Small Bicycle Touring
 

Hi, I believe this is my first post after lurking on these forums for a very long time, but I need some help and advice. I am currently looking for a light to medium touring bicycle, but I am an extra-small cyclists and am having a really tough time finding these bicycles to test ride.

I am located in SE Michigan. If anyone nearby, or even 4 hours nearby, that has available: Salsa Vaya 50cm, Salsa Fargo xs, or a Surly Long Haul Trucker in an 42cm, and is willing to let a stranger test ride the bicycle, please pm. If anyone has another touring bicycle available in roughly the same sizes/geometry as those three, I would love to test ride those as well.

Thank you for any help :)

Bike Friday NWT?

Aaron :)

Yes, once you let go of the notion that you need a big wheel to have a "touring Bike"

bike fridays bikes are great, and already under riders touring around the world.
and come in 8 sizes , each made to order for the customer.

the geometry of a small wheel bike is different ,but they have that all sorted to work well so leave the geometry to the builder

having just 1 main tube reach is the main size difference, the 2 masts for the bars and seat are made in different lengths to suit the rider's needs

In their shop in Oregon .. they have an 800 number to chat it all up . Bike Friday - Custom folding and travel bicycles hand-crafted in Oregon

I am not opposed to folding bikes, but it's definitely something I'd want to test ride in an appropriate size before purchasing.

Welcome to the Forum:)

I'm currently looking for a touring bike for my 4'11' daughter, and will be following this thread closely.

You are using the right approach, trying to find bikes to test ride.

Good luck.

PS. Bike Fridays are not inexpensive. I was just in their shop the other day, getting a part for a BF trailer that I use for grocery hauling, and looked at several of their models. Their bikes are well built with a good reputation. I promised to come back and test ride one, as soon a my shoulder surgery heals a little more-It's hard to ride any bike one handed. However, A custom built CoMotion, also built in Eugene, Oregon; may be a good option. My wife has a custom built 47 cm CoMotion that is really a nice bike, and fits her perfectly. While it is a touring bike, she uses it for just about everything. They are not inexpensive, but it will fit you perfectly, are a beautiful piece of machinery, and IMO are worth the investment.

Checkout the Surly Troll and the Giant "City Escape"....

they stiffly fold in part to get them into a suitcase , and the other part is knockdown .. not exactly a folding bike , though their Tikit model is.


Eugene Oregon has a regional airport , connected with Seattle or Portland. Samples would be there , to test ride.

but as they are not shipped over the ocean in a container .. from Taipei and such .

the sample is not what you have to accept ,... then the Built to order process would start. that would be shipped to your home .

I cannot stand over the surly troll even on the smallest model, and the reach would have to be heavily compensated. I recall test riding a Giant that was a bit too large for me, but it was a very smooth ride. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find one in my size at local stores.

I understand the process for the Bike Friday, but it is still something I would need to try out before committing and I will not be in or around Oregon for quite a while.

In that case, you might wanna checkout the Jamis mtb Trail XR :D

Go to the Bike Friday website, they have a way to find other owners that will let you test ride. I have one back in the late 90's and used to get calls from people wanting to see it. Wish I had never sold it...

Aaron :)

Do you know where? I can't seem to find the link.

I have been able to locate a Salsa Vaya in my size 3.5hrs away - this will be an interesting weekend trip.

Bike Friday - Custom folding and travel bicycles hand-crafted in Oregon

1-800-777-0258

They will check their database to see if anyone lives near you who has a BF with a frame size that fits you. They will then contact the BF owner to see if s/he will allow you to test ride the bike. They have called me in the past to ask if I'd be willing to let someone in my area test ride my bike.

How tall are you and what is your standoiver clearence? My GF is an even 5'. When I was shopping for a touring bike for her, the only stock touring bike I could find that would fit her was the Surly LHT. I got her the smallest size and it works for her.

I'm 5'1 (barely!) and I have the smallest stock size Trek 520, which I use as a commuter, and on which I've done a few fully-loaded (front and rear panniers) short (3-day) bike camping trips.

As a small person, the most vexing issue for me with any bike (I have a non-touring road bike as well as the Trek) has been my too-tiny hands. It's hard for me to easily/smoothly use STI shifters (I have to strain to "throw" them far enough.) Solved with bar-end shifters. Brakes can be problematic, too; even with shims and other tricks, with my hands on the hoods I can usually only get one full finger and maybe 2/3 of the next on the lever. Solved partially by just dealing with it (it's not like you need monster strength to engage bike brakes) and also by having cross brake levers installed.

Good luck with your search!

I would try REI for the Surly LHT. There are three stores in Detroit area. They are not likely to have one that small on the floor, but they have a reputation for working with bike customers. They will order the size you want and you'll get to ride it before deciding. I think LHT is your best option for small frames. They go way smaller than other manufacturers.

Thank you, will do.

My inseam is roughly 28.25". The Surly LHT has clearance, and the Surly Vaya has .1" more clearance than the LHT. I have the corresponding short arms to go with that inseam.

I'm 5'2", but with the bleh inseam and reach. Don't believe I fit the Trek 520. I currently have STI on my bike too and it is a bother for my small hands; have learned to live with it since I'm usually not on the hoods (slightly dangerous? and not gripping the brakes constantly). I tried SRAM and it was so wonderfully nice. Never tried Campagnolo, though I hear it's great for small hands too. Thanks for the wishes.

I love REI and am a member, but I don't even see the 42cm in their online stock - the smallest they have listed is the 50cm. Will they really order just for test riding/no commitment?

Ditch the idea of 700c wheels and drop bars. Use 26" as a max size and use mtb controls on a trekking bar.

Based on how my GF's bike fits her (her inseam is about 27"), I think you would do fine on the 42cm LHT. Note that the brake levers are made for people with smaller hands. And the stock bike has a long steering tube so you have a lot of flexibility to make it work. Swapping out the stem for a shorter reach is a cheap fix. Here are two photos:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=376100http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=376101

It's easy to check with them. Their web site has a "chat" feature. It may be considered a special order and be subject to a different return policy than their normal one.

Online didn't work - told me to call store. They checked and REI does not even have the 42 or 46cm on special order.

FWIW I am 5'4" with the same inseam as you. I am quite happy on a 52cm Salsa Vaya. I had to go with a short stem to get the fit dialed in. The sizing guides listed by manufacturers are very rough rules of thumb. I'm too far from you for a test ride though.

That's too bad. Do you know of a LBS that has one of those adjustible fitting contraptions that looks sort of like a bike? If so, maybe you could print the geometry specs for the LHT from Surly's web site and have the shop try to replicate them to get a better idea of the fit.

You might want to double check on that. I went through this in January sometime with my girlfriend, she needed the 42cm LHT. At first I was told they couldn't get it, etc. Etc., so I double checked with surly to make sure they had some in stock. Surly is owned by QBP, so nearly every bike shop out there should be able to order it in if they have them in stock.

Surly told me they had plenty of them, so I went back to REI and finally found someone who knew how to do special orders for QBP products. Not sure why the first person I talked to didn't know anything about it.

This was at a Pittsburgh store. 130 dollars in dividends makes REI a solid place to buy a bike, that's for sure. Nice to be a member there sometimes.

Interesting. Will try another store then.

I'm fairly certain I know what my fit is, having done a fairly expensive triathlon fit and talking with the fitter about ideal road fit. The Vaya 52cm would require too many compromises since my reach is short. The Surly at 42cm would still be stretching the reach, but if the steerer is uncut (or short stem and risers, or maybe a moustache handlebar), then I could make it work. At this point, I'm more concerned about how each bike rides, how it feels, etc. And also the cost!

Thanks everyone so far for helping me out. Got phone calls to make!

My wife and I have Bike Friday's she is 5"1 and just loves hers. Call them up they have a toll free number and I believe they have a 30 money back guarantee if it doesn't work. Check with their sales rep. I don't think that you can go wrong with a custom made bike. American made to boot, and I am a Canuck. Love their bikes I am selling my Trek 520. We are off to Europe to do some touring in two weeks.
Al