Road Bike for short adult

jen-

I’m looking at getting a fairly basic road bike after years of cycling old Peugeot racers. Just for going about the place, nothing too strenuous. Am a bit confused on sizing. I’m 4 ft 11 and weigh between 10/11 stone ( depending on time of year lol ) would a Junior one be ok to get? All of the ladies ones im looking at, the frame seems a bit big and the cross bars don’t have enough of a drop on them. I’m just looking online at the moment for obvious reasons so it’s hard to tell

531

Fwiw, I ride an XXS road bike which you could try for size. Where are you based?

jen-

531 wrote: »

Fwiw, I ride an XXS road bike which you could try for size. Where are you based?

I’m in Westmeath currently. Can you remember the inches/cms of the bike? Thanks

531

It has a sloping top tube (crossbar) and the seat tube is 44cm.

I am in the southeast and occasionally in Dublin, so awkward especially in C19 times.

You need to note that different bikes and brands have different ways of measuring and different geometries so I would advise trying them out or, once you know what you want, look at geometries on bike brand websites.

ARX

Most manufacturers have tables that map height and inseam to frame size.

For example: https://www.giant-dublin.ie/ie/avail-2 (Click on "What is my size?")

Type 17

As ARX says, any decent manufacturer should have an online guide - Trek's frames go down to 44cm (for most models), which they say will suit from 4'11.1" here's an example - click on Sizing and Fit, upper right.

My partner has an older model Trek road bike, 3 years old I think but sizing seems to be the same as current ones, size 44 and she's just under 5 feet and fits perfectly.

The only real difference between mens and womens models I think is the saddle, if it's a case of being at the mercy of whats in stock in your size.

Type 17

Actually, Trek have dropped specific mens and ladies' models in road bikes - all models just go from 44cm to 60cm and have a wider choice of colours to cater for different tastes.

Handlebar widths are related to frame size, and saddles are mid-width (usually 138mm as standard), rather than 128 for mens (was only suitable for narrow-hipped mediterranean types anyway) and 148mm for women's (which many women found a bit wide).

Stock may well be an issue in all brands at present, although an outlier size like 44cm is more likely to be available, but you might to have to pay a deposit, as retailers may not want to have an unsold 44cm (or equally, a 60/62cm) in stock, as they are relatively slow-selling.