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Tiny Down Hill Bike? Suggestion

Ronny Grady

Monkey
Oct 20, 2003
123
0
I posted this in the DH forum, but figured I should get some input from this forum as well.

I ride with my girlfriend most of the time. She is starting to get damn good, really kicking ass and starting to ride way outside the ability of her 13.5" Trek Fuel with the hayes hydros and 2.5" tires I got for her last christmas. She isn't particularly into the jumps and air time, but she is now droping in all the steep shutes and hitting the rock gardens. As you can imagine the bike is holding her back.

She now has the downhill bug, and has been saving up the big $. She wants a dedicated downhill bike, something for her to ride Windrock, hit the Colorado ski slopes, and hopefully make it back to BC this summer. It needs to pedal at least enough to get to the top of the hill. I ride a banshee scream and she needs to try to keep up with me.

This is the catch, she is 5 foot nothin' and weighs 95lbs. What should she get?

Santa Cruz makes good small-size bikes. We have been waiting to hear more about the VP free and are about to pre-order one, but I figured I would get some anonymous-internet ideas. 888 seems way too much, maybe a super t?

We have thought about:

Santa Cruz Bullit- with a super t and maybe even dual 24" wheels? Might work well, they are small and fit her all right.

YETI ASX- not a link bike, the swingarm design is a negative, not offered as small of a size, by a half inch. A single crown might be enough, but won't offer the raked out front end she needs , maybe get one and put a super t on it?

Turner DHR

Foes DHS

Balfa bb7, 2-step HD

Specialized Demo 9, or big hit- too big

banshee (like mine)- too heavy

Rocky Mountains are too big


We have thought about smaller bikes, 5" rigs, but generally the head angles aren't slack enough, and she wants to hang with the big boys with the big travel!

What do you think?
 

Attachments

DHRacer

The Rev
Oct 8, 2001
352
0
here's an intense M1, courtesy of Flick Trix, but I'm assuming quite a bit tinier than you were looking for?




sorry, couldn't resist:D
 

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-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
My wife is 5'2" and I want to get her a better bike as well. That Bullit is looking mighty nice.

14.5in seat tube and more important, a short TOP tube.
That is really the key measurement IMO.
 

Jr_Bullit

I'm sooo teenie weenie!!!
Sep 8, 2001
2,028
0
North of Oz
I'm a little bigger than your darlin, 5'1 and just over 100...I ride a small SC bullit with a 7" boxxer on the front. After riding on a tiny hard tail all fall and winter, I'm debating taking it down to 24" wheels, however, as I can totally toss my Rotec hard tail on 24's around, but my bullit just drops really well. I have an older model bullit...still running a fox vanilla, I use a 300lb spring on the fox, and my boxxers have two light springs in one leg, and a light and a medium in the other leg. I run Rhinolites for rims and was able to cut weight in a few other areas as well. Smaller women have little need for the big heavy duty stuff that 180lb men need...They can get away with breaking less heavy-duty parts...hehe

The Super 8's and the VPP are awesome...though I kinda still prefer my tiny bullit. At my size (and riding capability) there's no need for me to ever have more than 6 or 7" worth of travel. I tried some of the different Foes and really liked the way they feel and respond...though they do also seem heavier than my bullit.

I haven't tried many of the others, I did try a small Orange once and was really impressed with it (heck...I think I'm just partial to single pivot points).

Good luck though! Weight and comfort are harder to fit on a smaller person. I think you'd be good getting her on a bullit. :D
 

SpeshalEdd

Chimp
Nov 28, 2003
1
0
maine
I sometimes find myself checking out this forum lol, i dont know why, probably curiousity..but anyways i think a smaller BB7 would be a nice pick since of its standover height, maybe a turner DHR for its standover hight as well. A boxxer for a fork would be nice since its light and would probably be just right considering your GFs wieght. id probably recommend a fox since they seem to be alittle softer and plusher than progressives (i know you can set them up as soft as you want but all of that adjusting is a pain in the a$$ IMO, thats why i bought and avalanche so i didnt have to deal with it) IMO thatd be a pretty nice set up and i think itd be a comfortable ride for sure.
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
The hottest setup ive seen is an intense tazer front end with a M-1 swingarm. You end up with a ~7" bike that will fit a really short person. Spendy though.
 

tmx

aka chromegoddess
Mar 16, 2003
1,683
2
Portland
this thread is ancient, but i have concluded it is my moral obligation to speak up about it....

the brooklyn mini-link could not be more perfect for the application in question. i know of one woman who has had hers for over two years. seen her at plattekill. she's a shorty too.
 

Sir_Crackien

Turbo Monkey
Feb 7, 2004
2,051
0
alex. va. usa.
i would say the small sc bullit or vpp free with a boxxer up front. the reason i say the boxxer is that i work really well and is relativaly light under 7 lbs. that is the setup i would go for.

by the way forget the 24" wheel because the do not roll right.
 
For what it is worth, my wife is 4'11" and I have spent many sleepless nights trying to find her a good freeride bike. I was fortunate enough to find a used xs quasi moto that fit her well that came with an additional custom seat tower for when we go downhilling at Whistler. Generally speaking, Titus frames run small with really good stand over height and good top tube length. In addition, if you have the money, Titus will make a custom frame for your favorite riding partner.
 

tammy

spyderzmom
Oct 10, 2001
226
0
lost
Originally posted by Gfreak
For what it is worth, my wife is 4'11" and I have spent many sleepless nights trying to find her a good freeride bike. I was fortunate enough to find a used xs quasi moto that fit her well that came with an additional custom seat tower for when we go downhilling at Whistler. Generally speaking, Titus frames run small with really good stand over height and good top tube length. In addition, if you have the money, Titus will make a custom frame for your favorite riding partner.
Hey! That was my former bike!!! I'm really glad to hear it's working out well for your wife and that she's having fun on it. I had some great times on that bike, and hope she is, too! :)
 

tammy

spyderzmom
Oct 10, 2001
226
0
lost
Originally posted by Gfreak
Holy cow!! Hello Tammy, How have you been! My wife loves her bike. Tell steve hello for me.
We've been great - trying to get out and ride as much as Mother Nature will let us! I'm so happy your wife is enjoying her bike, and I hope things are going well for you all! :D
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
I think you are on a good track with the yeti AS-X. It has 6" in the rear and can run any fork. I would run a Sherman breakout plus 7" that will slack the bike out and keep it really light(for DH). Plus with SPV you can set the fork up really sensitive to small stuff (great for light weight riders) Dependiong on the shock length you could run a SPV 4-way rear air shock. I would not recommend a super T it is way too much fork for her. The 888R is lighter and can be made 7". If you are set on getting a marzocchi fork, get a Z150SL and put it on a 6" bike like the AS-X and run some 2.7 meats for more cush and stability. The only thing about the AS-X would be the standover, in which case you might want a Bullit or something like it.
 

tmx

aka chromegoddess
Mar 16, 2003
1,683
2
Portland
Originally posted by tammy
Yep - that would be me (and Psycle-On). :p
so happy to finally 'find' you. been wanting to thank you for making west virginia one of the funnest races ever. what a HOOT!!!!

here's the other pic i mentioned in the PM.
 

tammy

spyderzmom
Oct 10, 2001
226
0
lost
Thanks Goddess! Funny you should say that - I was about to thank YOU for making it one of the funnest races for ME! :p

I hope we can catch up with each other again this year - even though I won't be racing DH, I will certainly come watch, cheer, and take pictures!!!

EDIT: Sorry to hijack your thread, RG. I'm just so happy to have finally caught back up with Chromegoddess. ;) However, in line with your original post, as we had talked about earlier, let me know when you want to get together and let your girlfriend try out my bike. :)
 

Ronny Grady

Monkey
Oct 20, 2003
123
0
Tammy, thanks for the offer to check out your ride, the order has been placed though.

We are picking up my girlfriend's shiny new red Bullit a week from today from Franklin Street Cycles.

Balfa didn't come small enough, and is going out of business. Yeti AS-X has a longer top tube and taller standover height. titus didn't come as small stock. Also having the full seat post adjustability on the bullit was big plus.

It will have an '04 super t, extra light spring on the hscv side an an air assist on the ssv side. 225 lbs spring on the 5th element. We talked about the z150, but she really wanted a big bike with a triple clamp, makes her more confident to run with the big boys. Without the spring in one side it will weigh less than the 888, and is way cheaper. The 888 can't be adjusted to match the 95 lbs rider weight either.

We really fretted over getting dual 24" wheels, but decided on 26". She wants the better rolling attributes of the 26" and Santa Cruz suggests 26".

We are going to ride urban and estes on friday, then hit up Kitsuma on Saturday as we head back west. It will be a good two days for her to break in the new rig.

It should be rad, I will post some action shots when she gets it rolling.