Girlfriend Bike?

[wesfoster]

Yeah 5"2 - 5"3 I think she said that she needed a 46cm frame for the boardman, I'm sure 48cm wouldn't be too much of a stretch though.

 

[vickster]

Not with a Triban, which come up small as mentioned. Indeed Boardmans are measured differently (not TT IIRC) so actually you need a smaller one

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/fi/fi_road_sport.html

They measure by seat tube, so the 46cm actually has a TT of 515mm according to the geometry specs...has she sat on one?

 

[ufkacbln]

Get a taller girlfriend and widen the choice?

 

[wesfoster]

No, I had assumed that she had - turns out she hadn't but Halfords must have recommended it. Thanks for that.

 

[ufkacbln]

Sorry, couldn't resist that...

The important thing with all of this is to let her choose, and then support that choice.

 

[BearPear]

Short-ish (5ft 4") Yorkshire lady here. I started out with a Trek wsd 7.2 hybrid and loved it. Upgraded to a Specialized Dolce Sport 48cm and love it too. This time of year you might get lucky with a bargain as the 2015 stock is coming in and the current models are discounted. I think I'm just ok on a 48 and I can see that if I was a little more petite it would be a struggle. I think that, as others have said, the Pendleton will not be a good match with our hilly terrain and there nothing more off-putting than struggling up a hill on a heavy bike.

 

[vickster]

This is worth a look, comes in small sizes

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-3-2013

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/avail.3/11526/55906/#geometry

She'll need an XS I'd think

 

[cyberknight]

How tall is the girlfriend ?
Might be worth considering an large teenage bike , swmbo is 4 foot 7 " and rides a 24 " wheel hybrid comfortably so a good isla bike might be the ticket ?
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath700lrg.html
or
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn29.html

 

[Hill Wimp]

I'm a Spech girl through and through.

I would walk over fire for my Dolce

 

[Leescfc79]

My other half rides a triban 3 48cm and she is 5"1, completed her first 30 miles this morning with me.

 

[jazzkat]

How tall is the girlfriend ?
Might be worth considering an large teenage bike , swmbo is 4 foot 7 " and rides a 24 " wheel hybrid comfortably so a good isla bike might be the ticket ?
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath700lrg.html
or
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn29.html

My wife is just over five foot and we found it difficult to find a bike, in stock, that was small enough. In hindsight we should have looked at islabikes.
She's happy with her cube though.

 

[Apollonius]

If you are definitely going down the serious roadie route, then Dolce is the answer. I have four tiny women in my life (strictly cycling, except for the wife of course) and three of them ride Dolce. The critical issue is the reach. So, so important for the smaller woman. Add to this the need to shim the brake levers for tiny hands (they are keen on being able to stop -all of them) which Shimano offer, then Dolce comes out the winner. As I said before, look for hardly-used ones for about £400. They are out there.

 

[wesfoster]

The four most likely are:

www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-3-2013

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/sale-bikes/road-bikes/specialized-dolce-2013-road-bike.html

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/felt-zw100-anthracite-2014-road-bike.html

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-sport-fi-bike-2014

Get a taller girlfriend and widen the choice?

Hahah that would be so much simpler

Short-ish (5ft 4") Yorkshire lady here. I started out with a Trek wsd 7.2 hybrid and loved it. Upgraded to a Specialized Dolce Sport 48cm and love it too. This time of year you might get lucky with a bargain as the 2015 stock is coming in and the current models are discounted. I think I'm just ok on a 48 and I can see that if I was a little more petite it would be a struggle. I think that, as others have said, the Pendleton will not be a good match with our hilly terrain and there nothing more off-putting than struggling up a hill on a heavy bike.

Yeah based on that I think 48 may be a stretch. And I've been there before, enough to put most off cycling.

I think she'd rather stay 700C, but Isla are a good option actually, didn't think of that.

Dolce seems to be coming out on top, quite easily as well. (Time for some arduous ebay searching - anyone got any other recommends for preowned bikes?)

And thank you for all the help guys.

 

[vickster]

I shall buck the trend and say no Specialized but she needs to decide, not a bunch of Internet weirdos

Look at the Trek Lexa models too#

Pre-owned, Gumtree, Facebook groups, bike radar, a wanted ad in the classifieds on here

Make sure you verify a seller's legitimate ownership of the bike beyond reasonable doubt

 

[wesfoster]

Hahah I know, but experience riders advice is always good

That Trek is rather lovely, though again sizing is an issue.

Yeah I'm currently trawling through slowly - then seeing something but of course only collect in person in the middle of nowhere or slightly off size hahah.