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Can anyone give me any advice on which bike to buy please? I am female and currently ride my boyfriends hand me down Specialized Rockhopper, but it's getting a bit old and I'm getting a bit better and riding more so am looking for an upgrade.
I'd class myself as a novice, I've recently done the red route at Llandegla and really liked it, but am looking to progress so I don't want to spend mega bucks, maybe £700 on a second hand one. Ideally I'd like a full suspension bike.
A steer on what makes to look for and maybe model would be great!
Thanks!
What height are you? You may not need WSD so that will give you more choice.
My advice would be not to limit yourself to a women's specific bike as it's not necessarily any better fit for you and you narrow your chance of getting a good deal as there as less about.
You really need to get out and try a few bikes and as CG says not limit yourself to a WSD bike. Daughter has a Trek WSD bike as she was most comfortable on that but wife has a men's frame on her bike as she found that more comfortable. As a male riding a WSD bike they feel all wrongly balanced but that's going to be down to the likely perception that wimmin have longer legs to torso ratio. But that may not translate into what feels comfortable for you to ride.
It really is a case of trying out as many bikes as possible. Either borrow some off female riders, or go on a demo day from a local bike shop.
Both my bikes (a hard tail 'On one inbred' and FS 'Turner Flux') are mens, however I rode a Santa Cruz Juliana WSD for many years and loved it.
I would say, and am prepared to be shouted down, that £700 will not get you a lot FS-wise second-hand.
Are there any parts of your current bike that could be moved across, ie forks, wheels?
Does it have to be FS? You could get a nice steel hardtail built up from second-hand parts for that money. It would end up lighter than a FS.
FWIW all my bikes are mens but, like Bunnyhop, had a Juliana for a while. I still think that the Superlight/Juliana is a nice single pivot FS.
Thanks for the advice guys, thats really helpful.
I'm 5'7 so wouldn't find it hard to get a man's bike probably. I haven't ever ridden a WSD so will try and find one to try out.
There are just so many out there it's easy to get a bit lost! I think I'll just get myself to a few demo days as suggested. Meanwhile I'll plug away on my little Rockhopper!
I have a Trek 6700 hardtail as I wanted to go for a reasonable HT rather than an 'average' FS for the money.
I've had it 2 years and I'm really happy with it. Although it's women-specific, my road bike is a men's model. I have long arms relative to my legs so I have a comparatively long reach.
When I first started biking 5 years ago now I got a Rockhopper and it lasted a few months til I needed something more capable so got a specialised pitch in a medium without trying it. It was too long a frame for me so I got a small heckler older style and it was fun and not too short but it wasnt quite 100% so I went for a newer heckler in medium and got on fine with it. Lost interest in biking mostly cause the dog was too young to come so for a year I wasn't biking and decided to flog it all... You can guess what happened, she got old enough and loves biking so yet again I got a rockhopper thinking it would satisfy me and again I outgrew it... Now this may seem a bit explanation but through all of it they were mens frames, I was convinced I didn't want a women's but always struggled with lower back ache as I have a fairly poor back from working in care. When I outgrew the last rockhopper I looked around for ages deciding what to do, FYI it's impossible to demo day a women's bike as there's not enough call for shops to stock them. I ended taking a chance on the women's lapierre zesty and I have to say it's the best chance I ever took. For me, even though the difference is small, it completely removed my back ache and it's so much fun to ride and so confidence boosting! Defo try out as many as you can but just bear in mind you probably won't be able to properly demo a women's bike. I don't think sitting on one in the shop is the same.
Simone side had a TREK Skye and loves it to bits(yes a WSD). Armed with this, she tried 2 "girlie specific" full suss bikes at a demo weekend and didnt feel happy on either of them.
She tried a bike that was suited for her height and loved it, OH! it was "male". She eventually ended up with a FUEL and is riding the wheels off it, the only alteration has been a ladies saddle 🙂
Hi Beanalean. Don't know if its of any interest but I'm about to sell my wife's Giant Anthem xw frame. It's a size medium and she's 5' 7". One lady owner!!!! E mail in profile.