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#1
12-01-2021, 05:00 PM
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Women's Specific Road Bikes
Looking to upgrade my wife's off-the-shelf Trek as she's riding more than I do and deserves something nice for next year. Seems like some of the usual suspects do not actually offer different geometry for women so I'm looking for suggestions before exploring the custom frameset option. We rented a Specialzed Ruby w/Di2 for her this past summer as part of a trip to CA and loved it. I also need to decide on components, frame material (do I just go CF and not think about it or consider Ti), standard road vs. gravel...
Riding is strictly recreational on pavement and she's not hard-core but is religious about getting her miles in daily. 
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#2
12-01-2021, 05:03 PM
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Why do you need to decide on components and frame material? Shouldn't she do that? Or is this supposed to be a surprise? (in which case I'd try to stealthily find out what her preferences are)
__________________
It's not an adventure until something goes wrong. - Yvon C.
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#3
12-01-2021, 05:18 PM
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She has no interest in any of those details other than it's light and fits right. Also, I won't bore you with the history but this cycling passion is a new thing and largely triggered by health issues. Also, partially a surprise subject to firming up a plan such as starting with a fitting session, etc.
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#4
12-01-2021, 05:41 PM
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The fitting session is the place to start. Once you have a grasp on what dimensions will work for your wife, I think you'll find that there will be a lot more than a few non "women's specific" bikes would fit her and you can expand the scope of your search.
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#5
12-01-2021, 05:58 PM
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Quote:
__________________
It's not an adventure until something goes wrong. - Yvon C.
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#6
12-02-2021, 06:29 AM
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Quote:
-Fit -Fit and of course -Fit Start there, either a shop that starts there or a fit place..then armed with that info, a place that can look at that info and match it to a frame or complete bike.
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo
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#7
12-02-2021, 08:24 AM
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After a fit to get measurements as @Oldpotatoe writes, consider Liv, cycling branch of Giant dedicated to women’s bikes. (never shopped there so don’t know how well they do fits)
https://www.liv-cycling.com/us A friend appreciated working with another woman when choosing her bike as compared to experience she had with male salesmen.
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#8
12-02-2021, 08:37 AM
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At one time the industry moved to women specific geometry. If I remember correctly this was based on the belief that women’s bodies are diff than men’s in proportions, so different bike geometries were needed. This was based on a study done by the U.S. Army I believe in the 1050’s.
After a period of time the industry realized that these beliefs were based on false assumptions and there are many overlaps between men and women in terms of body proportions. Since then, most of the industry has moved away from women’s specific geometry. Lennard Zinn did an article on this maybe 6-8 months ago (?) with comments from major brands. My point is, get her measurements then look for the right fit. Focus on the fit, not the “women specific geometry “ aspect.
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#9
12-02-2021, 10:04 AM
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As a custom builder I'm obligated to promote our craft. A good one will do the fitting and then build the frame around her seat/handlebar/pedal relationship. He/she will listen to the explanation of kind of riding your wife will be doing and adjust the geometry to her needs. There is no gender issue involved, it will be designed to just fit her and her requirements.
Another advantage is that the colors can be chosen just to her desire. And a word about steel. Custom builders can choose tubing that isn't as heavy as production manufacturers that have to assume a customer will weigh over 300 pounds. And withstand the effects of automated building equipment. Most professional people can afford a custom bicycle. They just want the convenience of buying it now and paying a bit less. Of course at the moment a lot of bikes are out of stock and will not be available soon. If you pick a good builder you and her will never be sorry. One of the reasons there are fewer women specific bicycles is that companies want to reduce inventories as much as possible. If a woman is shorter than around 5'5", some compromises in the design are necessary so a person's toes don't smack the front wheel when it is turned sharply.
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#10
12-02-2021, 10:28 AM
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#11
12-02-2021, 10:36 AM
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Since you're in Denver, go visit Alchemy. If they don't have a stock frame that works for her, they can do custom.
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#12
12-02-2021, 10:53 AM
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Quote:
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/10/wher...anging-market/ The long and short of it is that better data has shown that the average proportions between the genders isn't very different, and the proportion variations within each gender are much larger than between genders. (In other words, the idea that women "have longer legs and shorter torsos then men" is pure myth). The two major fit issues facing women is that: They are on average smaller than men, and it is difficult to design small frames around 700c wheels; and that even though frame/bicycle are made in a wide range of sizes, components aren't (especially in the area of the sizes of shift/brake levers, cranks and handlebars).
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#13
12-02-2021, 11:26 AM
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Women specific saddles are a thing, I think.
Specialized (makes several) Selle Italia (Diva, I think) I'm sure there are others. FWIW, my sister started on a Calfee carbon around 10 years ago, then vintage steel (my influence!) and is now dead set on a custom titanium roadie. I think it's cool that she's gotten to try all the different materials. I suggest you stick with Di2. Get her a nice pair of SIDIS for the holidays too!
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#14
12-02-2021, 12:44 PM
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#15
12-02-2021, 12:45 PM
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