Women Specific Road Bike - Advice Please

[Fiona R]

Fabulous thread, just the sort of questions I have been thinking about. Love my hybrid but I am finding I need lower gears (even in Somerset) to avoid the walk of shame. My bike is last year's model of http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-two-2014-womens-hybrid-bike-ec054678 To have another 2-3 lower gears what spec would I be looking for, as Paul says about the Dawes above "The Dawes she has is 27-spd with (I think) 48/38/28 and 11-32 cassette".

Is it worth changing the gearing on the bike I have or better to start again and keep this one for commuting? For longer rides I do have to walk sometimes, husband's 20yr old Dawes road bike has lower gears, 21spd I think but I'm rubbish at the technical jargon!

 

[JohnC60]

Hi, we are from North Cornwall and my wife, 5 feet half inch, has got a Specialized Dolce which is a triple. She was struggling on hills with the standard 12-25 cassette so I put an 11-28 on for her which she finds much better. Bought bike from The Specialized concept Store (Certini) at Saltash. The staff there were very knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[JasonHolder]

Cranky-you need a lower than 28-32 ratio?

 

[Paul Walters]

Hi, we are from North Cornwall and my wife, 5 feet half inch, has got a Specialized Dolce which is a triple. She was struggling on hills with the standard 12-25 cassette so I put an 11-28 on for her which she finds much better. Bought bike from The Specialized concept Store (Certini) at Saltash. The staff there were very knowledgeable and helpful.

Oh.... we have friends in Saltash, and could combine a trip to the Spesh shop with a visit...... I'll google Certini to get their address... thanks....

 

[Paul Walters]

Anyone had a Ribble built up to a woman's spec (ie shorter stem and cranks etc) ?

 

[Fiona R]

Cranky-you need a lower than 28-32 ratio?

Is that what I have with my 16 speed? if so yes on steep hills.

 

[Cyclist33]

Is that what I have with my 16 speed? if so yes on steep hills.

Hmm, you can't get much lower than that!

Lowest gearing is achieved when you're front, pedalling, gear has as few teeth on the cog as poss and as many as possible at the back. On a road setup.you won't get much less than 28 teeth at the front or 32 at the back.

You can get a 26/35 setup with a certain component pick... But I wonder if you have your bike geometry right? May be you're giving yourself too hard a task? I'm not an expert but if your seat's far too low for instance that makes hills much much harder.

 

[Broadside]

I'd sort of had my eye on a Specialized Dolce as they seem to be available with a triple, and I've seen a 2012 model with Shimano 105 groupset on it on ebay (but not in her size). Her Dawes has a mixture of XT/Deore and it's given superb service, so I was hoping on matching that with a road bike with at least Tiagra or 105. Maybe a tall order for the budget though ? An alu frame and carbon forks would be a good start for her, though she's been looking at my Orbea Onix with green eyes......Anyone know about the Felt Ladies ZW85? It's at the very top end of our price range, but she says she likes the look of it, and so she might want to ride it more.....

The Dolan website seems to be jammed at the moment... :-(

My wife has a 2013 Specialized Dolce, she gets on very well with it and finds it comfortable on rides all the way up to 80 miles which is her current max. The carbon fork has a 'Zertz' insert on each side which is a Specialized additional vibration damping system to improve comfort. I think they are good bikes but you might be able to find something a bit lighter - it's not something my wife has ever complained of, maybe just me comparing it to my road bike which is not a fair comparison as I have a Specialized Tarmac. The base level Dolce has 2300 gears I think, if buying again I would probably go for the one with 105 group set.

I just so happen to have a Felt ZW85 in the garage at the moment too - a friend crashed it and snapped the fork which I am sorting out for her so she can use it as a spare bike. She loves the Felt, she was particularly keen on the Microshift shifters - I don't like them myself. The Felt has a mix of components, with some Shimano, some Microshift and other bits and bobs. I don't think the ZW85 is all that widely available, I phoned the distributor up about getting a replacement fork and they spoke about these only being sold in Halfords or Evans as a special, sorry can't remember which. She has moved on to a Cube bike now, miles better than the Felt.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

The CTC Cycle magazine has this month done a review on petite road bikes. You may find it of interest. Hopefully this link should work.
http://issuu.com/jpp01/docs/ctc.issuejune_july2014/68

 

[Sods_Laur]

I used to have a trek wsd, and I loved it until it died sadly after an incident with a car. However I'm not certain how 'wsd' these bikes really are, as I took it apart and bought a replacement frame (rt58 alloy from PX) which appears to be almost exactly the same geometry. Also the cranks were standard length, there's no difference in handlebar width and so on. So although I really loved that bike, it appears you may well be able to find a bike that fits that isn't particularly women specific other than a small frame size.