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Bikes women ride.

111K views 173 replies 73 participants last post by  il sogno 
#1 ·
There is a lot to be learned from other riders setups.

Here are Miss M's bikes starting with her oldest bike. She is about 5'3" and perhaps 100 lbs and rides 15-20,000 miles a year.

How old is she? I ain't saying but she will be able to retire next year if she wants to.

12.5" GT Zaskar LE
It was a custom the guys in the factory built up for her as a wedding present.
Pretty much full XTR with Mavic wheels. It is her only bike without a Brooks saddle-a Terry Butterfly.

Since she will ride any of her bikes in the dirt we encounter near DC she only rides this one in the snow. It is equipped with Nokian studded tires to make snow and ice riding fun, fun, fun. This bike is what allows her to commute year 'round.
 
#2 ·
Hot Chocolate

Back when I finally realized how much she rode I figured her old bikes just wouldn't do. She didn't really fit stock bikes all that well (she rode lots but it was on bikes that were just not right for her-she was always having problems with a sore back, neck and hips) so we got her a full custom Rivendell with 26" wheels. She must have at least 40,000 miles on it by now.

It is a 50CM frame and I was a little worried when Grant said that was the size she needed in a Rivendell but I guess those Cal Hippies know what they are doing since it fits her to a T. This is the bike that ended any chances of Miss M ever riding a stock frame again.

We had it repainted by Waterford this year. She doesn't like wild colors so we went with Mississippi Mud and Cream. We also replaced the wheels (switched to 650C for better parts availability) and drive train since everything was pretty much worn out. It should be good for another 40,000 miles before we need to do much to it again.

Since this bike has a triple crank and Miss M has small hands and always had problems shifting the triple we installed a bar end shifter for the front derailleur. It solved that problem just fine.

It is her beater but she still will do the odd mountain ride on it since it is her only road bike with a triple. It is usually set up with fenders and a rear rack since we do overnight rides fairly often. It will also pull a pretty big load with those low gears.
 
#3 ·
The green racer.

Her go fast bike is a Waterford RS-22 with full DuraAce 20 speed and Bontrager Race X-Lite Aero 650C wheels.

This one is a 48CM frame. It is funny/interesting that we gave Waterford and Rivendell the exact same information about her dimensions and riding style and yet the 2 bikes are quite different in most dimensions while both fitting her so well.

I know I am in trouble when she rides this thing.

It is her double century bike but as nice as it is she doesn't ride it all that much so it is going to be good for many, many years.
 
#4 ·
New Favorite.

This bike is why she rides her other bikes so rarely.

5 years ago for some reason she asked me about "those one speed bikes the messengers ride". She kept asking so I got us a couple of Fuji track bikes set up with handbrakes and a flip rear wheel.

Riding the thing for the first time she was pretty nervous for about 100 yards. A month later we were doing a century ride on the things.

She wore that bike out in about a year so I upgraded her to a Waterford RS14. The last thing I did when I left the bike business this spring was to get her this one. We have done several 1000 mile supported tours on our fixtes since then. She would rather ride her fixed gear over any of her other bikes. If she could only have one this is it.

Waterford RS-22 custom road fixed gear. Lots of Campy parts with Paul hubs and 650C wheels. This is also a 48CM and was easy to get, we just told Waterford to build it like the last one. I gave Waterford a general idea of the "Look" we wanted and told them that Miss M likes green-they picked the actual colors and style. Miss M thinks they did a good job, I agree.

She is set with sweet rides for a good long time.

Wouldn't mind seeing what you are riding.
 
#5 ·
Great thread MB1. Can't wait to see what other folks ride.

Not the greatest picture of my ride and this was the weekend I bought it, so I didn't have it set-up quite right yet. Since this, I've gotten a new rear wheel and don't have the mountain bike pedals on it (!). Oh and no more red bag or green bottle. (They matched the old bike.)

2004 LeMond Zurich. I love the LeMond spines. Full Ultegra 9 speed triple. No, I don't need a triple. Someday I might climb the Sierra Nevada, then I'll be glad I have it. I'm 5'8" and some number of pounds. I have short legs and a long torso. This is a 51cm and fits me just right.

It shares me with my sometimes commuter, sometimes fire road bike, a 2003 Cannondale F400.
 
#6 · (Edited)
My steed Bleu, sporting her new Banana Bag. I have new brakes, stem, shifters and handlebars - the straight bars have become painful on long rides. Someday I might actually get everything switched out......
:rolleyes: :p
 
#10 ·
My treks part 1

My bikes both ended up being Treks and neither was bought new. Poor school teacher previously poor student.
Ok I have a Giant MTB in the shed that was bought new but no pics as it's lonely and unloved.

#1 I love this bike, I know it's too big for me but it's very comfortable. I'm 5'2 with quite a few extra lbs and it carries me well.
Mixed Dura Ace and Ultegra components, 99 Postal frame, Terry Butterfly seat, speedplay pedals, salsa bar (which will be replaced with a shorter reach bar when the bar tape wears out.)
The Postal is my second road bike the first was the 700 rear 650 front a Jamis steel bike that I loved but it was too small for me.
 
#11 ·
I love the red, white and blue spokes.

Was that stock or something custom?

BTW isn't waiting till the tape wears out before replacing the bar putting the cart before the horse? You can just use the old tape on the new bar.........
 
#12 ·
My treks part 2

This is the ss/fixie I built up. I traded a specialized frame I bought for $25 for this frame plus the guy gave me $25 bucks so he really gave me the frame. It's a 1981 Trek Sport Tourer.
It's running weinmann *gasp* brakes, a wtb seat, sugino cranks, and IRO rear wheel with flip flop hub, a wtb seat, and a set of MTB spds which I like because they are only one sided, oh and the front wheel is a Mavic cosmic.

I ride this whenever. I've twice ridden the C&O pulling a trailer with this bike. I love to take it to the beach and explore, I also use it for city riding. I can't commute on a bike but if I could this one be the one. I've posted a number of ride reports in C&T from this bike.

I dont' usually carry a seat bag on the top tube, I was trying out methods of carrying my digi camera.
 
#13 ·
MB1 said:
Was that stock or something custom?

BTW isn't waiting till the tape wears out before replacing the bar putting the cart before the horse? You can just use the old tape on the new bar.........
Those wheels are Spinergy Spox, they were a really good deal and happened to match. A buddy sold them to me for $100.

Yes I could but the wrap job is so beautiful (not done by me) that I can't bear to take the tape off.
 
#14 ·
this pic was posted earlier in the womens specific thread, but here it is again. this is my 05 cannondale R500 femme. its a 50 cm, i'm 5'6" and around 110 lbs. my torso and arms are fairly proportional to my legs, so the more compact frame works pretty well for me. the whole bike is stock from cannondale except the bottle cage. :cool: terry saddle, 105 components, triple crank cause i'm a big wimp, gipiemme (i think thats how its spelled) wheels. i'd like to get new wheels, but until i start racing or something the upside won't make up for the cost. shes a sweet ride.

 
#15 ·
My Wife's bike

My Wife has a bad back and is not able to ride a diamond frame bike without ending up debilitated.........but she loves to ride. The solution, for her was a recumbant.........she absolutly loves it.

It's a Bachetta Titanium with Dura/Ace/XTR parts.

.800 miles this year so far.......not bad at all.

Len
 
#16 ·
My wife rides an Spec. Roubaix

She seems to really like it, but then again I'm not sure she'd complain even if it wasn't perfect. I'd like to upgrade her to something else and have her professionally fitted, but she tells me she's happy with her Rube.

We ride with a lot of women, and the one thing I've noticed is that many of them bought the bikes at the first place they visited without any really sizing or knowledge. This has led to about 50% loving the bike and 50% not too happy. This is completely my opinion, but I think a good fitting can do a woman rider a lot of service if done professionally and properly. My wife bought her bike after riding every single model we could find in Reno and Sacramento. The shop we bought it at didn't use the fully professional fitting stuff (I wasn't smart enought to know the difference then) but did a good job on the basic set up. The only pain she's complained about ever since is the crotch issue from the saddle rubbing. But I guess that's a different thread :).
 
#18 ·
uzziefly said:
Nice Blue Trek zeytin!!!

I love Treks :D :D
Don't you? :)
Thanks Uzzie, I wouldn't know any better since I've really only had Trek roadbikes (I don't count the department store hand-me-downs I had when I was a kid).
I thought you would particularly like the blue:thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
Thanks MB1 for a great thread.
There are some really fabulous looking bikes in this thread. I know I said before that I really like the brown and creme paint scheme on Miss M's bike. I also like the others. Len's wife really did look comfortable riding her bent, I'm afraid I pestered her with questions about it during our Eastern Shore ride.
Snap, I love the dark blue coloring on your Terry. I don't thing your banana bag will make your butt look big, just the opposite.
Hokie, I looked at a used Cannonndale much like your when I was shopping fo my bike.
I am looking forward to more pics, come on ladies (and Gent's posting wife's bikes)!
 
#21 ·
zeytin said:
Yes I could but the wrap job is so beautiful (not done by me) that I can't bear to take the tape off.
Come on zeytin, wrapping bars is a piece of cake. I know you could do just as good a job as any shop wrench with a little practice. Plenty of resources out there to figure out how to do it. Park Tool, Zinn's books, etc. If you do it once, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. And new tape is so nice and spiffy!

Lovely bikes everyone. Snappy, that blue Terry would look nice as a SS/fixie.
 
#22 · (Edited)
innergel said:
Come on zeytin, wrapping bars is a piece of cake. I know you could do just as good a job as any shop wrench with a little practice. Plenty of resources out there to figure out how to do it. Park Tool, Zinn's books, etc. If you do it once, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. And new tape is so nice and spiffy!

Lovely bikes everyone. Snappy, that blue Terry would look nice as a SS/fixie.
Oh I've wrapped about 15 times (doesn't include practice or rewrapping cus it looked so bad), but it never looks as good as what this guy did. It's so sleek its actually sensuous.
 
#26 ·
A couple of my bikes a Rivendell Bleriot, and my Freddie that was hand made for me not as a single speed. I am on the Bleriot mostly at this point because I ride it on many surfaces which includes dirt and I have a blast doing that. I love my Freddie now that it is a singlespeed because it light and quick, it has been fixed and a 1x9.
 
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