fourwinds

'm a 5 foot 9 inch woman returning to bicyling after some years and injuries. I'm shopping for a bike for a mix of paved and gravel backroads and aim to slowly build up to multi-hour rides.

Trying to choose between Trek and Specialized. Ridden both and they're nice bikes.

I read with interest the debates on suspension forks. I liked the suspension fork on bumpy, potholed, gravel scattered road in town and more so when I swung through an unpaved gravel parking lot. The hydraulic disc brakes were easier for someone with carpal tunnel even on a dry day. These both add weight, but that's likely neglible compared to mine. Speed is not important to me though being comfortable enough to ride for longer times is.

Anything else I should consider between the 2 bikes feature-wise?

Fit is definitely a challenge for me. The Specialized seems to have a relatively taller bar and shofter TTL so I'm only looking at the women's models. I am in between sizes on the DS / Neko and trying to figure out which one fits best and how to improve upon it.

Trek DS size charts show I'm inbetween men's 19 or 17.5 inch, and should fit Neko 18" frame.

Trek DS 19" 791mm SOH not sure if it was OK bar clearance as I gravitated to the 17.5 after riding it. It had a good seat height relative to handlebars, but 605mm TTL too long with handlebars 1/2-1" too far in front.

Trek DS 17.5" 761 SOH fine, but seat too high, well above handlebars. 590 TTL good with handlebar reach fine.

Neko (Women's) 18" 745mm SOH comfortable clearance, but seat too high. 575mm TTH too short one day and OK another so maybe my body position while riding changed.

>>Confirm DS 19" SOH OK and shorten handlebar stem. Compare to 17.5" again.

Specialized had too tall a SOH or too high a seat with too short a top tube. >> Lengthen stem on Ariel Sport or shorten on ST.

Specialized CrossTrail Sport men's large 813mm SOH way too tall with no clearance, and 604 TTL too long. Rule out!

CrossTrail Sport medium 776mm SOH less than 1/2 inch clearance and had to set seat too high. 587mm TTL short so seat poked me in the butt when I stood on the ground and no room to move forward so I can't do smaller frame for better SOH. We'd lengthed the handlebar stem; the reach felt fine (or at least I didn't notice anymore).

Ariel Sport (women's) large 790mm SOH was OK, but 587mm TTL seemed too short. I noticed narrower handlebars, but don't recall if I preferred them.

Airel Sport ST (StepThrough) large SOH 665mm is short due to slanting bar so clearance fine. 604mm TTL and the seat wasn't touching my butt when I stood on the ground, but the handlebars were too forward and/or wide. Not wild about pastel turquoise.

jase33

My fiance is 5'7" and rides a 16" Neko 2. She says she likes it much better than the Specialized Expedition she had.

I am 6'0" and ride a 17.5" DS4. I shortened the stem by 30mm for my comfort.

IMO, stand over height only matters when its too high. If you clear the top tube its good and you move on to getting other things dialed in. If you like one of those bikes more than the others go talk to that bike shop about getting it fitted and see if they are willing to swap some parts if needed to get you comfortable.