Women Specific Bikes.
 

I'm helping my friend (a women) purchase her first bike.

I've noticed a number of women specific offerings out there - are they really just smaller framed bikes with minor alterations and a different colour scheme?

The reason I ask is that I've found a used 2 year old OCR1 (105's - great shape) for the same price as a new WSD (Sora). In my mind I think the OCR1 is a better deal - but being male, I don't know much about the value of WSD bikes. Are they mostly designed by marketing departments or is there a good rationale for women to purchase these bikes rather than the traditional bike offerings?

Oh .. and fitting. She is 5' 4 1/2" - the OCR1 is a medium. I think it should fit - we'll be looking at it this weekend to assess. The most advice I can offer is that she should be able to confortably stand over the top tube with 1 - 2 inch or so of clearance and the handle bar should be shoulder wide. Is there a simple metric for determining the top tube length?

This being her first bike I'd like to be sure that she'll be happy with it.

Are there any women out there willing to share their experiences?

Thanks in advance!

-R.

They are usualy shorter frames (at the same size) as well as smaller sizes.
Components on smaller sizes are sometimes better dimensioned, eg smaller cranks, narrower bars, short-reach levers. The saddle is usually shaped differently but you can replace these easily enough (with Specialized or Terry)
Some WSDs use 650c size wheels in <size 43 but at 5'4" your friendf will be OK with 700c.

I think a medium Giant is going to be too big for her.

Does she have long legs in proportion to her torso?
If the only thing you know about buying a bike is an inch of standover and wide bars, I'm not sure you'd be the best person to recommend a bike. Maybe take her to a reputable store.

Yep, Giant are compact so you allow an extra couple of inches of standover compared to traditional style bikes. If you size a compact with 1" standover they are way too long unless you are long torso and short legs. See out the geometry chart from Giant and compare the (effective or virtual) top tube length to a correctly sized bike for a 5'4" woman.

Mmmm yeah ... I thought about that too as an option. However I'm not sure that a bike shop would appreciate us showing up with a used bike and asking if it fits. Although she will need a seat and perhaps some shoes...

I suppose we could go try a new OCR1 out prior to seeing the used bike - hardly seems fair to the bike shop though...

-R.

We looked at a new OCR3 WSD (Medium) a week ago at a good bike shop - she took it out for a ride and felt fairly confortable on it. Based on that assumption I set out to see if there is a conventional OCR that could be fitted.

The OCR geomentry chart from Giant's website (thanks for the tip btw - http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/...ad/1243/29268/ ).

I compared the Medium and W Medium geometries. The WSD seat tube angle is 0.5 degrees higher and the base is 5 cm shorter. Subsequently, the WSD has a shorter TT (1 cm). The HT is longer (0.5 cm).

The frames seem rather close to me but I must confess I'm no expert. I can't help but wonder if the differences are substantially mitigated when the seatpost, forward/aft seat adjustment and stem length and height get properly fitted.

Can a medium OCR be fitted knowing that a WSD medium OCR is the proper size WSD frame? What am I missing here?

-R.

You could show up at the bike shop and buy a bike fit, and they'll tell you the important dimensions. Then you can take your tape measure used-bike-shopping.

Standover is a lousy way to choose a size, reach (Effective Top Tube + stem) is much more, um, effective.

Many bike shops also offer fittings. you could ask to pay for a "mini fit" session of 20 minutes or so. Bike shops tend to make their money from these by selling you whatever parts you might need to buy to get the bike to fit (i.e. stems, saddles, handlebars, etc.) No need to feel bad at all. SOme shops even offer fittings for free because of this.

Now there's an idea.. :)

Thanks

-R.