shopped for a commuter bike in the $400-$700 range this spring people kept bringing out 'girly' bikes, and not one of them felt right to me. i'm just sayin' . . . my impression (shared by a few other women i've discussed it with) was that manufacturers of women's bikes in that range don't seem to take women seriously as cyclists, and trying to commute on a bike that was built with that mindset might be a bigger problem than doing it on a bike that was supposedly 'made for men'.

i got a jamis coda, also fwiw. i'm 5'4" and not all that strong or bike-minded.

MichaelW

The Terry SusanB is a general purpose, lightweight woman's bike ideal for commuting, leisure, fitness and light touring. It uses MTB wheels but with thin road tyres so is well proportioned. The market for used SusanBs is really hot and they hold their value well since this style of bike (ie sensible design) is very rare. Terry have an explaination of what makes a good woman's bike.