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What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman?
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I'm trying to help a friend of mine shop for a used road bike. She's 5'3" with long legs (for her height). What size bike would she need? She's preparing for her first sprint/Olympic-distance triathlon, so I think a road bike would be most practical for her. Thanks so much for your help!
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [ndtriathlete] [ In reply to ]
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It's really going to depend on the bike and the model. For instance, Felts are on the long and low side, while something like a Cervelo is I think shorter front to back but taller proportionally. I'm about 5'3" (with thick socks on), and I ride a size 49 cm Lapierre (road bike), a 47 cm Felt DA1 (tri bike), and a 45 cm Felt ZW95 (road bike). I'm a little short in the leg and long in the torso, so those models/sizes might not work as well for her.
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [ndtriathlete] [ In reply to ]
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I'm 5'3 as well and would say it definitely depends on the bike. Especially when you're on the smaller side. She should go to her LBS (or a couple of them) and try out different bikes.
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [ndtriathlete] [ In reply to ]
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It also depends on the torso/leg ratio. I'm 5'7" but have a 53cm bike because of my disproportionate legs. And like has been posted above, different brands fit differently, even at the "same" size. My best advice would be to have her go to a bike store (tri or not) and have the salespeople there put her on a number of bikes so that she knows how she fits on a number of brands. Ideally she'd get to try out the exact model of bikes she'd be interested in buying, but sometimes when you're doing beginning research you don't get that opportunity. But getting on bikes and seeing how they fit is really the only way to know what's best for a particular person.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/10327392
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [jenniferpelota] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for everyone's thoughts!
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [ndtriathlete] [ In reply to ]
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I'm 5'3 with long legs and short torso. My husband says my Trek Madone is 52 with a 51 top tube.
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [ndtriathlete] [ In reply to ]
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What you are looking for for any given frame size is the "stack and reach" measurements: stack being the height of the top tube from the bottom bracket (vertical), and reach being the distance from the bottom bracket to the headtube/toptube joint (horizontal). Based on the information you provided, fyou want a geometry that has more stack and less reach.
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Re: What Size Road Bike for 5'3" Woman? [dalava] [ In reply to ]
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Wife is 5'3" she rides a 48 with a 51cm TT.
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