One thing I'd say about the shoes is don't go for 510s... as lame as this sounds, they can at times have too much grip making moving your feet around hard, which as a beginner I'd imagine to be a bit annoying. They also don't breath well (at all) and aren't really the most comfortable things around, which could be a bit of a turn off for her. That said, they are the only shoe around that I'd be wearing for downhill!
What to look for in a bike for my newbie wife
- Thread starter T-Rex
- Start date
Mmmm-sik-as
Squid
You can get other Five Tens that are more freeride... eg. Freerider Scribblers... then don't have the padding up the side of the pure Dh shoes they make, and are grippy. I have these and the Karver Women's for downhill, these one are more comfortable for general riding.
If she wants to start with cleats, get pedals that are SPD on one side, and flat on the other. This can help with confidence when starting out, and you can keep pedalling without any problems. Some comfy shoes are the shimano ones below, I have these as well:
If she wants to start with cleats, get pedals that are SPD on one side, and flat on the other. This can help with confidence when starting out, and you can keep pedalling without any problems. Some comfy shoes are the shimano ones below, I have these as well:
Gen and her Peachy Giant
Likes Bikes
Gloves, places to ride, guards
All good advice so far!
My 3 cents' worth:
1. If you're starting out on flats (I wear 5.10s for XC) shin guards are a must! There's nothing more off-putting than a nasty gash on the shin. I also think elbow guards if you're going to a trail with any rocks on it.
2. Full-finger gloves are a good idea - bent and bloody fingernails are also very upsetting. If her hands are really little, Fox Dirtpaw make kid's sizes - so they're cheap!
3. Brake set-up, as mentioned, is super important, make sure they're dialled so they bite as close to the bar without being dangerous as you can get, and small grips.
4. Closer to home than Sparrow Hill (which would be excellent) - Yellowmundee and Appin have excellent cruisy singletrack with only a few technical bits she'd have to get off for. The Oaks might be good - but I haven't ridden it for a few years.
I have a spare WTB SpeedShe if you want to try it.
And you ice dancing?!?!? You MUST post video.
All good advice so far!
My 3 cents' worth:
1. If you're starting out on flats (I wear 5.10s for XC) shin guards are a must! There's nothing more off-putting than a nasty gash on the shin. I also think elbow guards if you're going to a trail with any rocks on it.
2. Full-finger gloves are a good idea - bent and bloody fingernails are also very upsetting. If her hands are really little, Fox Dirtpaw make kid's sizes - so they're cheap!
3. Brake set-up, as mentioned, is super important, make sure they're dialled so they bite as close to the bar without being dangerous as you can get, and small grips.
4. Closer to home than Sparrow Hill (which would be excellent) - Yellowmundee and Appin have excellent cruisy singletrack with only a few technical bits she'd have to get off for. The Oaks might be good - but I haven't ridden it for a few years.
I have a spare WTB SpeedShe if you want to try it.
And you ice dancing?!?!? You MUST post video.
Hi there,
not sure if you are still looking for a bike but here's some info that may be useful. I am similar in height to your wife (a shade over 5 ft 1) and have pretty balanced proportions, ie. leg length vs torso length etc. From my measurements using the competitivecyclist.com website this is the geometry recommendations. I know that everyone is different, but this might be useful as a starting point for getting the right size frame:
XC
-------------------------------------------
Standover Height Range: 27.4 - 28.0 inches
Virtual Top Tube: 20.8 - 21.2 inches
Stem Length: 7.9 - 9.5 cm
BB-Saddle Position: 61.3 - 62.8cm
Saddle-Handlebar: 45.3 - 46.9 cm
All Mountain Fit
-------------------------------------------
Standover Height Range: 27.4 - 28.0 inches
Virtual Top Tube: 20.4 - 20.8 inches
Stem Length: 5.4 - 7.8 cm
BB-Saddle Position: 56.8 - 62.8 cm
Saddle-Handlebar: 43.4 - 45.2 cm
I ride a small 2009 specialized safire and also have a kona blast HT (14" frame) that I started out on, both are a pretty good fit for me.
+1 on the specialized saddles. I have an ariel on my mountain bike and a Jett on my roadie. I am a size 6 and need the 143 size saddle so sit bone width not always related to overall size.
One other thing to look out for is shifters - having ones that you can swap to the other side of your brake levers is great (eg. XT or the newer SLX). With small hands I find it hard to get both brake levers and shifters where you can reach them best. having adjustable reach brake levers and shifters with some adjustment options helps a lot.
I found my knees got banged up quite a bit starting out. I bought some knee pads (661 kyle strait) that fixed the problem and gave me more confidence to try new things. Also running a lower tyre pressure made a world of difference to how often I crashed. I weigh 47kg and run 25psi both front and back (with tubes) and don't get any pinch flats. Go as low as you can get away without pinch flatting, especially on the front.
Enough from me for now
not sure if you are still looking for a bike but here's some info that may be useful. I am similar in height to your wife (a shade over 5 ft 1) and have pretty balanced proportions, ie. leg length vs torso length etc. From my measurements using the competitivecyclist.com website this is the geometry recommendations. I know that everyone is different, but this might be useful as a starting point for getting the right size frame:
XC
-------------------------------------------
Standover Height Range: 27.4 - 28.0 inches
Virtual Top Tube: 20.8 - 21.2 inches
Stem Length: 7.9 - 9.5 cm
BB-Saddle Position: 61.3 - 62.8cm
Saddle-Handlebar: 45.3 - 46.9 cm
All Mountain Fit
-------------------------------------------
Standover Height Range: 27.4 - 28.0 inches
Virtual Top Tube: 20.4 - 20.8 inches
Stem Length: 5.4 - 7.8 cm
BB-Saddle Position: 56.8 - 62.8 cm
Saddle-Handlebar: 43.4 - 45.2 cm
I ride a small 2009 specialized safire and also have a kona blast HT (14" frame) that I started out on, both are a pretty good fit for me.
+1 on the specialized saddles. I have an ariel on my mountain bike and a Jett on my roadie. I am a size 6 and need the 143 size saddle so sit bone width not always related to overall size.
One other thing to look out for is shifters - having ones that you can swap to the other side of your brake levers is great (eg. XT or the newer SLX). With small hands I find it hard to get both brake levers and shifters where you can reach them best. having adjustable reach brake levers and shifters with some adjustment options helps a lot.
I found my knees got banged up quite a bit starting out. I bought some knee pads (661 kyle strait) that fixed the problem and gave me more confidence to try new things. Also running a lower tyre pressure made a world of difference to how often I crashed. I weigh 47kg and run 25psi both front and back (with tubes) and don't get any pinch flats. Go as low as you can get away without pinch flatting, especially on the front.
Enough from me for now
Well, maybe not quite enough
Cranks - don't want to go longer than 170mm for the vertically challenged
Cassette - 11-34 will give a slightly lower granny gear. Chicks often spin faster than the boys and rely on spinning and good gear technique rather than sheer power and slow grinding to get up the hills.
Cranks - don't want to go longer than 170mm for the vertically challenged
Cassette - 11-34 will give a slightly lower granny gear. Chicks often spin faster than the boys and rely on spinning and good gear technique rather than sheer power and slow grinding to get up the hills.
Doggy
Inconceivable!
To save starting another thread, we are in the process of getting a new DH bike for my wife and she is of the vertically challenged shetland peoples as well at only 160cm or so. That said, DH bikes arent exactly a dime a dozen for little legs so we are currently looking at S or XS 09/10 Stinky's. Have any of ye ladies ridden them at all, how did you find them for your size? She currently rides a small Jamis Parker for everything and loves it but we are planning on hitting Canada next year and the Parker wont really cut it me thinks. Other options we have considered have been a XS Glory or something similar but the DH bikes seem to be too long for her to feel comfortable hence the looking more at freeride frames
Hey Doggy,
this shetland person @ 156cm tall rides a small 2010 Bighit 2. It's not too bad size-wize but I would not want to go any longer on the top tube than this. A cm or 2 shorter would have been ideal, but yeah limted options for us shorties. I have only had a few rides on it (as I spent forever waiting for an x-soft spring for the fork) but I wouldn't say it feels long though, just heavy compared to my trail bike. Felt like I had a lot of bike out front to begin with and that I needed to keep my weight a bit more forward and move my weight around more than on the trail bike. Now I am a bit more used to it and going a little faster I don't notice it so much. Having a single crown fork does make it more manouverable than a full on dh bike with a boxxer or the like. I have switched to clipped in pedals too which is helping me feel more in control of the bike over jumps and drops (can lift the bike by pulling my feet up) but that could just be that I am used to riding clipped in...
I don't have any experience with stinky's but I have seen other (smallish) chicks riding norco shores and there is the scott voltage FR that might be worth a look too. Happy shopping!
this shetland person @ 156cm tall rides a small 2010 Bighit 2. It's not too bad size-wize but I would not want to go any longer on the top tube than this. A cm or 2 shorter would have been ideal, but yeah limted options for us shorties. I have only had a few rides on it (as I spent forever waiting for an x-soft spring for the fork
) but I wouldn't say it feels long though, just heavy compared to my trail bike. Felt like I had a lot of bike out front to begin with and that I needed to keep my weight a bit more forward and move my weight around more than on the trail bike. Now I am a bit more used to it and going a little faster I don't notice it so much. Having a single crown fork does make it more manouverable than a full on dh bike with a boxxer or the like. I have switched to clipped in pedals too which is helping me feel more in control of the bike over jumps and drops (can lift the bike by pulling my feet up) but that could just be that I am used to riding clipped in...I don't have any experience with stinky's but I have seen other (smallish) chicks riding norco shores and there is the scott voltage FR that might be worth a look too. Happy shopping!
T-Rex
Template denier
I havent' looked at this thread for a while, sorry for the slow reply. We sold my son's Size Small Specialised SX trail to a girl about your wife's size earlier this year when he outgrew it, and she seems to be going great on it - check out the "Tales of Cypher and Squishy Bike" here in the Girls thread.
The SX is small and light, pedals well and is relatively short compared to a full on race frame, so it's pretty easy to throw around, and to be honest 6 inches is enough travel on most Australian tracks if you are not a top level rider.
Cypher
Likes Dirt
Yep, I'm the proud owner of the "Squishy" bike
The SX Trail II is a good beginner DH bike. I was doing DH on an AC1 (way back 8 years ago) and then on the Cypher. I don't recommend it - unless you are a very smooth, confident rider.
The SX has around 7 inches of travel. A little too much for comfortably riding freeride (where you go up hills and down). But it can do a very gentle incline. Going down, however, is awesome. It is like riding a cloud...or a marshmellow.
I find triple crown forks quite heavy - so the single crown fork was the go.
It was also difficult to find a second hand DH bike in my size - hence purchasing of a 14 year old. I've seen him ride. Sigh. I keep hoping that I can absorb some of the skill from the bike
The SX Trail II is a good beginner DH bike. I was doing DH on an AC1 (way back 8 years ago) and then on the Cypher. I don't recommend it - unless you are a very smooth, confident rider.
The SX has around 7 inches of travel. A little too much for comfortably riding freeride (where you go up hills and down). But it can do a very gentle incline. Going down, however, is awesome. It is like riding a cloud...or a marshmellow.
I find triple crown forks quite heavy - so the single crown fork was the go.
It was also difficult to find a second hand DH bike in my size - hence purchasing of a 14 year old. I've seen him ride. Sigh. I keep hoping that I can absorb some of the skill from the bike