Anyone know of a decent womens bike that is not to expensive? My wife wants to go biking with me but I dont want to use to much on a bike when she probably will get to scared to ride anyways. Any suggestions?
Womens Freeride bike
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Transition Syren is the best women's specific bike. http://www.transitionbikes.com/2007/Syren.cfm
But fit and her height is the key to buying bikes. How tall is she?
Also what kind of skills does she have and where do you plan on riding?
If she is not too technical, a 5 inch travel bike with a 150mm fork will do the trick.
But fit and her height is the key to buying bikes. How tall is she?
Also what kind of skills does she have and where do you plan on riding?
If she is not too technical, a 5 inch travel bike with a 150mm fork will do the trick.
I just built my wife the Syren she is on the small side and does some the the nar nar riding.She loves her Syren, it cost me about 3k to build up after frame ,forks and all other parts,so it was not cheap.But I have even ridin the thing and it is freakin sweet, super plush and solid feeling.
When my girlfriend first got into riding I built her up a beat up giant AC frame. It was cheap, but still worked pretty well. She rode it for a little more than a year before giving it to her brother so he could build it up for his girlfriend.
Other than the Syren, there's not many women specific gravity bikes around, what I've found is that you can built up a long travel bike with lighter stuff on it since at first it's not getting ridden as hard and the girl is way lighter than you. A lighter bike is also easier to get used to throwing around since most girls don't have the upper body strength that guys do.
Other than the Syren, there's not many women specific gravity bikes around, what I've found is that you can built up a long travel bike with lighter stuff on it since at first it's not getting ridden as hard and the girl is way lighter than you. A lighter bike is also easier to get used to throwing around since most girls don't have the upper body strength that guys do.
thanks for the responses, i am familiar with Transition bikes and know they are very good. I was choosing between a Dirtbag and bullit for myself (I now own a bullit)
Thing is with the wife, i really dont know if she will enjoy biking were i go (Mostly rocky ridge in Santa Teresa park) so i dont want to use near 3k on the syren if she ends up only using it for paved trail riding.
She is 5'1 and maybe 110 lbs so she is very small. Specialized has a Myka FSR which would be a nice bigginer bike for her?
Thing is with the wife, i really dont know if she will enjoy biking were i go (Mostly rocky ridge in Santa Teresa park) so i dont want to use near 3k on the syren if she ends up only using it for paved trail riding.
She is 5'1 and maybe 110 lbs so she is very small. Specialized has a Myka FSR which would be a nice bigginer bike for her?
If you aren't even sure she will like mtbing, you should try to find her a bike to borrow or even rent before you make a large investment. Start her somewhere easy but still fun like saratoga gap or something like that. If you scare her off her first time she will never want to ride with you.
I would try to be realistic about what kind of bike to get her.
If she hasn't ridden at all, getting her a freeride bike is a bad choice. It is a heavy, slack bike which handles poorly on flat and easy terrain and is a bear to pedal uphill.
More importantly, taking a beginner to ride super-technical trails is a sure way for her to never ride again. She will feel totally intimidate or worse, crash, and then that's it.
The Myka FSR is a great fitting bike for a small woman. And I bet given her weight, she can probably DJ on it too.
I totally agree with this:
Generally speaking, at least for myself and lots of women riders I know, we like to start easy, master the easy stuff, get bored, try something harder, repeat. I've done this process and now I'm doing drops, step ups and jumps I never imagined I'd be doing. Not to say all that XC background has not helped the speed of progress, but nevertheless, women tend to like to increase the difficulty level gradually, so keep that in mind when you take her out.
Also if you decide against a full on DH bike right away, the Cannondale Moto is a nice bike, the size small sits high but the cockpit should work for her, it does for me, just getting on and off is hard. Giant has made a more uphill-worthy Reign, and the Trance X0 is also a sweet bike that comes in an XS size. In general, Giant seems to make the most "short people" friendly bikes.
Good luck!
Rent her a Giant Glory size XS. I am 5'2", I got myself a used (barely) Ironhorse Sunday, size small and it barely fits, and even after racing and riding XC (very technichal XC) for 8 years, getting used to the DH rig took some time. Trail riding and DH riding are VERY different, so if it is chairlift assisted DH / Freeride action that she is wanting to get into, then go right for the bigger bike. I had to unlearn a lot of things that you do on a trail bike that you don't do on a DH bike, and I've met several women this season at the local mountain who were on mountain bikes, literally out for the first time ever on full DH bikes, and with the proper support and encouragement they came back for more--But their friends / husbands did not take them on the hardest trails around....
Generally speaking, at least for myself and lots of women riders I know, we like to start easy, master the easy stuff, get bored, try something harder, repeat. I've done this process and now I'm doing drops, step ups and jumps I never imagined I'd be doing. Not to say all that XC background has not helped the speed of progress, but nevertheless, women tend to like to increase the difficulty level gradually, so keep that in mind when you take her out.
Also if you decide against a full on DH bike right away, the Cannondale Moto is a nice bike, the size small sits high but the cockpit should work for her, it does for me, just getting on and off is hard. Giant has made a more uphill-worthy Reign, and the Trance X0 is also a sweet bike that comes in an XS size. In general, Giant seems to make the most "short people" friendly bikes.
Good luck!
thanks for all the info, i am currently leaning towards a Specialized Safire. She rode it and likes it and deal is if i get her that bike i can get the fox 40 that i have been wanting for my bike... i think that will work for me.
Check out a Giant Cypher!
They are bitchin!
They are bitchin!