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Need help picking a bike for my wife!

darenp

Chimp
Mar 22, 2007
31
0
So my wife has finally decided that she is bored riding XC, and now wants a freeride bike. I was thinking of surprising her for her birthday and getting her a Transition Bottlerocket. If you ladies can think of any other bikes that would fit her please tell. My wife is only 5' tall so that is what limits the amount of bikes that would fit her. So anything helps. Thanks
 

rainbow_smoke

Monkey
Sep 19, 2003
265
0
Bellingham, WA
there is not much out there sadly...i heard a rumor transition was making a ladies specific bike soon!! maybe contact them for details...
one option i thought of was the covert with a 24" rear wheel and 7" fork to get the slacker angles, other than that you could try a stinky 2-4, i am 5'1" and have an older giant warp that actually does a pretty good job. it all depends on what riding will be done, jumps, drops, steeps etc... could dictate more the style of bike
 

luvz2ridez

Monkey
Jul 19, 2006
310
0
Shoreline, WA
I'm 5'4" and own a Bottle Rocket and it is the BEST investment I've ever made! It fits me perfectly and I love the slack head tube. This bike does it all, freeriding, jumps and drops, and it can handle Whistler just fine! Plus, it has a front derailer so it can be pedaled up. It is a bit on the heavy side though, might want to look into an air fork (I have the Marzocchi 66RC2X, which is not light...), and I also have a coil over shock. Good luck! And if your wife would like some other freeride girls as company sometime, there's a growing number of us, and I always love new people to ride with.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Awesome! I'm 5'4" tall and I ride a Yeti AS-X for FR & DH. It fits me really well. I have another friend that is only about 5'1" and she used to ride a small Santa Cruz Super 8 with 24" wheels and then went to the AS-X too. I 've heard nothing but good things about the Transitions bikes too so I am sure that she would be happy with that as well. Any chance that she can ride a few before making a selection? Everyone has their own ride preferences and I really think trying it out is the best way to find a good fit.

Good luck!
 

dirt_gurl

Chimp
Apr 25, 2007
2
0
I'm 5'4" and own a Bottle Rocket and it is the BEST investment I've ever made! It fits me perfectly and I love the slack head tube. This bike does it all, freeriding, jumps and drops, and it can handle Whistler just fine!
YAY, finally a girl who can help with BR advice!

I am currently looking at a few different bikes and the ability to handle Whistler was a big deal. In your opinion of how the bottle rocket works at Whistler, would you say that on certain trails (a-line, whistler dh, upper joyride, Original Sin) the bottle rocket performs well? What trails did you have the most fun and the least fun on the BR and why? It's possible that any concerns I have about the bike are just plain silly :)

A friend of mine has a BR and he seems less than happy with how it rides on steep terrain...but I rather hear from a girl who has taken the BR all over the bike park.

Thanks :D
 

luvz2ridez

Monkey
Jul 19, 2006
310
0
Shoreline, WA
YAY, finally a girl who can help with BR advice!

I am currently looking at a few different bikes and the ability to handle Whistler was a big deal. In your opinion of how the bottle rocket works at Whistler, would you say that on certain trails (a-line, whistler dh, upper joyride, Original Sin) the bottle rocket performs well? What trails did you have the most fun and the least fun on the BR and why? It's possible that any concerns I have about the bike are just plain silly :)

A friend of mine has a BR and he seems less than happy with how it rides on steep terrain...but I rather hear from a girl who has taken the BR all over the bike park.

Thanks :D
Unfortunately, I can't answer these questions for you because I just got the bike in Jan, but I've heard from several people who have had a BR up at Whistler and it's performed supurbly. I was worried about it's performance up there as well, but have been reassured it'll be just fine. I have taken it to the shore and it's been more than enough bike. I'm very happy with my decision.
Check out this vid of Kevin (the owner of Transition bikes) at the Woodlot in BC. In it he does quite a few huge drops and jumps and the bike performs great. http://broadbandsports.com/node/7006.
Also, It performs great on steep terrain. I in fact like because of the extra low top tube I can get waaayyyy back as needed when the seat is down.
I'll be going to Whistler the first week of June, I'll report back then with my results on the performance up there.
 

dirt_gurl

Chimp
Apr 25, 2007
2
0
Unfortunately, I can't answer these questions for you because I just got the bike in Jan, but I've heard from several people who have had a BR up at Whistler and it's performed supurbly. I was worried about it's performance up there as well, but have been reassured it'll be just fine. I have taken it to the shore and it's been more than enough bike. I'm very happy with my decision.
Check out this vid of Kevin (the owner of Transition bikes) at the Woodlot in BC. In it he does quite a few huge drops and jumps and the bike performs great. http://broadbandsports.com/node/7006.
Also, It performs great on steep terrain. I in fact like because of the extra low top tube I can get waaayyyy back as needed when the seat is down.
I'll be going to Whistler the first week of June, I'll report back then with my results on the performance up there.

Sad..I was hoping since you said it handled great at Whistler, you had actually ridden it there. But you have taken it to the shore! So on steep terrain it works great. Super! So the steep techie part connecting upper and lower Pangor aren't unstable on the BR? That section has always gotten me a bit on a bigger bike :( Where abouts on the shore have you taken your bike?

Having extra stand-over is nice! You don't want to scoot that far back though!

First weekend in June? Looks like I'll be there at the same time as you. :D
 

luvz2ridez

Monkey
Jul 19, 2006
310
0
Shoreline, WA
Sad..I was hoping since you said it handled great at Whistler, you had actually ridden it there. But you have taken it to the shore! So on steep terrain it works great. Super! So the steep techie part connecting upper and lower Pangor aren't unstable on the BR? That section has always gotten me a bit on a bigger bike :( Where abouts on the shore have you taken your bike?

Having extra stand-over is nice! You don't want to scoot that far back though!

First weekend in June? Looks like I'll be there at the same time as you. :D
I've taken it to Seymour, down Corkscrew and Ned's. I've only been able to get up there once so far this season! Was supposed to go this weekend too, but once again, the plans fell through. Ugh! That's ok though because we're going to Galbraith instead and I have not had my BR up on Galbraith yet.
You're going to Whistler that weekend too? Neato. I'm going for a Dirt Series class while all my friends go ride :disgust1: , kinda a bummer, but I need to learn better technique and drops mostly.