Conference noted::bicycle

    The woman I rode with yesterday has a Gary Fisher in a 11" frame.  It
    is more expensive I believe it is the Hoo Koo E Koo which has a shock. 
    The shockless version was under $500.00 I believe.  She bought it at
    O'neils in Worcester.  Bicycle Alley had Treks I beleive in smaller
    frames as well. 
    
    Brian

i'm also looking for a bike (not looking very hard at the moment) but i have
no idea what size i need to look for.  can you measure yourself to determine the
size of the frame you need? or do you need someone at a bike shop to do that 
for you?  btw, i'm 5'0.

    Each manufacturer has different geometries so it is tough to gauge the
    right size.  At 5'0" though, I'd bet on a small frame :-).  Seriously,
    try them out and see what feels good to you.  
    
    Brian

 Maybe you shouldn't be lookig for a smaller bike, but a bike with a headset 
that is more upright and a bike with handlebars that are bent.
  The reason I say this is that my wife is also 5'4" and I bought her a new bike
A Fisher Aqueila 15.5" frame. Now this bike has a headset with very little rise
in it. Whigh means she is streached out in a more agressive position.
  Try riding a hibrid type bike. This will give you a more upright position  
which you may be used to.

      Mike 

    My wife who is 5'2" formerly had a 16" frame.  I got her a the 11.5" 
    Fisher Cronus.  It fits much better, her enjoyment of single track
    riding has increased substantially.  I strongly suggest looking into
    one of these.  They come in different models, however the Fisher line
    is real strong this year (they are made by Trek, but have frame designs
    and component specs by Gary Fisher...many are made here in the states).
    
    O'neils phone number is 508-798-0084
    
    steve

Bucika's in Salem NH carries the Gary Fisher line. A friend of mine bought a
mountain bike with a 13.5":frame with GripShift and Shimano STX components for
$428

Ivan

    I've found that in trying to get the correct fit for a bike, height
    is only one of the factors.  Your body dimensions (short or long
    torso; short or long legs; equally proportioned torso to legs) are
    just as important.  I'm also 5'4", with a long torso, and very 
    short legs.  I have a 47 cm frame (which is not unusual given my
    height), with a long stem off the headset for the handlebars.
    John Alis at Wheelworks did the bike fit for me, and told me that
    while he was used to dealing in shorter frames for women, he had
    never had to put as long a stem on a women's bike.
    
    I'm also in the process of buying a mountain bike, and John has
    recommended looking at 14" frames for me.
    
    Test riding is also an essential ingredient before purchasing.
    
    Claire
    

    
    I'm 4'11" and I have a UniVega that is a 16"!  It's super. I have no
    trouble touching the ground when I'm sitting on the bike.  Being 5'4"
    I would think a 14-16 would be a good height - mabye try more brands
    bikes.
    
    Louisa

    I still STRONGLY suggest a much smaller frame size for safety, 
    weight, and manueverability.
    
    steve

    Beside being short (5'4"), I am also very lightwighted. I was
    adviced by a bike dealer to look for a lighter bike because it will
    be a lot of work on me to ride a heavy bike uphill. 
    Well, I am raising up my budget since the lighter bike, the more
    expensive.  Hummmmm, may be another 1 or 2 hundred bucks up.   
    
    -Shuhua

    
Shuhua

The Gary Fischer line has a great price/performance ratio this year . We are
selling them 2 to 1 over our other bike lines which include Specialize, C-dale,
Kona and Univega. I just purchased a Tassajara for my sister. This bike comes
in a 13" size also. This weight of this bike is 27.9 lbs on a 18" frame. The
13" would be a little lighter. But for $429 (Grip Shift SRT-400, STX Rear Der.
and Toe clips) it hard to beat. The best selling Gary Fisher at the store is
the Aquila at about $550. We dom't even try to promote it because it's one of
those bicycle that sells on it's own. It weight is 26.7 lbs for 17.5 inch
frame. This bike comes in a 11.5 inch frame.

Just a warning: Gary Fischer sizing tends to run big. The 11.5 is about a 12.5
or 13. I think they are measuring Center to Center.

As for the size of the person to weight of the bike thing. Buy what you can
afford. If you can afford it, you might want the nicer model. Otherwise, don't
get sucker to the the old selling up trick by a salesman. A lighter bike might
be easier to get up a hill but you are out there to get exercise anyway. 

Just my 2 cents,

Dave


 

    Hi,
    I bought a Gary Fisher KAITAI this year.  It is Aluminum and very light
    but will run around $600.  I have ridden it 4-5 times and it climbs
    very well indeed!
    
    Rick

    My repeated advise for someone who is petite...don't let a salesman
    sell you too big a bike.  Test ride all sizes.  Be aware that many
    manufactures to not accomodate women sizing, and those that are, the
    bikes tend to be low-end.  
    
    Steve
    Who's wife is 5'2" and is riding a 11.5" Fisher Cronus with USE
    suspension seatpost...with a big smile on her face

    I was trying a 13" Gary Fisher's baseline bike in a bike shop.
    The size was right I did not feel presuure on my arms, but I wanted
    something a little smoother.   The salesman had me try out a
    15"'s Tassajara because the shop did not have a 13"'s Tassajara.
    He said just to get the feeling of it.  I was uncomfortable
    after trying the 15" Tassajara for a while. The saleman raised up
    the saddle for me and said it might help. I gave a nother try and
    refuse to try it out further because my back started  to feel hurt. 
    I was too distracted to feel the quality of a higher end bike because
    of the wrong geometry. Anyway, the shop is going to build a 13"'s 
    Tassajara for me to test ride this week. So I'll see what happens.
    
    I noticed that the high-end bikes seem to be less accomodating to
    woman sizing. I visited another bike shop wanting to try $500~$600ish
    Trek (they have 13" in 2 models in that price range). The store
    did not even have the bikes in stock. The salesman told me they
    could order one for me if I wanted one. They think women are less
    willing to spend big bucks in a bike than men so they have more big
    high-end bikes then small high-end ones in stock. Well, I can not
    commit to a bike unless I have tried one and am comfortable with it.
    
    Anyway, I am learning more everytime I visit a bike shop.
    I found that my eyes are gettting bigger shooting for a higher-end bike.
    And that was how I noticed that it was  more difficult to
    get a small high-end bike.
    
    -Shuhua 
                                           

        >Steve
        >Who's wife is 5'2" and is riding a 11.5" Fisher Cronus with USE
        >suspension seatpost...with a big smile on her face
    
    Maybe the fischer Cronus run bigger then the UniVega.. I am 4'11" and
    I tried a few 11.5 and 12" - the bikes were just to small.  I felt
    like a clown in the circus.  And when I tried to peddel, my knees
    felt like they were comming up way to far and to much of a bend.
    
    I found the 14" UniVega perfect for me.  But I also found, all the 
    dif' brand of bikes ran in dif' sizes - try them all.

The Gary Fisher Cronus is a super bike for the money this year. We usually sell
a lot of Stumpjumpers in that $1,100-1,200 price range but teh cronus is blow
them away. I think we sold about 8 Cronus this year to 1 Stumpjumper. I think
the Judy Rock Shocks is what make it favorable for a bike in that price range.
 
It is usually thougher to fit a women due to her body proportion. Especially
Petite women. Most women have shorter torsal and long legs while a male is more
evenlly proportional. The high end bikes tend to have a more aggressive stem to
getyourweight froward. This is why a women with shorten torsal feels 
uncomfortable on the high end bike. On the $400-$500 models the stem tends to
be more upright. 

Usually, if a women wants a high end bike like a Cronus, we would look at the
fit and determine if a stem change is needed. In most cases, it does for a
petite women.

Good Luck,

Dave  

    Can a bike dealer change the stem for a test ride or I have to
    commit to a bike first?  
    
    Thanks.
    
    -Shuhua
    

If they won't change the stem, go somewhere else.  If you're going to drop $600+
then they ought to bend over backwards.  I went through 4 different stems until
I found the right size one for me.  Then they even went through there warehouse
to find a black matching one.  This was on a $999 bike.

800+ miles so far this year and loving them all.
Tim