Road Bike Novice! Help!

[biggs682]

Haha thanks all. I can go up to about £1000. I think I'll just go and spend a few hours in the bike shop then. I do consume a lot of cake though...

i would say thats what women do best but i wont !

oops i typed it , no offence meant .

try 2nd route and go cheaper just in case you dont like it , if close to northamptonshire i always have a few bikes you could come and try

 

[Saluki]

Hi, another female cyclist here. Have you mentioned your height at all? I am 5'8" so have a Men's Giant Defy 2 in a Medium size and its great. Women's specific bikes that I was shown seemed to be in gopping pink and pastel colours and were not about to grace my shed or be ridden by me in daylight anytime soon, hence the men's bike option. The small size seems to be fine for one of my lady cycling neighbours and she is around 5'5" (She too is not a fan of the 'shrink it and pink it' option taken by a lot of bike manufacturers).

I would recommend the Giant Defy because I love mine and you will have change from your £1000 to buy shoes, padded shorts, waterproof gloves and a fair bit of cake.

Happy shopping.

 

[vickster]

It was the 2012 'M' Defy 2 that I found way too big - bars too wide, stretch to brakes too far ... weird! But goes to show that height isn't the only determining factor

My Avail is red This year's is a not unpleasant (IMO) mossy green

 

[Vikki]

I'm 5'3" with a long torso and arms.

 

[vickster]

What size 29er do you ride? From what I understand, they have a more stretched out geometry than a standard MTB? Should offer a starting point

I guess your arms and torso are long for your height rather than long per se or you'd be a very odd shape! Do you have narrow shoulders and small hands, if so I would certainly consider WSD?

 

[lulubel]

Long torso and arms suggests a small (or xs) unisex frame to me, at first look. You'll need a longer reach than the "average" woman your height, which is usually - although not always - the main difference between a unisex and WSD frame.

Vickster's comment about shoulders and hands is also relevant, but I'm more in favour of getting a frame that fits well and swapping out other components than using the components to make a badly fitting frame work better.

 

[HLaB]

Hi Vikki. I don't know if this has already been said but drop bars arent essential only better IMO. I started on a flat bar road bike with a club and it was better than some bikes on the hills but fell back on descents (I was having to pedal others were freewheeling) and into headwinds; and on longer rides it was less comfortable on the hands etc (you are restricted on position). Drops give you a more aerodynamic position but for most people riding on the hoods in a more upright position is best akin to a flat bar bike but drop bars are usually narrower so your more aerodynamic you also have the option to occasions to change your position to the drops when facing a strong wind or the flats to be more upright again and this makes for a more comfortable ride.

 

[hobbitonabike]

I bought my first road bike last September and as a women of 5'2" with longer legs than body the fit was important for me and I ended up with a womens specific. I got a Cannondale Synapse 7 and its been fab. The only issue I have is the reach for the brakes. I have little hands and have to stretch to grab the brave levers!!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I didn't spot your reply before posting mine. They forgot to mention making the necessary changes to fit a mans bike for me would be costly!! Back to plan A and look for a WSD for me then....

Also a female here as well and I have not found the necessary changes to the bike costly. I just posted a note in the wanted forum on the off chance and was helped out amazingly well. If you look at what is in the for sale section at the moment, you will see there are plenty of bits if you feel like taking on the challenge yourself which is what I did one Friday afternoon with the help of many CC's and links to videos etc, and I was fine. I will add I have not changed the saddle over on my road bike to a female specific one, to date I have not found the need, I am still on the men's saddle on my mtb which I am tolerating at the moment - only had the bike a week, but do have a female specific saddle on my tourer. All 3 bikes are men's bike. I find I have longer legs, with a shorter reach coming in at 5'5.5"...

My mountain bike is a 15.5" frame - Ideally something like a 16.5" frame would be better, but I have had 17" frames in the past and shortened the stem, the current bike needed a longer seat post that had no off-set. Changes cost £70 - it could have been done much more cheaply online if not using the bike again next day on a Sunday, so I could have done it for around £30 if I was able to wait a couple of days.
My tourer has a shorter stem which was part of the inital cost - buying it included a bike fit & 100 days of swap out on any part to get the fit correct. The sizing on that is specific to the manufacturer so of no use here. Changes cost - nothing
My road bike is a 54cm frame, I have marginally shortened the stem, and fitted narrower bars (by 2cm) nothing more. Changes cost £10. I don't count the cost of the bar tape because it was due to be changed to something more comfortable anyhow.