What do YOU ride?

[thanita]

They say that the way a bike "fits" is the most important consideration in making a purchase. Also, that you should try out as many as possible for comparision's sake. In reality, this is harder than it sounds - what shops sell which bikes? How much time do you have? Are the sizes you need even stocked? Should you go for a "woman's" version or what?!

So, those of you who have successfully (more or less) made a purchase, help ease the pain for first time shoppers - tell us what you ended up buying and why.
;)

[Divscotty]

I tried several women's bikes the cockpit didn't seem right for me on those bikes. One was even ordered in and it was so small I couldn't pedal it properly.

I purchased a medium Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ Disk.

Put a shorter stem on it, with a Selle Italiia Gel flow saddle & nicer grips. Through Warrenty GF upgraded the Bottom Bracket, Crank, Cassette, F & R Derailers and 4 chains. GF nor my LBS never gave me any problem or lip with any warrenty work. The entire original drive train system never worked right until it was entirely replaced.

I have no problems with pedal bob.

The front fork is a Manitou black 80-100 mm travel. It has never given me any trouble. I like the adjustment it's simple to use. However I don't feel much with the preload so I just put it in the middle setting and ignor it.

The crane creek shock has never been touched since I bought it. I test it before a ride for air pressure but it is always at the previous setting.

I really enjoy my bike. I have put approximately 1000 cross country miles in 12 months on it.

I have had it tuned 3 times.

Nearly all the stickers peedled off the bike and the Manitou black fork immedately. The remaining stickers look crappy.

This bike's frame can be a little tight getting it onto a hitch bike rack.

I am happy with the ride but the paint job and the stickers make it look shabby.

It is a tough bike and can give a better technical ride than I can pull out of it.

If I had it to do over again? I would like to buy a bike that I don't have multiple returns to the LBS and have them replace something under warrenty. I believe the bike should have been ridable in rough terrain when it left the floor. LBS says out of all the bikes model sold only 3 had to have this extensive warrenty work but also said they don't know if the other bikes are being ridden as hard as this one.

I believe I will get years of enjoyment with this bike. I would recomend it to someone looking for a bike in this price range for cross country riding if GF has resolved the drive train issues on current models.

[thanita]

Thanks for the info~ seems like the women out there are pretty quiet (except for you, of course ;) _, it's too bad! I know lot's of women have fit questions when buying a new ride, but they don't seem to be on the web . . .
as a frequent contributor, can you think of any issues that might pertain to women riders? I KNOW there are plenty, but it's like pulling teeth here! But we'll keep plugging . . . .
thanks again for the activity,
T

[free spirit]

I find the biggest issue where I live being, finding a LBS that knows how to fit you to a bike. I knew very little about bikes and fit when I first got into this lifestyle. The first mt bike I bought, I just hopped on and it felt good. Then. Though with a few minor changes, shorter stem, cutting the bars back, it felt better. It was a TREK 6000. The second bike I bought, was second hand. It was a TREK 8000. I put my stem and saddle on it and love it. I feel very comfortable on it.

Both of these mt bikes have been put through some hard abuse. Besides the steep learning curve, I started racing the very next season. The guys at the LBS are still impressed with that first bike. It still has all of it's original parts, except cables, break pads and tires. I'm going to spiff it up for my son. It was a good bike to learn on, just a bit heavy.

When buying a road bike, I knew that I would be spending more time sitting in the saddle, so I tried a few more out. I also had a bit more experience and spent more time researching what was in the area.
I had originally set my heart on a Bianchi, but didn't find one that felt good that was in price range. Even tried the women's specific. I'm fairly small, but I guess I stretch out more on the bike or something, because I felt like a giant. I decided to go with a TREK 1000. Other than the fact I should have gotten it 1cm smaller, I love it. I put a shorter stem on it and a good terry dragonfly saddle and am able to do a century with comfort.

Hope this helps some.

[free spirit]

Ooops. Must of been tired last night, my roadie is a TREK1200.

[Divscotty]

Interesting - thanks. I especially found it interesting that you said you were smaller and still the women's bikes were too small. I felt that way myself. I don't know if it's just because I have always ridden men's bikes or what made the feel wrong. I am not a small person so I thought it was just me. I know of another woman that also ordered a woman's specific bike and after riding it refused it as too small.

[thanita]

Yeah, most women's bikes in general have shorter top tubes which definitely makes them feel smaller. I know that women "in general" have shorter arms/torsos but I think this has been over applied to "women's" bikes, maybe because of a marketing need to make them different somehow (other than components) than unisex bikes.

For example, I rode a small juliana for a year, and had to get the medium. I was riding the small with a really long stem and the seat all the way back, which was screwing up the intended geometry (supposedly, you should make fit adjustments with your seat in the middle of the rails and change the stem. If your stem is 1/2 as long as the top tube, though, something is askew). I could probably even ride the large juliana, which seems to be somewhere between the small and med "regular" version. I find it funny to ride a med. anything, as I'm only 5'3" (almost!).

It's true that after getting used to a bike that's too large, a properly fitted one may feel small. But for the most part, "women's" bikes are really for pretty small people, all around. If I were 5'6" or more, I'd probably start looking at the regular rides first. Unless I had a particularly bad case of the "average woman" stunted-torso-and-T rex -arm syndrome, Ha!

T

[free spirit]

That's pretty funny thanita. I am also 'almost' 5'3". The guy I hang out with at the LBS, who also helped me choose my bikes, thinks I am used to stretching out on the larger bikes. Also, my legs may be shorter and my torso longer than the bike industries 'norm'. But yeah, on the WS bike, I felt like I had to put my butt off the end of the seat just to be in the right position. Perhaps the industry should take a few more measurements. ;)

[thanita]

Right on. I'm not sure what norm they're using . . . I have a sneaking suspicion it's based upon wetdreams, not reality, though! Heh.
T

[Divscotty]

I too have interesting geometry issues with my bike. But i'm use to it now I guess.

I have a medium Gary Fisher. I put a shorter stem on it and also have the seat all the way back. When you do the classical measurements for the knee and pedal with a plumb bob. I'm still one inch off where I should be. Maybe it was an inch and a half I don't remember now but it was the largest distance of our group.

I may be wrong but I don't think where your hands are, have a thing to do with where your seat is in relationship to your pedals. I figure I could use a seat post that is set back another inch - that would fix the femur length issue I think. Maybe someday I'll give it a try

Divscotty

[thanita]

The rationale for making adjustments to the cockpit length with the stem rather than moving the seat is that the geometry of most bikes puts your knee in the proper line up when the seat is adjusted to the middle of the rail. Of course, this is general, everyone has a different physique and shifts things around accordingly. So, if you have particularly long legs and a short torso, a longer stem won't do you any good if your legs were already too far forward.

Divscotty - you say you're 1 1/2 inches off - which way? I'm assuming your knee is in front of the pedal. I wonder if you could have gotten a larger bike and put a shorty stem on it (a larger frame would stretch you out all around, and the stubby stem would compensate for a lengthening of the cockpit).

Oh - try longer cranks in addition to a layback seatpost. They make a difference.

But I'm just blabbing, hard to talk when you're not in front of me! Hopefully, someday, somewhere, some bit of my yapping will be helpful to someone. :rolleyes:
T

[Divscotty]

When I finally get to the point when it's time for a new bike. the large frame with the stubby stem might be a very good idea to try. I am learning more and more all the time and I believe my next purchase will be far more informed. My 2nd bike purchase was much better than my first first.

The fussing and the technical aspects of bikes is fun. But when it comes down to the riding I'm having as much fun on my good bike as I did on my old bike. I can just ride farther, am less tired, repair it less, wreck less etc. on my new bike.

Divscotty

[free spirit]

Originally posted by Divscotty

The fussing and the technical aspects of bikes is fun. But when it comes down to the riding I'm having as much fun on my good bike as I did on my old bike. I can just ride farther, am less tired, repair it less, wreck less etc. on my new bike.

Divscotty

Ain't it grand? :D The learning curve was steep the first season. Went clippless and what an amazing transformation.

[Irulan]

I ride a 15" Kona King Kikapu.

Shopping was a nightmare. I dont' like how WSD fits me, and that's mostly what the shops in my area carry in the smaller size range. Or, they don't have smaller frames in anything but WSD. They wanted me to purchase sight unseen and unridden bikes that they thought would work for me. I was fed a lot of BS like "oh, no one make a FS that would fit you". I rode a lot of bikes. and finally bought a very slightly used bike from a female shop owner.

I personally think WSD is great for a very specific range of body types; but for the rest of us we just need to keep trying untul we get it right.

Irulan

[TwoTiredGal]

My first post... so go easy on me. :D I ride a FS 2000 Gary Fisher Joshua F3. I still have my rigid Cannondale M500 from many moons ago and ride it for errands and commuting. Great bike. Anyway, the Joshua is a great bike for me except that it's a little heavy. The only upgrade I have made is to Time ATAC Carbon pedals (which are AWESOME, btw). Size was a huge factor for me since I have pretty long legs and what I think is an average torso. I went in thinking I would check out the women's specific but very quickly realized that at 5'9" riding a WS would be like riding a bmx bike. Whoever wrote in this thread that companies need to take new measurements of the "average" woman was RIGHT ON! Fortunately none of the salesMEN tried to push me to stay with the WS. I ended up choosing the Joshua because the cockpit was right on for my size and the rear suspension had a lockout. I needed the lockout because I hate to bounce at all when climbing but I needed the suspension because I had injured my lower back not long before bike shopping. All in all I made the right choice for myself. Like I said, it's a little heavy so with my next purchase I will definitely take weight more in to consideration.

[Divscotty]

Sounds like your LBS did right by you. I really like my LBS but sometimes they can also peeve me. It seems like the simple stuff they screw up somtimes. Well simple is simple unless you don't know how to fix it. Then it's monumental. They always take care of me but sometimes they should not have to do the same job twice. One for example: I purchased a new stem - paid full price no haggle - so they installed it. Fair enough I think. WRONG I get out on the trail and the next thing I know the darn handle bar is in my hands but it's no longer attached to the bike. into the pucker brush I go. I think hmm needed tighening...... so I get out my tools and ol mechanic me I tighen the thing. Seems good...... WRONG I'm in the brush again and I'm 7 miles from the rig. I take it completely apart and notice two different screws lengths. So i put the long one on the bottom and the short one on the top and baby it back to the rig. I'm not a rocket scientist but I can sure tell the difference between two screw lengths and so should have they. I take this sort of thing personal as I repaired SCUBA regulators professionally for 7 years. I never never never had one fail a person's in all those years. I went to school i kept my certifications up and I was consious of my processes. (That does not count the idiot that when he discovered a woman had rebuilt his regular took it home and disassembled it and put it back together himself just to check my work.) That was a bad idea but it failed immediately (imagine that) so no harm done. I guess when I pay good money for something I expect it to have the appropriate attention.

How long was your recuperation from your back injury?

Divscotty

[TwoTiredGal]

After my injury I tried to "exercise through it." I don't know if that made it worse or what but it got to a point where I really couldn't even walk right. So, reluctantly I went to a physician and she gave me Vioxx and told me to stretch. As if I didn't know about those 2 options on my own! For several months I couldn't do anything but just walk... and even that would cause twitching in both my abs and my back which fed off each other. (Don't even get me started on what PMS felt like during that time!) It was really pathetic, sometimes I would just sit on my bike and watch TV. Funny to think about it now. My bike was certainly well maintained and probably cleaner than it was when it came off the bike shop floor! lol I gained weight and got pretty depressed. But, I finally started feeling like I could move around a little more so I did some VERY light weight lifting and ab workouts to strengthen the muscles around my back. That seemed to work so I started taking short rides with my new full suspension and that seemed to cushion me pretty well. It still hurt but it was worth it to be able to actually ride and it didn't feel like "injury" pain anymore. I tried some snowshoeing at that time too, thinking it was just like walking. But the snowshoes were rentals not made for my narrow stride and it HURT like hell afterwards. (Although I hear that's not uncommon for women and rentals). So I was stuck with biking and hiking for all of last season. About 3 months ago, I just got up one day and decided to try running on a nearby gravel path. I went maybe a mile and though I was tired from being out of shape, it felt great! So I started running 2-3 times a week along with the lifting at least twice a week and am biking at least twice a week as long as the weather agrees. I ran my first race in early December. Didn't win or anything even close but I finished without stopping and actually felt physically well. So, all in all it's been nearly a year and a half and I've just recently felt like I am "recovered." It's been pretty trying since I've never had an injury before and really had to dig deep to allow myself to believe I really needed to just "sit around and heal." My main mistake has been not using alternative treatments like massage, acupuncture, etc. I have some kind of block about using them even though I believe they can really help. Some kind of weird body image thing. Anyway, that is my saga. I think it's over for now although it's something I have to consistently "prevent" from happening again from here on out.

[Divscotty]

Geeze... that was quite the process. I hope it keeps on the up and up in the future.

MBD