TonyS

Hey, last night I was trying to get a road bike for my girlfriend, who is 5'3", and we went to try out a bike we saw on Craigslist that we think was a 44cm, and it was just a little too tall as far as standover height was concerned... her inseam is 28, and she had to be on her tiptoes to clear the top tube on this bike.

And I haven't seen anywhere selling road bikes in less than 44cm... does anyone know of companies that make bikes in 42cm, or are we going to be stuck getting her a mixte frame?

carpediemracing 

Size small Giant aluminum TCRs are 40 cm c-t of top tube. Size small carbon is 4 cm taller. I have one of each and measured them after liking the alum one better. I didn't realize it was 4 cm difference.

Dunno others off hand but that may work. I have a similar inseam, at least if you're talking inches.

cdr

Ramjm_2000

I wouldn't worry too much about the TT, once whe's mounted on the bike it's somewhat irrelevent. That said you should be able to find some frames, like the Orbea Dama series, that have ST lengths in the 40 to 43mm range. Good luck.

AEO

Fujibikes makes some small frames and they are properly designed too.

https://www.fujibikes.com/Kids/Road/Ace650-%281%29.aspx

the thing with road bikes, you don't really need to be able to stand feet flat on the floor while straddling them.
what's important is that the rider is not too stretched out or too cramped and that the saddle height gives them the proper motion range for their legs.


on bike fit: https://www.coloradocyclist.com/bikefit
there are more articles and threads about bike fit if you search.

Alternatively, contact AnthonyG, who is an expert on smaller bikes for smaller riders.

TonyS

Well, she didn't like not being able to, and I had a quick decision to make... and I decided that if it's important to her to be able to stand feet flat on the floor while straddling the top tube, then by God we're going to get her a bike where she can do so, at least until she's developed a taste for road biking.

gsteinb

Giant has a woman's line. I think cannondale does as well.

mike868y

Most of fuji's road bikes come in a 42cm size, which is really small. For example, I ride a Fuji Newest in 42cm size, and I am about 5'3".

dorkypants

Try Felt. Several women in my local club who are around 5'0" bought Felts after trying them at a LBS.

robertkat

I have a friend who is barely over 5 feet. She tried just about everything out there but couldn't get comfy and was very disappointed with the handling. She bit the bullet and went custom and has never been happier. Of course the builder (Seven) was smart enough to use 650 wheels. I think a few manufactures might be using 650 wheels on the smaller "womens" sized bikes, but it's still pretty uncommon. Don't know why.

JoelS

650c wheels is practically a must for a frame that size. Look for a bike made for the smaller wheels.

IKYR

At 5'3" it shouldn't be too hard to find a properly fitting bike...A friend at a little less than 5'3" (5'2.5" or so) has ridden good fitting Lemonds, Cannondales, Giants, and Wilier in the smallest sizes (48/XS) for 700C wheel. Forget about standover and worry about proper saddle position and reach...

wayne

carpediemracing 

I like your approach there for two reasons. First, as someone that had been riding for a while and who has short legs, I still feel extremely uncomfortable if my frame is an "interference fit". It's all fine until the road is sharply angled, there's a drop off, soft surface on one side, etc etc etc, and your foot goes down even an extra inch. Combined with slippery cycling shoes, an instinctive aversion to hurting that area...

Second, you're willing to work with your wife. If she meets another rider (preferably one that is like her, i.e. rides small frame, female) who then says "Oh, don't worry about it", she may not worry about it. But until she decides it's unimportant, it's important.

The other thing you can try, if you can honestly assess yourself as a good captain, is tandeming. The captain is the key. Without a good captain, you have no team. And to be a good captain you have to realize that the weaker, less skilled rider (typically the stoker) is the boss. On a tandem the stoker doesn't really mount/dismount unless the captain is holding the bike upright. Plus you can get very compact stoker-end bikes. Bonus is that you can never drop her. Un-bonus may be also that you can never drop her, but that's where you need to be honest. I have to sacrifice my descending to ride with my wife - she prefers to keep it under 45 mph. Around here, on the tandem, it means braking down pretty much every hill. But it's worth it on the other parts of the ride.

cdr

AnthonyG

Thanks for the recommendation AEO!

Yes I have a bee in my bonnet about fit for smaller riders and to be honest there aren't any really good off the shelf options for a short person particularly if you also have a short inseam.

The Fuji 650c bike that AEO linked to is the best off the shelf option available in my view. It won't be perfect though and she may have trouble test riding it without a long stem fitted but with a long stem I think it will be a decent fit. There is also an older model Trek KDR1000 out there which is similar to the fuji which is a good option too although they are usually in high demand when they come up on the second hand market.

There are a few 700c wheeled bikes available with VERY steeply sloping top tubes which will provide the stand over clearance but I think that these bikes are a very poor fit in many other ways.

Anthony

valygrl

Keep trying, I'm 5'2" and have a couple of 700c wheel bikes that fit me fine. Trek 520 (tour bike) and a Wylder ti bike (discontinued mfr, you won't find it). My identically-sized sister rides an Orbea Orca and a Canondale CAAD 5.

I find effective top tube is the most important dimension, and mine is 52 cm.

marksru16

Standover is a weird thing. I'm 5"5 and have an inseam of about 28.5-29. I ordered a Look 566 and had a very hard time deciding whether to order a S or XS. The small has a standover of 29.6 and the XS 29.2. That's a fairly minor difference, I think. The effective top tube for the S is 52.6 v. 51 for the XS.

I ordered the S and it should arrive today. I plan on taking it to my LBS to have them do a fitting and really am going to rely on them to determine whether this is the right size for me, or whether I should return the S for the XS.

Any advice on what to look for or ask them as they do the fitting to make sure its right? I'm relatively new to road biking, so I don't think taking it out for a 10 mile spin is going to necessarily help me figure it out.

Thanks!

ImprezaDrvr

Wifey started out on a Trek 1000 WSD with 650 wheels and it was too short in the top tube. But it was a good way to start and most new riders would probably prefer the shorter reach.

Now, she's on a Specialized 44 Women's bike now and loves it. It's a Ruby, so it's a bit more aggressive. She's 5'1" and can get feet flat on the ground with both. Unfortunately, I don't know her inseam exactly.

Hot Potato

Specialized sequoia. $800 cheapest and $1300 with 105 components. Might be able to shave off $150 on the 105 model. Specialized also has WSD models.

I got my 11 yo daughter on one last year. SOH on a 44 is 28.15 or something like that.

TonyS

Thanks guys...

Hot Potato, what's the wheel size on the Sequoia in those sizes? Is it 700c? If so and they have a 650c version, that might work... we need a SOH of about 27 to get her flat footed.

Hot Potato

They were 700c. No 650 version that I know of. I guess my sixth grader is a bit tall for her age.

Try this years Dolce. It seems to be similar to the Sequoia. Size 44 is about 27 inches SOH.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...enuItemId=9257

No mention on the website if the smallest frames use 650 wheels.

Hot Potato

There is always the Ruby, same SOH, if you want her on carbon.

JoelS

52 cm TT at 5'2"? You must either have a really long torso, or you're really stretched out. I'm 5'7" and find a 52cm TT to be borderline too long.

AnthonyG

Based on a height of 5' 3" I would nominally suggest that a 700c wheeled bike is OK, not great but OK if thats what you insisted on but in your case the problem is the 28" inseam and the requirement to stand flat footed. 650c wheels are going to be needed to meet this requirement. The Fuji that AEO linked to IS going to have a reach thats too short so you will need a long stem but once a long stem is fitted (flip the stem UP to get some height as well) I think it will come closer than anything else to fitting in a half decent manner.

EDIT: Also if trying a small bike like this scoot the saddle BACK as far as it will go on the seatpost to begin with. This will stretch it out a fraction and take some weight off your hands/shoulders. In fact if you go for a bike like this I would find a seatpost with more rearward adjustment (setback seat post).

Anthony

valygrl

I just looked at my bike spreadsheet (shutup), and I mis-remembered that, it's 51.4 on my road bike & 52.0 on my tour bike, which is actually a little too long.

Both bikes have 80mm stems. I don't have a really long torso or really long legs.

Kimmo

+1

CCrew

I dunno about some of this advice. My wife is far from an Amazon @ 4"11" and she fits a 47cm Trek 2.1 WSD just fine. I'm sure the sloping top tube helps. Only issue at all that she has with the bike is that we can't get the STI's dialed in so that she can shift from the hoods, simply because her hands are so small (size 4 ring finger)

At the OP's woman's 5"4" I think they're looking at the wrong bikes. 42cm is awful small.

Oh, and the wife's 47WSD works just fine with 700's.