cyclenutnz wrote:
I see benscycle on ebay has some size 45 (650C) Cervelo P3 frames available. That and the premier tactical are the smallest carbon tri bikes ever made. Pretty much any other bike is likely to involve a compromised position.
Starting from frame is a great way to go for a petite rider as it means you can get everything right instead of dealing with oversized stock kit.
Benscycle also has a new old stock (NOS) 650C P2 as well for a bit less money, those caught my eye recently while thinking about possibilities for my daughter. Interestingly, the reach for both 650C models is listed as 389, which is 8 mm longer than the current 700C 48 cm P2 & 3. Not sure why that should be as the 650C wheels should allow significantly shorter reach.
The tri bike that had the shortest reach is the old Trek SC XS, which unfortunately is no longer made and doesn't seem to be available as NOS, unlike the old Cervelos. My 5'0" wife rides an old XS 7.0 that's had almost every part upgraded, not sure what we'll do when it dies.
Based on the fit chart, the Premier XS certainly ticks the short reach and low stack boxes. However, short women may not need a very low stack to get a good aero position if they have short upper arms, this is the case for my wife, and the XS Premier is definitely biased towards low stack fits. Riding shorter cranks also dictates a higher stack.
It's unfortunate that the bike industry has pretty much killed the small 650C options. It's great that Premier has introduced one but I wish their stack range went a bit higher.