My wife is wanting a new bike very soon. She currently rides a Giant Defy advance (mens) that is a size 47cm and she is 5'4". We are pretty sure the bike is too small. Is a woman specific geometry really worth it? Or is it a marketing ploy? Any of you ladies gone from a Mens bike to a Womans bike and it make a difference? Any recomendations? She's is interested in the Specialized Ruby or Scott CR1 womens.

I have a unisex bike, according to Cervelo, WSD is not a real thing (basically).

Some to look at:

https://websterbicycle.com/product-li...s-bikes-pg159/

My GF is 5'3" and says that going to a WSD frame made all the difference in the world. I guess everyone has individual fit issues...

I ride a women's CAAD10 (48-inch frame). Went with the WSD mainly because of the narrower handlebars (I'm 5'2" and pretty small of bone), and because they had that frame in stock, I sat on this bike and liked how it felt, but next time around I wouldn't shy away from getting a men's bike that fit, and perhaps just swapping out the handlebars. Several of my teammates ride unisex/men's bikes and have no complaints.

My wife rides a S2 with narrower 3T bars. She had a WSD Specialized, but prefers the fit of the S2.

My wife has two bikes with regular frames that I set up to fit her without problem. I would have guessed that a 47cm is too small for 5'4". Maybe a setback seatpost and a longer, higher angle stem would do the trick for not much money.

My GF rides a 47cm WSD Trek Lexa. It was the only frame that fit her and her 5'1" frame properly. She was not opposed to a men's frame but in the end nothing that we found/rode fit.

My Wife switched to a wsd Trek and she said it made a huge difference. Not just because of the frame geometry, but also the gearing, bar width and wsd saddles.

I know the things that I mentioned can be purchased separately, but it is very convenient to just buy the bike that is already specced for a female.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think this weekend we'll start riding different bikes and just take it from there.

My mother is a high-level athlete, and she used to ride a WSD Madone before it was stolen. She opted to replace it with a pair of custom Segal Magnesium frames - one road and one tri bike - but she liked that Madone quite a bit.

FWIW, my wife is 5'3.5" and rides a 51cm Specialized Amira and loves how it fits.

Pretty cool. Not that many magnesium frames around these days.

This. WSD frames typically have shorter top tubes in relation to other measurements.

It's based on the assumption that women tend to have longer legs and shorter torso's than men of a similar height.

The data, however, doesn't confirm that on a broad population basis.

So if you have a short torso in relation to your overall height, a WSD bike may work well (whether you're male or female).

If you're a woman and don't have a comparitively short torso, then a WSD frame may not be the best fit for you.

as said by Munk69, there are some small geometry changes, but a lot of it is about convenience w/ regards to stem length, bar width, and the saddle.

I was even supposed to intern there, but the professionalism threw me off. I wanted basic framebuilding guidance, they wanted me to prep chainstays for 6 months! They have a single welder qualified to do the actual frames, and an intern who's literally been preparing chainstays (turning round tubing to oval with varying diameters) for the past six months until he's ready. Magnesium is tricky to weld, but the bikes are light. My mother's frames are competitive with mid-range carbon frames in terms of weight and stiffness - some of her racing peers recently ordered their own Mg frames.

Cool that Segal is still making bikes. I heard about them a couple years ago when Pinarello was still making the Mg Dogma.

Not to derail this thread (but I will because the OP seems somewhat satisfied), but I've been on magnesium frames for years. Three, with this one being the latest custom build.

The idea of welding a magnesium frame seems funny to me

I went from a Wylder (small mfr, now defunct) WSD frame to a Scott CR1 SL (not WSD) frame. (I'm 5'2" and riding the 47cm frame). I also ride a Trek 520 not-WSD in 17"

I think it depends on the person, whether you really need the short TT for the WSD frames. I also think the taller head tube bikes, "comfort" or "plush" models, tend to mimic that shorter Effective Top Tube with respect to the Head Tube, so those were on my list of bikes to try.

I did a total parts pick myself for the frame, and I knew what size bars, cranks & stem I needed. If you're trying to buy a complete/stock bike, you might have to change less of that stuff if you go WSD.

In the Scott line, the Contessa (Scott WSD) model is sort of in between the Addict and CR1 geometries, and I needed the taller head tube, and they also don't spec it in top of the line groups or carbon (grrrrrr!!!!) so I didn't even consider that one.

I did test ride the Ruby, which was nice but in my size they put too-short-for-me cranks on it, and I also test rode the Addict and the Cervelo R5. I loved the R5 but they just don't make is small enough for me, and they put 650 wheels on the XS RS, which is just a showstopper for me.

Anyway, not sure any of this helps even a little...