Womens Specific Bikes

Geri 22

Hi all,
I've gotten into cycling over the last year and a bit and I'd like to upgrade from my current womens specific Trek 1000. It would mainly be for club spins, a few TT's and a small bit of racing. I'm hoping to get a carbon bike with a minimum of 105 on it.
Now for the questions
Do womens specific bikes make much of a difference or would a small mans bike be just as good? Most of the good value deals online (Focus, Planet X etc.) don't seem to have womens bikes.
Can anybody recommend an appropriate womens specific bike for me? I'm going to buy it on the bike to work scheme so it would have to be a complete bike rather than just a frame. My budget is around €1500.
Thanks,
Geri

Caroline_ie

Hi Geri
I also started with a Trek1000, mine was a men bike, the smallest one size 43. You don't necessarly needs a women's bike, I know a good few female cyclist and most of them cycle men's bike and change the saddle. When I switched to carbon alsmost 2 yeats ago I went to for Specialised Ruby Pro, because ... it looked nice.

If you're looking for a 105, then you might like this Felt .

But really, if you are tall eniugh for a mens bike, just got for a men bikes. The Focus Cayo 105 is cheaper and it looks really nice. Some of the guys on here have it. I rekon you can get a sz XS if you are 156cm S if you are 165cm.

Geri 22

Hi Caroline,

Thanks for the info. I'm just starting to have a look at whats out there and its so difficult to decide!!!

How do you find the specialized Ruby? I had a small spin on female Specfic Specialized bike at the weekend and found it really nice but I was in a very upright position which might not be great for racing etc.

thanks again,

Geri

blorg

Women's bikes have a slightly different geometry to account for the tendency for women to have longer legs and shorter torsos compared to men... As Caroline says though you can have an amount of control over this through seatpost and stem adjustment, particularly with a compact frame.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

Women's bikes have a slightly different geometry to account for the tendency for women to have longer legs and shorter torsos compared to men...

I read for a given leg length, women are shorter on average, however, their torsos are almost exactly the same size, but their arms are shorter.

I guess this means women must have relatively small heads.

In any case, I'd agree with the conventional wisdom that women tend to have more reach issues than men.

Caroline_ie

Geri 22 wrote: »

How do you find the specialized Ruby? I had a small spin on female Specfic Specialized bike at the weekend and found it really nice but I was in a very upright position which might not be great for racing etc.

I have the ruby pro and i find great. I don't race very often, but I have used it for racing and TT, I don't win, but I am never last. I am not sure what you mean by ' too upright'. A racer is a racer, if you want to be more aero, you just lower the handle bars raise the saddle. You might not have tried a your size or set up for you.

Geri 22

I made a mistake in my last post. It was a normal Specialized Roubaix that I tried at the weekend. The problem I'd have with it is the geometry is a bit too relaxed or upright. I'm guessing that something like the Specialized Tarmac would be closer to what I'm looking for.

blorg

Likely it would, the Roubaix is meant to be a bit more upright than the Tarmac. While you can adjust how upright a bike is through stem angle, etc. some frames are inherently more so, my Specialized Tricross for example would be quite upright compared to my other bikes.

Caroline_ie

I am not sure you know what you're talking about ( no offence ) - The aero is not just he bike, it's the rider.

The most aero you can get is if you are a man in a TT bike. Women are rarely able to position their bike the same way as men, because they're built diferenlty. If you are looking at Fabian Cancelarra thinking I want to the same set up, then good luck.

If you are in the drops you are more aero. If you a Man in the drops you are even more aero ... If you are a man on a TT bike, a bit more, and if you're cancellara, you win.

blorg

Some frames do have a more relaxed geometry though, on which all else being equal you will be less aero- this is generally due to an extended head tube. The Specialized Roubaix was the highly successful instigator of this trend AFAIK. Trek used to be the Pilot but now they have a "Pro" and a "Performance" (read relaxed) fit on the Madone. 3cm difference on the headtube there. Trek's WSD has a head tube equivalent to their "performance" fit on the men's bikes.