I've been in bike shopping mode for several months and my biggest dilemma now is wheel size. I currently ride 700 wheels, as do all of the girls that I ride with. The fitter that I'm currently working with feels that at my height I'm (5' 2.5") I could go with 650s or 700s but, 650s may be a better option.
Since I don't know anyone who rides 650s, I'm looking for opinions from anyone with experience. I've gotten many opinions from the bikers I ride with (both guys & gals) but it's all been anecdotal since everyone rides 700s.
Today, the bike I'm trying has 650s.
So here are my questions; What wheel size do you ride? Have you ridden one size, then switched to another and if so, why?
Any you may have would be greatly appreciated!:)
I've also posted this question under General Discussion and on another Women's Specific site so if you've seen this question before, please forgive my redundancy!

not a lady but i'll chip in... well.... 700c wheels are the norm so to speak.. have you tried both types? which are you more comfortable on?

I would like to say stick with 700c but hmm...Are the 650c wheels 'better' for you? What differences do YOU feel?

Hi kettle and welcome the the Women's Forum.

I am 5'4", long legged, short torso and I ride 700's. I think the decision on whether to ride 650's or 700's would depend at least for me on the bike frame and the crank arm length.

On the bike you are considering - is there any sort of issue with toe overlap (toe rubbing on front wheel)? If so, are you comfortable with that? Check out how long the are and are you comfortable with the spin radius?

If you want longer cranks or do not want to deal with toe overlap issues then I would say 650 wheels would be the way to go. If everything fits fine with 700's, I would say go with them.


HTH :)

I'm 5'2 and I use 700's. I have no problems with toe overlap or anything. I personally would never ride 650's. They're harder to find, it's harder to find parts for them, and you don't have a huge variety. I have no problems with the 700's so I see no reason to change.

Get what you think you'll be happy with. Of all the women I know that ride one of them uses 650 wheels. She's like 4'10 and looks like a child. In her case they may be necessary...

Good luck,
Sarah

Go with 700c whenever possible. It will be easier to find wheels, tires and tubes. At 5'2" you should be able fit a stock 44-49cm bike (with 700c wheels) depending on how you are porportioned. A bit of toe overlap on a road bike isn't a big deal, you only notice it when you aren't moving or moving so slowly that you might tip over anyway.

I'll add from my experience of being (supposedly) 'on the cusp' for what was recommended 650 wheelsize back when they were really really trying to push this for me (I'm a very 'stock' 5'4" and have no problem fitting a men's 49-50cm frame).

I've never ridden a 650 bike and never plan to. tubes and tyres can be a real PITA to find, not to mention just general compatibility with the rest of the cycling world (besides triathletes, and even they seem to be moving away from this trend) if your partner/roommate/SO rides a 700c bike and you need to borrow one of his/her tubes out on the road and/or you mix them up and end up grabbing the wrong one, guess what? you're screwed. I had one teammate who consistently rode 650s in all my years on women's teams and she had this mixup happen a couple of times (her husband rode 700s). If you need neutral support in a race or from sag on a tour? good luck, you'll have to wait forfreakingever. I've seen girls on 650s lost serious time in events trying to dig their stuff out from under 200 wheels instead of just grabbing whatever was on top that had the right cassette and sorting it out later. oh and when your dude buys those bling carbon Reynolds? guess what, you can't borrow those either.

650s don't have the same moment of inertia. this means they do accelerate faster, but conversely, they don't 'hold' momentum as well either. in a flat TT this can actually cost watts rather than save them, depending on other factors. in crits / descending / tight cornering, they will tend to handle a little faster altho the tradeoff is they have a tad less gyroscopic stability. whether or not this is a good or bad thing depends on the handler, frankly.

oh and one thing people NEVER tell you:

gearing. gearing gearing gearing. if you go 650 you have to increase your gearing to keep the same ratios as you would on a 700c bike. this may or may not be a factor. personally I think more women (and Cat 3/4 men for that matter) should run compact gearing even in races cos I rarely see 52-53x about 14 or higher ratios getting used effectively or efficiently but that's a derail rant for another day.

Go with 700c whenever possible. It will be easier to find wheels, tires and tubes. At 5'2" you should be able fit a stock 44-49cm bike (with 700c wheels) depending on how you are porportioned. A bit of toe overlap on a road bike isn't a big deal, you only notice it when you aren't moving or moving so slowly that you might tip over anyway.

Hell, I'm 5'9" and I *still* have toe overlap on a 55cm frame. Of course I ride 700's, since there's really no reason for me to ride 650's... but my point is, even the larger frame sizes can have toe overlap with 700's. Unless it's so bad that it stops you from riding at speed (which it won't), then don't worry about it.

Or maybe I just have big, honkin' sasquatch feet.