Ladies Bike Present- Schwinn

[david1701]

Hi Guys,

Its my sisters Birthday next month and she's bee riding my old mtb about quite a bit which is too big for me let alone her. She used to have a sit up and beg bike back in the day and loved it so I was thinking of getting her something similar its this one from schwinn and is £330 shipped from discount cycles (will do some digging for a better price/see what this years model is).

Does anyone know either the bike or the brand to give me a bit of background, I'm googling for some but its nice to get it from a trusted source

As to the bike I think a 38-34 will just about be ok on the hills and it will be nice not having a front mech and tripple for her to worry about.

Oh and the basket from her old bike is in the shed so I think I might surprise her with that too

 

[david1701]

btw it lists 17" and 19" frames for 5'-5'6" or 5'6"-6' she's 5'6 so should I lean towards the smaller bike that my niece could ride if she wanted to or the bigger bike just because?

bit crap on bike fitting

 

[Baggy]

Don't know anything about the bike, but Schwinn is a respected brand, and it looks really nice! Am not sure about the fitting - if she's got long legs then a 19" might be better, though obviously it would be nice for your niece to have a bike she can ride. Can you have a look at some women's bikes in a shop to get more of an idea?

The Giant Via 2 is more money but the frame looks really nice...

 

[Norm]

The company itself comes up with a

in risk reports (which is good). They've been trading with that name for 8 years and they moved to that address about 15 months ago.

 

[david1701]

the problem with measuring her up is then she'd know it was a bike, not which bike I spose but some surprise would go.

That via is nice, if the budget goes up any I'll think very seriously about it. If it goes down any I'm finding something secondhand and rebuilding it

 

[Baggy]

Rather than measuring her, I meant if you had a look at some ladies bikes you might be able to figure out straight away if a 17" is too small. You can find some nice mixte/step through bikes on ebay but they might need a bit of work.
Lucky sister, anyway - I was lucky enough to have a big brother who sorted out my first proper bike for me and was always around to help with mechanicals etc!

 

[david1701]

well finding a mixte type frame is my backup plan, problem with Cornwall is getting hold of one locally and it makes a massive difference to how sneaky I can be

 

[FatMog]

I have a modern ladies dutch upright bike with a 53cm frame (a bit less than 21") and a (mens) kona hybrid with a 56cm (approx 22") frame, and I'm a 5' 7" female with long legs and a short torso - inside leg of about 32" I suppose.

On an upright ride I'm guessing you won't need to worry about arm reach so it'll be all about the legs. On smaller frames I feel like I've been folded up even if I can adjust the saddle and handlebars to suit me. I was misadvised to buy a 16.5" frame when I started out and it was much too small.

Why not pretend you're buying her some trousers and ask for her inside leg measurement? Or if she has some M&S trousers have a sneaky peak at the label and see if she's short, medium or long!

On the other hand... She is riding a bike that's too big at the mo so might appreciate erring on the smaller side. I know it would spoil the surprise but it might be better to just let her try some out - it's personal choice after all and a lot of money if it's not right, not to mention disappointment on the day and reluctance to admit it's not right, leading to not riding etc etc etc...

There's a reasonable amount of choice around that price point if you stick to derailleur gears - for example
Dawes
and you could probably find a real example in any number of lbs for you to inspect. Good luck!

 

[david1701]

I'll ask mum she'll have more knowledge of leg lengths for trousers ect