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Finding female specific FR/DH products.

Joker

Chimp
Jun 9, 2003
17
0
Hi gal's

I've been sitting in the shadows watching this forum for a bit now,some of you ladies are hard core and seem to be acomplished riders. I've been woundering what aspect of FR/DHing you find the most difficult to find parts/clothing for that, feels right. My wife rides tons and I spend alot of time tweaking her bike parts and clothing for her, she's 5'3" and 110lbs. I've had to modify her suspension parts, bars, brake levers, saftey gear etc. just so she feels comfortable on the bike. Now I know she's not unique, I'd like to hear some trials and tirbulation you've all gone through find "things" to fit, other then the frame issue (major issue).
 

seamonkey

Chimp
Jan 10, 2004
24
0
Breck CeeOhh
"I spend alot of time tweaking her bike parts and clothing for her...I've had to modify her suspension parts, bars, brake levers, saftey gear etc. just so she feels comfortable on the bike. " yay!!! you got a brother!!?! oh no wait, i gave up dating wrenches.

chromegoddess posted this site: DANGERGIRLDH.com, looks like their product line will be up soon.

when i bought my first DH bike i went uber-burly on everything, cuz that's what the boys were doing. then i realized that i didn't need most of the DH specific parts. i'm the same size as your lady and we just don't hammer things like the boys. i've gone to a lot of cross country parts where i can, smaller tires, etc and it makes a huge difference in speed and being able to get the bike off the ground. i haven't been breaking things (any more than before)--am i not going big enough?!??:confused:
 

Velocity Girl

whack-a-mole
Sep 12, 2001
1,279
0
Atlanta
I guess I've been pretty lucky that I haven't had many problems.....I still wish I could manhandle my bike like the boys, but that's a whole other topic ;)

I think the hardest thing might be clothing sometimes. And believe it or not, the women's clothing isn't always better than the mens. We're women who ride bicycles.....therefore you would think they might realize that we might just possibly have some bigger muscles in our legs?!?!?! And maybe the hips?!?!? (Well, ok, I just have big hips, but still annoys the hell out of me!) But on the whole, I just wish more stuff came in the color pink :D
 

Joker

Chimp
Jun 9, 2003
17
0
seamonkey

Your right on the money most women don't need big burly FR/DH parts if for no other reason then the weight thing, plus women seem to be smoother and not as agressive as the guys.
My wifes bike is a 2002 4x4 with XC wheels/tires/tube, cranks and bars.


Velocitygirl
As for not being able to man handle a bike......can you handle a man :p ........seriously though just spend a ton of time on a back machine and doing bent over rows and pull ups, upper body strength is key to FR/DH.
 

tmx

aka chromegoddess
Mar 16, 2003
1,683
2
Portland
Originally posted by seamonkey
"i haven't been breaking things (any more than before)--am i not going big enough?!??:confused:
if you're still grinning ear to ear after pooping your pants from fear, i'm pretty sure you're going big enough. probably just alot smoother than the bike crushers.

hehehe. writes off dating wrenches like some people write off dating rock stars.
 

Velocity Girl

whack-a-mole
Sep 12, 2001
1,279
0
Atlanta
Originally posted by Joker
seamonkey

Your right on the money most women don't need big burly FR/DH parts if for no other reason then the weight thing, plus women seem to be smoother and not as agressive as the guys.
My wifes bike is a 2002 4x4 with XC wheels/tires/tube, cranks and bars.


Velocitygirl
As for not being able to man handle a bike......can you handle a man :p ........seriously though just spend a ton of time on a back machine and doing bent over rows and pull ups, upper body strength is key to FR/DH.
Hehe...well I try and keep Freak in line :p And it's gotten easier to handle the bike once I started hitting the gym, but I know I'll never quite the same strength......sometimes we just have to look at the lines just a little differently than the guys is all ;)
 

Joker

Chimp
Jun 9, 2003
17
0
Originally posted by chromegoddess
if you're still grinning ear to ear after pooping your pants from fear, i'm pretty sure you're going big enough. probably just alot smoother than the bike crushers.

hehehe. writes off dating wrenches like some people write off dating rock stars.
True.....so true... it's not the size of the drop but the size of your smile. I remember when I first got into FR/DHing and pushing my limits, wheelie dropping off a pick table made me think twice.
Now when I go out to Vancouver and ride The Shore I look at some of the real big stuff out there and I have a hard time conceiving how to do it, I mean the **** is huge. I do 10-12' drops without thinking twice but some of this stuff just blows my mind.

One thing I've learned over the years and remind myself along with my wife, is to never say......"oh man I'll never be able to do that" once you say that your limiting yourself, whether or not you ever go as big as your dreams is not the point....we all need to believe we could some day.

:D
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
Setting up my gf's bike was a lesson in "thinking outside the box". Mainly with the stem. She is 5'5", but that is short enough to cause minor issues. Long storry short, I run her stem with a negative rise to get the hb to the correct height. I was surprised at the number of "Thats strange, but not my bike so I don't care" type comments that the setup got. I guess brakes levers are another area. Reach/throw/angle set up is very different with smaller hands. I guess its imporatant that most mechanics (whether its you or a shop) are men with bigger hands than the average sized lady, so it can be difficult to fugure out propper fit. Other than that, everything you mentioned.