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My wife is 5ft and has a Specialized Vita hybrid she loves but the tyre clearance is minimal and it doesn’t have disc brakes.
I know everything is in poor supply right now but I’m thinking ahead to summer and wondering what options I can keep an eye out for which come in an XS size. It would need to have pretty low gearing for where we live.
We don’t want another hybrid, drop bars or a 29” hard tail all of which I know are similar to what I’m asking for - but not the same.
I have a Marin 4 Corners which I love but think it might be a bit heavy for her even in a smaller size and it’a drop bars.
Don’t want drop bars as she has very small hands and I’m not sure if she will have the power in her hands to brake confidently on steep downhills - maybe GRX group set levers are ok? But they may be out of budget for a sub £1k bike which really is our limit.
Have a look at the Cube Hyde range, the Alfine 8 versions might not have low enough gearing, the Hyde model has 26x34 lowest gear. They are Cat1 frames so technically road only, depends how rough your gravel is, available in a Mixte style frame too for extra stand over if required. I have the Cube Editor and ride bumpy tracks on it without issue.
My wife has a 2018 Cube SL Road. Technically cat 1 frame but has been on some rough bridleways/gravel forest trails where a HT would have been a better choice. It's a great bike and a lot tougher than you'd expect. They do a XS size
https://www.cube.eu/en/2021/bikes/urban-mobility/fitness/sl-road/cube-sl-road-iridiumnblack-trapeze/
This is weird but I’ve just remembered she has a Specialized Myka that I built for her a while back which she has only ever ridden once. It’s a XS frame rigid alloy 26” MTB and it’s got full XT and light wheels on it.
I’m thinking I’d be better off just finding some gravel tyres for that, wouldn’t I?
It’s got a triple on it and hydraulic discs so would be absolutely fine. Maybe some mudguards added and it would be perfect.
You know you’ve got too many bikes when you have to start building your wife bikes she will never use just to further your obsession. 🤪🤪🤪😀😀😀
My other half is just over 5ft and we went for the smallest size On One Space Chicken and built it up with flat bars.
It happily fits 47mm WTB Horizon tyres on 650b wheels.
At £1200 for the frame set it’s way out of budget unfortunately!!
Mrs_oab is 5'.
We bought her a Liv Invite. Second hand, £215.
It's a lovely little thing. We tried and tried with the drops it came with, but just couldn't get the brakes close enough.
We flat bar converted it, only faff was the difference between road and MTB shifter pulls necessitated new shifters, not the pile I had in the shed already...
It's on 36mm tyres, I think we could get a 38mm on the back and 40mm+ in the front, with guards. Wheels are a touch porky, but it's mainly the hubs. We do more road on ours, so it's stated stayed in Giant Crosscut tyres.
At some point soon it will get a refresh of (likely) full Deore or Microshift with a full 2x touring set up, rather than the 3x road/CX racing setup it currently has.
I'm also just faffing with how to carry some bags on it - she didn't like a borrowed 'waggy tail' seatpack, I'm tempted by minimalist rack and small panniers.
Any how, pics.
Not sure if they do an XS frame, but I've just picked up the Marin DSX 1 flat bar gravel bike - it might be suitable for what you want? 11-51 1X gearing, space for 2.1 tyres and it has good geometry (for what I was looking for - ie an "ATB" - quick enough to ride on the flat but more than capable for gravel riding)
It doesn't feel "big" - I'm 5'8 and have the medium to which I've fitted a pair of "Geoff" bars
At £1200 for the frame set it’s way out of budget unfortunately!!
Wow! That's a heck of a lot more then we paid for the frame, from memory we paid about £700.
@b230ftw - Scwalbe still do lots of 26" tyres e.g. CX Comp or these
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m14b0s120p3011/SCHWALBE-Smart-Sam
Doh! Now you've said it I get it. I've only been up it 5+ times 🤦
both my wife and daughter ride a 26" mtb with 700 wheels. most of the 26 frames have space for a 700x35, and occasionally 700x38 or 40. nice pair of carbon forks sets it off!