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I know next to nothing about road bikes, but as designated 'bike guy' of the group I've been asked to help a friend pick a road bike.
She bought a second hand bike for £200 earlier this year and has done a fair bit on it. She's looking to upgrade, and is happy to pre order and wait until next year if required.
She wants to spend £1k, but that doesn't look to get much above entry level these days, so it looks like this needs to be £1.5-2k to get a worthwhile upgrade.
She definitely wants discs, and needs to have women's sizing or an XS (she's 5'1).
At that price point do we look at bottom end carbon, or high end alu?
Second hand market worth looking at?
Ribble's carbon offering suggests she's too short for their smallest. Who else is good at that price point?
A secondhand Giant Defy in XS might be a good buy.
Planet X Pro Carbon comes in XS as well, one of the best value options out there.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXPCDMFOR22/planet-x-pro-carbon-disc-sram-force-22-road-bike
Opinions vary on their customer service, obvs.
At 5' 1" id go for a women bike, even xs men's bikes are mostly 5' 2" to 5' 6" so she'll struggle a bit for size. As you realise stock is the issue. Maybe have a look at Canyon and Liv as they do small bikes pretty well.
Any idea what kind of riding she wants to do? Purely road? Fast/leisurely/touring. Bit of gravel?
Look at the Liv, Genesis, Specialised Diverge and Kinesis.
That's what I ended up looking at for my wife and daughter when they were wanting new bikes in tiny sizes.
Ended up with a Genesis Equilibrium.
I'd go aluminium if want discs as well. Fit is key, go to a shop and sit on a few. Ribble this that or the other may have a few better components but if doesn't fit right?
She definitely wants discs, and needs to have women’s sizing or an XS (she’s 5’1)
Mrs_oab is 5'1" too - she actually could fit on XS or S from Giant/Liv or Trek (the last couple of bike brands she has owned).
I also suggest that she will have small hands - and we have tried drop bar and just couldn't make it work for a small handed person. This was combination of how large an angle to change gear and reaching brakes, even with spacer in. Your friend may make it work, we could not. Now on flat bar converted XS Liv Invite disc.
We have also discovered that both Trek and Liv/Giant only go down to a 165 crank - realistically with short legs at 5'1" we would go for a 150/155mm crank.
Fit is key here, small people can be princess and pea about all these things, more so than longer people.
Fit is key here, small people can be princess and pea about all these things, more so than longer people.
Absolutely - I couldn't believe the struggles to get brake levers right on the current bike.
Her current bike is a Giant XS, she's happy with the fit on that. Drop bars, not sure on crank length.
Preference is definitely to buy from a shop, but trying to get a guage on what's what, especially whilst there's so little stock
Any idea what kind of riding she wants to do? Purely road? Fast/leisurely/touring. Bit of gravel?
Purely road. Leisurely
My better half is 5 foot 2" and has Liv XS road bikes, having been sized up for an XXS originally which proved to be just a bit too small.
Most of the mens XS will be too big for 5 foot 1" I'd say.
Oddly enough, the mens Santa Cruz XS frames have exactly the same geometry as the womens Juliana when she got her MTB - not sure if it is still the case.
Any idea what kind of riding she wants to do? Purely road? Fast/leisurely/touring. Bit of gravel?
Purely road. Leisurely
Then look at "Endurance" bikes. Ribble are good value (e.g. R872 Disc). If she's happy with her Giant then perhaps a better Giant that the one she currently has.
Also have a look at the Decathlon bikes, pretty well rated.
How about titanium?
This bike is a bargain IMO. I've seen it in the shop and it's lovely.
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s223p4629/SABBATH-Silk-Road-Disc-%28One-Off-Limited-Edition%29