Ladies Commuting Bike

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maat1976

Active Member
Location
North London
I saw on another post that there is a buying guide on here somewhere, but for the life of me I must be too dense to find it.

Here is my situation.


I have been cycling to King's Cross, training it, then cycling again to work in Cambridge on a Carrera Subway 2 for a year and am tired of it. It's a tank. I bought it to see if I was serious about doing the commute this way.

I'm now ready to upgrade a bit. I am vertically challenged (5'2"), and generally have at least one side bag with me. I'm sick of a heavy bike and I occasionally take a packed dirt path on nice days.

I cannot seem to be able to chose between a road bike and a hybrid. I don't HAVE to take that nice path along the river and could give it up for the lightness of a road bike, but is there that much of difference between a hybrid and a road bike? Is there any real reason to look solely at ladies bikes?

Ideally, I'd like to spend £500-600 or so if possible but can add a bit. I feel overwhelmed by choice in bike and also in where to look for one in London.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Claudia
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Evans pinnacle Stratus 3.0 hybrid falls into this price bracket. I got this for my wife last year. Well equipped, light and quick. Good enough for some rough tracks
 

Reiki_chick

New Member
Location
Bristol
Hi Claudia,

I recently got this hybrid for commuting - and I love it. I find it light and fast and very comfortable. I got a women's specific one because after trying a few different models I realised the geometry/positioning suits me much better. I need to protect my wrists so don't want too much weight coming through my arms. I'd always ridden men's bikes before but since my wrists started playing up I've made the switch and I'm so glad I have. I don't particularly like the step-thru frame design of the women's hybrid, but comfort always wins for me over looks (just check my wardrobe!)

Test ride a few different models and feel what's right for you.

Happy hunting

Rc
 

carolonabike

Senior Member
Location
Boldon
Hi Claudia,

I'm firmly in the road bike fan club unless you're intending to do much off roading. I bought a Trek Lexa SLX in September and I love it. It's more than your target price but this is similar although a slightly lower spec.

I would agree with Reiki chick about a women's specific frame. I was sceptical but it does make a difference. I'm 5'3 and I have the 50cm frame so the next size down would probably be fine for you.
 

leemo

Commuter
Location
London
Id consider keeping your tank for the days you want to go on the dirt path and get a road bike for the days you dont.

Or: I have a specialized sirrus elite which I can heartily recommend. You could call it a flat-barred road bike or a fast hybrid. Comes with 28mm slicks, but you could put something with a bit of tread and it should cope with the dirt path. And its fast one the road upto not having quite an aero position as a road bike. Or a Giant Rapid is a similar type of steed.

Or: consider a CX bike which will cope well with roads and paths.
 

DJ

Formerly known as djtheglove
Decathlon, do some nice rd bikes and hybrids. You can always change the tyres on a rd bike as previously said, but do make sure you can fit a rack as not all of them have the correct fittings for that. Or you could search the internet for rd bikes with female specific geometry, I think specialised still do one and maybe trek?!

Good luck.
 

the snail

Guru
Location
Chippenham
if you want mudguards or a rack to carry stuff, I'd go for a bike with them fitted, It'll be more cost effective than buying seperately
 
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OP
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maat1976

Active Member
Location
North London
Hello all and thanks for your responses.

I am keen to get rid of my current bike as I have very limited storage, and generally once I have something nicer I will never touch it again. I tried to pawn it off on my partner and he won't go near it because of how heavy it is.

The bikes I keep arriving at are the Specialized Vita Elite or Vita Sport

and these three Treks, and the Cannondale Quick 4.

All look like they have clearance for a rack and mudguards (need to check on each). Of course most of the reviews basically all say "love it" and it comes down to components - something I am trying to educate myself on, with limited success.

Thoughts on any of these? Thanks.

Claudia
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
if you want mudguards or a rack to carry stuff, I'd go for a bike with them fitted, It'll be more cost effective than buying seperately

They don't fit mudguards and racks for free so if you compare a £350 bike with them against one without them then the components should be better on the one without them fitted. Also you get to choose what mudguards you fit so you can have SKS ones say rather than an unbranded pair. As long as you know how much the rack and mudguards would cost to buy then you can make a choice whether its worth buying a bike with them already fitted. I've just bought them at the point of sale and got them to fit them to the bike before I picked it up.
 

PeterD

New Member
Location
Oxford
Hi Claudia
Our light weight Italian handmade ladies city bikes maybe of interest. but I'm afraid not as cheap as the Far Eastern imported bikes. If interested please PM me and I'll gladly send you details. Pictures and info on My link


Regards Peter
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
cycle surgery are just up pentonville rise from Kings X . they will be able to advise i would have thought.

or you could go to surrey quays Decathlon and have a look at the really good value bikes there
 
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maat1976

Active Member
Location
North London
Another thought from a bike expert at work...

For the price range, he recommended looking at Chain Reaction's Cube brand.

When I looked at the specs, the components are infinitely better than on the bikes I listed for the same price range. Does anyone have any experience with Cube and or Chain Reaction's customer service around bikes? Clearly they won't service the bike, but I've only bought little bits of kit from them before and haven't bought a big ticket item from them.

Thanks.
Claudia
 
Unlike say Focus + Wiggle, Cube isn't a CRC exclusive brand (I own 2, both from my LFS).

Cube (and others) tend to get slightly higher kit on them but on a "cheaper" slightly heavier frame, whereas say with Giant you get a top notch frame which would be used as well on bikes higher up the scale too (so a good option for a bike if you wanted to upgrade etc etc).


Cannot comment on CRC bike service, both my Cubes came from the shop, only had the cleap Felt from Wiggle and that has the "30 day test ride" on it. I thought CRC did this, but with only a few brands but cannot find any mention...
 

Stingy

New Member
The first answer to my mind is: Brompton

Train : perfect

Light: very

Pannier: either use the front carrier block or rear rack
 
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