Newbie bike selection for Female

Jocry

Hey,

My wife is currently looking at getting into the cycling game with the cycle to work scheme.
She is not stuck to a specific company as her place of work is providing the payment directly to her through cheque.

She's been looking at a couple of bikes recently most notably the Giant Avail 2 (http://www.shopgiant-bicycles.co.uk/3177/products/2013-liv-giant-avail-2.aspx#.UT8OaFd9t8E), Specialized Dolce (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/dolce/dolcecompact), Felt ZW95 (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/felt/zw95-2013-womens-road-bike-ec046339), Fuji Finest 1.3c (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=91407).

Her main wish is to get something of good quality which is good value for money. From the list above I would suspect the order of Giant, Felt, Specialized and Fuji is about right? However what I'm wondering, is there any other bikes available out there which this community would recommend? Ive recently gotten a Specialized Allez Sport which I'm happy with and from what I can see an equivalent to it in the womens is the Giant Avail 5. I know the shops will argue that the 3 has Tiagra over Sora but for someone like myself who is a novice, is this really a deal breaker for her regarding cost, should she bite the bullet and spend the extra on Tiagra?

The budget plus accessories is no more than €1000 -> €1200 MAX, preferably closer to €1000. I have also been looking at the possibility of ordering whichever bike online if I can significantly save on cost. I am a fan of the LBS and am acutely aware of the importance they play in cycling and especially for newbies so am torn on this part! Any advise on this predicament is much appreciated, if anyone has any other suggestions on bikes (Lapierre, Cannondale, etc) it would be great.

Thanks

Lumen

How tall?

Jocry

She was in a LBS and I think they spec'd her to a 51cm frame, she's 5'5"

Lumen

Jocry wrote: »

She was in a LBS and I think they spec'd her to a 51cm frame, she's 5'5"

At that height she doesn't need something woman-specific. There are plenty of men riding 51cm frames.

Might broaden the options.

MB Lacey

I'm 5ft 7 and despite trying out a few men's bikes I found the women's bikes felt 'right' straight away, frustrating because they were usually more money, but I went for the comfort and I think I was right to do so.
I'd advise your wife to go to the lbs and try both men's and women's bikes out - just to see what suits her build.

I bought this Scott on the bike to work scheme from a lbs in Dublin in Nov, getting it through the btw knocked €500 off the price, so for €900 I'm very happy with what I got.
I went out for a 72k spin at the wknd and had no pains during or after the cycle, I think that's good going as I'm only new to road bikes (aged 40!) and would expect some settling in niggles - but, nothing, well maybe some tension across my shoulders/neck but I think that's just whilst I get used to cycling a racer.
Sora spec will only make a difference where they put the gear shifters at the top of the hoods, my preference is to have them integrated into the break levers - so maybe that's something to watch for.
Good luck.

Jocry

Thanks for the advice on trying both, I will discuss that with her and see about having a look at mens bikes too. That's a nice Scott alright but unfortunately its over the budget, the figure I mentioned above was before the deduction of the btw percentage so leaving the actual list price max of the bike in or around the €1000 mark. Anything over or under would used for accessories.

QueensGael

The Specialized Dolce is a great entry level bike, it was the first road bike I bought some years ago, and it's still on the road It's a fine bike for commuting and leisure/touring/sportives, I can only sing its praises! But as the other posters said, the right fit is important, so have her try out a few options before deciding.

Jocry

Thanks QueensGael, she tried both Dolce and the Avail in the LBS and preferred the Giant I think. Glad to hear the Specialized is still going

Tar.Aldarion

Don't limit yourself to womens bikes with that framesize. Much larger choice.

Craig06

Have you tried the lapierre women's bikes. I have a men's road bike and its fantastic. Cyclesuperstore do them in tallaght and I think bike hub in howth also sell them.

Jocry

Yeah have seen the Lapierre and was thinking about it myself when I was looking a few months ago. Bike Hub is close by and I know they do them in there alright, only had one on show the last time I was in there.

cdaly_

MB Lacey wrote: »

I'm 5ft 7 and despite trying out a few men's bikes I found the women's bikes felt 'right' straight away, frustrating because they were usually more money, but I went for the comfort and I think I was right to do so.

I wonder was that down to the female-specific saddles on the women's bikes and would swapping saddles before trying have made the difference?

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Don't limit yourself to womens bikes with that framesize. Much larger choice.

moby2101

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

Hi
Have a look at this Boardman in Halfords.
My wife bought the previous version of this, with Sram Rival 2 years ago,...full carbon.
Superb piece of kit, hasn't had an ounce of trouble with it.
It retailed around 1200 then, check out halfords stock, you can avail of 15% discount also with Axa insurance disc.

MB Lacey

cdaly_ wrote: »

I wonder was that down to the female-specific saddles on the women's bikes and would swapping saddles before trying have made the difference?

Not sure, the saddle that came with the scott seemed pretty hard to me, it was more to do with the feel of the reach, where the bars were etc and cycling it outside the bike shop felt right straight away.