[monchichi8]

So some may know the story....recently my girl and I made the move from Florida to Colorado finally. Unfortunately, on the way, her bike flew off the bike rack and is OFFICIALLY gone. It was a Stinky size Med and a little too big for her. She loved it though and I'm sure if we bought another one (size small, of course) she would be completely happy. She loves downhill. She's about 5'2" and 120 lbs. Is there a bike that may be better suited for a small framed girl?

What does everyone ride?

 

[geargrrl]

So some may know the story....recently my girl and I made the move from Florida to Colorado finally. Unfortunately, on the way, her bike flew off the bike rack and is OFFICIALLY gone. It was a Stinky size Med and a little too big for her. She loved it though and I'm sure if we bought another one (size small, of course) she would be completely happy. She loves downhill. She's about 5'2" and 120 lbs. Is there a bike that may be better suited for a small framed girl?

What does everyone ride?

dang, I hope you had insurance.....

 

[MudGrrl]

I am 5'11".

And I ride a Giant Iguana. Nothing fancy.

 

[zoey]

Her bike flew off the rack?! Geez, that's like my worst nightmare ever. I'm 5'9" and I ride a Santa Cruz Juliana. It's a great XC bike.

 

[stephanie]

So some may know the story....recently my girl and I made the move from Florida to Colorado finally. Unfortunately, on the way, her bike flew off the bike rack and is OFFICIALLY gone. It was a Stinky size Med and a little too big for her. She loved it though and I'm sure if we bought another one (size small, of course) she would be completely happy. She loves downhill. She's about 5'2" and 120 lbs. Is there a bike that may be better suited for a small framed girl?

What does everyone ride?

this is my WORST nightmare (besides tornadoes). :looney:

what sort of riding does your g/f do mostly? trail? xc? dh?

if i had extra $$ laying around, i'd get the intense 6.6 yummmmy!!! or, the intense 5.5 is also good for more of an xc flare...

i personally own a size small intense m3 (i am 5'4" and their smalls are small...perfect for the ladies or prepubescent boys), but that's a dedicated dh bike. i also have a gary fisher hardtail as my xc bike. nothing fancy on that one, though.

 

[monchichi8]

what sort of riding does your g/f do mostly? trail? xc? dh?

She loves downhill. But, just loves to ride in general. I was thinking about getting her a hardtail just to keep her spinning some sort of wheels. But, I'm not so sure how thrilled she is about that idea.

 

[mohshee]

I've had my Specialized ('05 model) stumpjumper FSR for about a year now. It is a great bike for xc, but also helped me through my first DH race and some mountain cross. Not the ideal geometry for that, but it has served me well in many places. For DH, I recently upgraded to a more beefy bike, a Banshee Chaperral, but since I haven't really had it too long, I can't really comment on it.

 

[amydalayna]

I'm not a short girl, so I can't say what I recommend for her size.
I'm about 5'9/5'10ish and I have a Santa Cruz Bullit that I love. Just wish it had lockout on the fork for climbing. My xc bike is a KHS 904r, but I'm going to sell that as soon as I get something burlier - Iron Horse MKIII, Giant VT or Giant Reign.

 

[TBFKAHG]

I 2nd the Intense 6.6. Throw a Fox 36RC2 on there and a e.13 DRS chain guide and you can build up a bike that will work quite well for trail and downhill.
And I can relate to the lost bike. I had an Elsworth Specialist fly off the rack somewhere between Clayton and Silver Srings, NM a couple years back.

 

[allsk8sno]

i got my wife a giant warp, great all around bike, and not too shabby on the sizing, not a DH bike but if your not hitting drops and such it would hold up fine, the frame we have is the older one with 4.5" of travel size small, tt is about 21.25" actuall, alittle smaller than the small stinky, and did i mention the frame is about 2lbs lighter than a stinky??

also cannondale prophet would be a great choice if the have an xs size. for xc there are alot of options but DH gets tricky

i am currently writing a short little writeup about small bikes and the lack of them in the mtb industry, pm me your email and i'll shoot you a draft. any of you other ladies/small riders feel free to pm me aswell, when i ever get it finished i'll post it here and any other forum i can think to post it on.

 

[laura]

I'm 5'8.5'' and have a santa cruz bullit (Medium) that I love. Its big though and sometimes i feel like its too much bike for me. I think I just need to spend more time on it.

 

[bluebug32]

I ride a Kona King Kikapu. I love Kona and I know a lot of shorter women (I'm 5'4"/5'5"ish) who like the feel of other companies, but when they try a Kona, it's perfect. I feel the same way. They've got some great models this year

 

[tru2006]

i'm 5'5" and LOVE my small foes fly for DH. my husband bought it for me for a wedding gift. i also went into the local shop (downhill zone) and tried out a few bikes for fit.

 

[stephanie]

i'm 5'5" and LOVE my small foes fly for DH. my husband bought it for me for a wedding gift. i also went into the local shop (downhill zone) and tried out a few bikes for fit.

wow, you're lucky. small foes seem to be pretty rare (even in socal, where they are based). a friend of mine bought missy giove's old foes (size small) and that's the only one i've ever seen.

i was thinking of getting a foes, called the company, and tried to arrange testing out a small. they didn't even have a small one built up. finally, someone who works there agreed to let me ride their personal bike around the parking lot.

end of the story...i tried to drive to pasadena from san diego, but got caught in the most horrible traffic i've ever seen. i bailed around anaheim and went home. i bought an intense instead, but i used to like riding my boyfriend's old foes mono (it was a medium but too big).

 

[sunnerbeanmtb]

I am 5'5 and I have a diamondback topanga comp. I just converted it to a SS and I have a fox float 80 on it. Its a hard tail, and a small frame. Its perfect for me for downhill and dirt jumping. look into it...its my fav.

 

[DH Diva]

I'm 5'4" and ride a size small Mono and FXR, and a 49cm Bianchi Vigorelli for the road. I'm pretty short so alot of DH bikes didn't come close to fitting me, in their smallest sizes. Foes offers a pretty "small" small though so they fit me perfectly!

 

[TreeSaw]

I am a bit of a shortie at 5'4" and I currently have a small Yeti AS-X for DHing that fits GREAT. I had an Ironhorse SGS DH Pro size small (which is really a 17" frame and that's a medium in most company sizing) it was a little large for me but definitely a confidence builder as I felt like I could ride anything on it. The Yeti is lighter and smaller so I am able to move it around easier and I am loving it!!!!

For XC I have a small Jekyll with a lefty and a Zion 853EBB SingleSpeed. I also have a small K2 Disco Monkey that I am currently hoping to sell to get a road bike.

 

[SuperKat]

I'm 5'7" and I have a medium Santa Cruz VP Free running a 24" rear wheel.
My smaller friend is 5'3" and just picked up a small Santa Cruz Nomad set up for DH with a Sherman Slider and a Fox R. Both 26" wheels. I'm selling a small Intense M1 cheap. It's in the Buy and Sell Forum.