I am 5'3", and I ride a Felt ZW road bike in Small (45) with 700cc wheels and a Cannondale Slice in OMGTiny with 650cc wheels, both of which I adore. - but I am a little bigger.

It's not the most recent thread, but this is worth a look. Felt stopped making the ZW Petite (43) with 650cc wheels I think after the 2012 model year, but something to bear in mind.

I'm 5'3" and for my tri bike I have a Felt B12, size 48 w/650c wheels and for road I have a Felt RS, size 48 w/605c wheels. I've owned two road bikes with 700c wheels and never felt comfortable or stable on them so I finally switched my road bike to 650c wheels as well and it's a huge difference. Most bike shops don't stock much in 650c so I buy most of my tubes and tires online... the variety isn't as large but there are still plenty of options for a wide variety of price ranges. I'd recommend she go with 650c wheels - unfortunately most bike brands are decreasing their range of 650c frames but there are still a few around and quite a few available on ebay if you know what bike/size she needs and that it will be a good fit (as always you are taking a gamble buying things off ebay - but we've bought 4 bikes with minimal issues).

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Elisha
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."

II am 5'0ish and have two 650 bikes, road and tri. I love my road bike, Trek 2100 circa 2005. For the tri bike, there is no possible way I could have achieved anything close to comfort on aerobars with 700 wheels -- even with 650s and the smallest head tube (stack) possible, Slowman gave me a negative 25-degree stem and I am now only a few cm off the front wheel and John Cobb put me on 145 cranks to compensate. I love that bike even more, but they're no longer making that frame. I have never had trouble with equipment although generally prefer to be prepared myself. My next x many bikes will all be 650s.

Thanks for the feedback y'all. After more research we're leaning towards a 650c bike but the lack of availability in the current market is pretty concerning!

At 5'1" I ride a custom road bike (though it was alot of $$) that is 44 cm. For tri's I ride a P3 by Cervelo. Both bikes are 650c wheels. Some bike fitters will claim they can fit me on a 700c bike, however, I am more comfortable (and therefore faster) on a 650c wheel bike. I buy tubes in bulk so I have them on hand. I have sewups on my tri bike and pre-order the tires (though they are expensive as well). I am very suspicious of bike fitters who claim they can fit me on a 700 c wheel bike plus those bikes tend to have the small frame/big wheels and look funky and possibly have turning radius issues. There use to be some theory that 650c wheels are faster though I believe that has been debunked.
Good luck!
KK

Thanks. Is the custom road bike carbon/steel/something else?

We've got some quotes at completely custom steel bikes but they are pretty high cost compared to getting a 700c bike. Very annoying that the bike industry is turning it's back on the shorty mcfortys!

I am 5'1" and ride a Trek carbon road bike size 45 with 650 wheels. Small cranks 165 and stubby stem. Absolutely adore it, can ride for 6 - 8 hours and still be comfortable on it. Occasionally they come up on ebay etc.

TT bike I ride a Felt DA XS with 650s. Growing to love it as I fine tune the set up.

Felt do a road bike in petite with 650 wheels but very few now available.

Hi,
My road bike is custom titanium. Suppose to be more durable than carbon and lighter than steel (so I was told). I love my custom road bike. Fits me perfectly and is very comfortable. Ditto for the 650 wheel tri bike. Keep looking around for 650 wheel bikes. I think people jump into tri's, buy brand new bikes, etc. and then after they burn out they sell everything on E-bay, Craigslist, etc. (or they upgrade and get rid of stuff to get better things...).

I'm 5 ft and I ride a Wilier Cento Uno in extra small but with 700C wheels. I had 650's on another bike but found it too much of a pain. I have no trouble with the Wilier and must say I am in love <3.

I'm also 5' with a shorter than average legs. I've got Fuji 44cm with 700c wheels and it is a bit too long. My tri bike is a 650c Felt. I'd take good look at the Ridley Liz in XXS (700c) if you don't go the custom route.