Women's Specific Bikes ???

[andycarter]

I've got a friend who wants to get a bike and she's asked me what different about womens specific bikes.
And although i can see the frame geometry is slightly different (I think) and you can get women's specific saddles, not being one myself I don't know what the benefits/differences are.
Can anyone share their knowledge on women and bikes?

[Tamar]

Women specific bikes often have shorter reach as women tend to have longer legs and shorter backs compared to men. So women often buy a (men's) bike that fits their legs but then end up reaching too far for the bars. I think that provided you buy a bike for your reach you should be able to get the saddle up enough for your legs anyway so women specific bikes are not an absolute must for women. Guess best advice is to try a few and see which feel best.

Women's saddles tend to be wider than men's and with a shorter nose. Some women prefer men's saddles as the women's ones are too wide...particularly for racing. I don't care much so long as it's got a nice comfy hole cut out the middle.

[Judy]

As well as having a problem in finding a small enough bike (I'm only 5 foot) a big problem I found looking at men's bikes was my hands were too small - I couldn't reach from the bars to the brakes!
The reach on my bike is much shorter than on a man's equivalent - though I have to admit, I haven't been many 45" frames around for men!

[JayneToyne]

there's also bars with a slight recess on the drops to allow for a shorter reaching hand to be able to use the levers. oh, and narrower bars to fit smaller people. and often shorter stems are used.
most of this stuff you have to hunt around for or order specailly.

womens proper race saddles are almost identical to mens, ive measured them being the sad cow that i am,
its the touring and less racey saddles that tend to be wider with more padding. ( no idea why as most womens arses have got plenty of padding of their own )

ive got a womens specific frame and it made a huge difference to me.