A New Bike for the Wife

Craig Holtz writes to us because he wants to get his wife a new bike, what a kind husband he is. He wants our advice on which bike we think would suit her. She is not tall and he wants to get her a bike with either Shimano Ultegra or SRAM Rival components, so we have selected a couple of choices

Question: Love your web site and your newsletters/e-mails. And you ALWAYS respond with great advice. My wife is riding an old (circa 1980's) Cannondale. I want to get her a new road bike. I've read your comments to similar questions about women's bikes, but here is the difference. My wife is 4'11" tall, and so I need to get a road bike that will fit her properly. It seems like a lot of women's bikes are ether too long at the top tube (such that she's stretching too much) or the handlebar stem is too large. I want her to have at least Ultegra or SRAM Rival components. What bikes do you recommend?
Thanks again for all of your assistance, and keep up the great work. I truly look forward to your weekly e-mails.
Craig.

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the nice words about the web site, we do try!

First your choice of components is very good as Shimano Ultegra is one of the best, but seeing as your wife is small it would be good to get her the SRAM as there is a function to bring the brake levers closer to the handle bars for smaller hands. So with this in mind let's run through what we like and what might fit the bill for Mrs. Holtz.

Your wife's Cannondale is old now and it definitely needs replacing, you don't say which size frame she has, but I guess it must be the smallest one. You must look at Women Specific bikes and the best seem to come from Trek and Specialized. The other option is to have a frame made to her dimensions, this could be in alloy or titanium and there are a few frame builders that can do this, you will find them on the internet.

Trek makes eight different Women's Specific bikes, the best being the Madone 6.5 WSD, it is made with OCLV Red carbon and has Shimano Dura-Ace equipment, and it's the top of the line. If you don't want to go that far then the Madone 4.7 has Shimano Ultegra with either compact or triple chain set. The 2.3 could be the best for her as it is a mix of Shimano Ultegra and 105 and is available in a very small size. The XS 43cm frame should be small enough for her and the effective top tube is only 18.9 inches long, that should suit her dimensions, but this size is only available in the 2.3 WSD with Ultegra, the Pilot and the 1.2 are small, but the equipment would not be good enough.

From Specialized we have the D4W range, which are Specialized Women's Specific bikes. The Ruby Pro is based on a triple monocoque carbon frame with a compact design and Zertz inserts. The equipment is a mix of Shimano Ultegra and the top Dura-Ace with FSA carbon compact chain set, the wheels are Roval Fusee. One step down is the Ruby Expert, the carbon frame is the same as the Pro, and the difference is that it is all Shimano Ultegra equipment with FSA Compact carbon cranks and Shimano wheels. These bikes are what you are looking for, the geometries of the small frame (44 cm) should be adequate for your wife, you need to get the tape measure out and run it over her existing bike.

Any of these bikes should suit your wife, as an extra present you could have her measured up for a correct fitting bike. Many bike shops now do a Bite Fit service which tells you all the dimensions you should be riding, crank lengths, stem lengths, handle bar set up etc.

We had a very good look for a bike with SRAM equipment, there must be some manufacturers who have put together a woman's specific bike with SRAM, you can buy Ruby frame and have it built up with the equipment of your choice. The SRAM is good, but it would be cheaper to buy a complete bike, frame and components and that doesn't seem possible at the moment with these bikes and SRAM.

We hope this helps with your decision, both ranges are woman specific and should give a comfortable ride for Mrs. Holtz, check out the web sites, look at the frame geometries or get a full body measurement done and you will find the correct fitting bike for your wife. Please let us know how you get on and if you find what you are looking for. Good luck to Mr. and Mrs. Holtz.

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