Originally Posted by
noglider
Lenton, what about a bike with 24" wheels? Back in the mid 80's Terry made bikes with a 700c rear wheel and a 24" front wheel, to shorten the top tube. My ex-wife has one. It fits very well.
An excellent suggestion — thanks!
Also, I am thinking that the whole thing could be worked out as a whole — if you wanted a matching wheel set. But, as you indicated, the Terry build with mismatched wheel works — at least for your ex-partner. Now, taking your suggestion a tad further, a custom frame could use a 24" wheel set, while the transmission could be coordinated with a compact crank set with commensurate cranks lengths ... and a cassette range that would compatible. I suspect that the stays might have to be 135 mm to accommodate a mountain/alpine sort of cassette — but that is just off the top of my head.
Still, fudging a frame that is slightly over her (my wife) size using the smaller front wheel could be an answer — assuming that you could find a front brake with the needed reach.
It may be out of the question, but I'd really like to see a picture of your ex-wife's machine.
Cheers — Lenton/ Lorne