My wife is about 1/2 inch over 5ft and has a 68cm inseam. Her current road bike is an old, tiny Trek WSD road bike w/ 650 wheels that weighs about 25lbs.
I want to find her a nice, decent fitting road bike as an upgrade. However, I’m kind of at a loss when looking for bikes this small. She’s interested in something like the Soloist Team but I wonder if even the 48cm, might be a bit too big for her.
What do you guys and gals think? Anyone in this height range riding a 48cm Cervelo? Any higher-end road bikes that are really made to fit a woman this small?
I’m 5’2" on a good day and have been riding a Cannondale CAAD 5 (47cm). 650c wheels. I’m totally sold on 650c wheels for little road bikes – I wasn’t always convinced, but I am now. This bike is now my commuter bike.
I just got a Cervelo RS (48cm, 650c) last week. I’ve done a couple of trainer rides on it, and so far so good. It feels really nice, and I’m looking forward to getting out on the road with it.
Hope this helps. I went through a lot of trial and error with bikes that were just a little too big for me and had tremendously steep seat tube angles. Hopefully your wife won’t spend the years (and money!) I did on bikes that were “good enough.”
You bring up another question of mine. I totally appreciate the value of 650 wheels on small tri bikes but have been unsure if they are as necessary on small road bikes given the slacker geometry. I know my wife’s current road bike has them but many top name bikes still use 700c on their smallest road bikes.
I’d have to say stick with the 650 wheel. In order to maintain proper geometry for smaller riders I really think 650 is the only way. I got my wife who is slightly taller than yours onto a 50cm frame with 650’s and it handles great and only weighs 15lbs.
If you have the resources look into custom Ti or the Cervelo RS as mentioned before.
She didn’t even come close to fitting on a 48cm Soloist or P2C. We ended up getting her an Elite. There are some good deals in custom bikes these days as carbon fiber has driven up the cost of the “midrange” bikes. Personally, I’m currently lusting over the co-motion espresso:
Yeah I did find a good deal on a used 47cm Javelin Arcole and am building it up as a tri bike for her but I honestly think it is borderline too big. I really want to find her a good quality road bike though as I think it will meet the majority of her riding needs and give her a lot more enjoyment.
that Co-Motion is a good idea, especially since we live in Oregon.
My wife is 4’10" and we got her an Elite T-class in XS fits her great and nice and light. Prior to that she had one of the OLD QR Private reserves in 47cm which also fit nicely.
Yeah, they do … and I think it sucks. There are tons of bikes I’d love to buy … but I’d rather not ride a road bike with a steep seat tube angle (and a too-long top tube, while I’m complaining here!). I used to ride a Kestrel Talon (700c) with a STA of over 75 degrees, if I remember correctly. And that was as slack as I could get. I can get much closer to a 73 degree STA on both my Cdale and the Cervelo RS, which is a lot more comfortable and a lot more powerful for me.
But I like I said … I’m convinced smaller wheels are better. I think there are too many compromises in the design of small frames (both TT and road) that have 700c wheels. For road bikes, I think you’ll have differing opinions, but as a small rider who has ridden both 700c and 650c, I can ride more comfortably (read: longer, stronger, etc.) with 650c wheels.
I was just looking at the spec’s for the x-small Cervelo RS as I was thinking of getting one for my wife as an anniversary present. Is it possible for you to e-mail me a couple of photos of your bike. She’s riding an old, custom titanium bike with 650c wheels at the moment and it fits her well, but I’m concerned about the head tube length on the RS as it seems rather long from the spec’s on the Cervelo website. A couple good photos will give me a much better idea of how it will fit.
Sure. I’m at work now, but I can send you a couple of pics tonight (and some pics of my Cannondale for comparison). I was a little concerned about the headtube, too, but it ended up fine. And I still have some spacers that will eventually (hopefully!) be removed.
I am a pretty tiny woman and I have a big issue finding bikes small enough for me. I really don’t like 650c wheels on road bikes for a couple reasons. Some bike companies try to force women onto 650c bike which makes it tough to get neutral wheels during road races. Also, there is often a more limited tire selection. If your wife is into road competition as well as triathlon, she might want to consider looking into Specialized, as they have some high quality women’s specific road bikes in a great size range with 700c wheels. They make it possible by using a greater rake angle with their forks. Their Ruby is a great bike. I rode a women’s specific bike from specialized for a couple years and really liked it. It has since been sold, but I would suggest specialized because the geometry of their bikes really suits many smaller women who tend not to have as long as a reach that a man has, shorter torso, etc. Although I no longer ride any women’s specific bikes (I ride a really aggressive position) it has been very difficult for me to find bikes that are not women’s geometry in my size. If women’s specific geometry fits her, I would suggest trying some ladies bikes as their availability in small sizes tends to be better than a unisex/ mens bike. Good luck!
I’m 5’2" and drive an Orbea Diva and love love love it! I had no problems getting fit and there were sizes smaller than what I have (I think it is a 48). I was never able to find a tri bike in my area that fit me comfortably and since I do long races, Half and full IM, and there are lots of hills in these races, I decided a road bike would work fine for me. I add clip-ons and a straight seatpost for when I want to be more aggressive in my position for shorter races.
All my friends who have test ridden my bike are quite jealous of it and they drive their own expensive rigs.
Thanks for your input, but my wife is much better suited to 650c wheeled bikes. She’s not planning on doing any road races so neutral support and wheels is a non-issue. For her, 650c wheels are the only way to go.
You bring up a good point re: wheels at road races. I just throw an old set in the wheel truck now, but there really isn’t any neutral support if you need it. Fortunately, I’ve never needed either my spare set OR neutral support.
Thanks, I hadn’t looked at the Evoke before. It’s a nice looking bike and I do like that the top tube is a bit shorter than I can get with many brands in stock sizes.
I do wonder about the 75.5 degree seat tube angle. This is an issue I’m struggling with when looking at small bikes. I realize there are a lot of geometric challenges with bikes this small. A few manufacturers do make small bikes with more traditional seat angles but most end up going steeper to make it work. Any insight into the benefits of doing it the way you guys do??
If she were to use the bike as an all-purpose ride, for general riding and with some shorty bars (fpr triathlons, etc.) would the mid range (75degree) seat angle make it a good compromise ? Any input to help me sort the seat angle issue is appreciated.
First and foremost, get your wife measured. That will help you determine exactly what size and dimensions she needs. The hard part when building smaller bikes is always the geometry. At 75 degree angle with some clip ons is fine. I have a few of the employees here (women) using the Evoke for road riding and one did a local 5 mile TT with a set of Profile Clip ons and she said it was still comfortable.
If you want, you can send me your wife’s fit information and I’ll check to see how she would look on a Kestrel Evoke.
The smallest size Kestrel airfoil is the smallest production frame. I’d look at that. It’s smaller than you can even go with a custom, because the molded headtube allows for a smaller design.
