women specific bikes

Author Message
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 5, 2013 at 11:22 Quote
My wife is currently in love with her 2013 Norco Sight 650b
flag napguy
FL
Posted: Sep 5, 2013 at 12:18 Quote
Actually she's loving it! She needed a stem swap and a bash guard (minus the 3rd ring) but otherwise fits and rides well. She rides everything from freeride, park and xc and raced it during the 24 hours of adrenaline. It's light enough for her to handle on the car rack and it's pretty damn durable too. For the price you cant go wrong. The newer onces have improved a little but haven't changed too much. Updated colour schemes are rad though. Definitely recommended.
flag mabes1
Posted: Sep 6, 2013 at 22:53 Quote
Kootenaycycle wrote:
My wife is currently in love with her 2013 Norco Sight 650b

I have a 2013 Norco Sight 650b-1 but am considering moving to the Range. I couldn't decide between the Sight or the Range and so I decided to play to my weakness (climbing) instead of to my strength (descending). I'm 5'3", solid and shorter in the legs with a longer longer upper body (more like a guy?). I like Norco because of the lower top tubes and LOVE 27.5. But even though the Sight is a freakin' sweet ride, I don''t feel "right" climbing or descending.

The bike shop put a slightly longer stem on which feels a bit better for climbing but worse for descending. I feel too up-right or cramped for space or like I'm going to go over the handle bars when riding steeper, technical trails so I compensate by shifting my weight and body back. But then I don't feel as in control etc.

Anyhoo, I hopped on a friend's Range a couple weeks ago and it felt perfect. It's amazing how the slightest changes in angles etc. can make such a big difference.

Moral of my story? Make sure to test ride before you buy - I had to put money down (before test riding both) while the bikes were still in production otherwise I "might not get one". Body size, shape and riding style are all important considerations. A very expensive lesson learned Smile
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 7, 2013 at 14:03 Quote
Rad thoughts Brandi. I find the opposite. My heart wants to ride a Range Carbon, but my body preferred the ride and fit of the Sight carbon. Both are Rad bikes, and the carbon does make the bike track even better, and its lighter.
flag mabes1
Posted: Sep 7, 2013 at 18:11 Quote
I have the 2013 sight so it's not carbon but they look freakin amazing. If I move to the Range I will probably have to trade for another 2013. I've spent too much money on bikes over the last year. Although I could sell mine myself which would give me more money...

I heard the 2014 angles on the Ranges are even slacker?

So what do you like better about the fit and feel of the Sight?
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 7, 2013 at 20:36 Quote
Sight feels more nimble and playful, the Range feels big, especially the carbon bikes, the extra 1/2 degree slacker seems to make it feel that much bigger
flag mabes1
Posted: Sep 8, 2013 at 19:39 Quote
Hm. So...since we are talking carbon...how much of a difference does the carbon frame make compared to the alloy?

Maybe I stick to a 2013 alloy Range.

I think it makes sense to create a greater difference between the Sight and Range but maybe a Carbon with the newer geometry would be too much for me and Squamish riding.
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 8, 2013 at 19:58 Quote
brandi wrote:
Hm. So...since we are talking carbon...how much of a difference does the carbon frame make compared to the alloy?

Maybe I stick to a 2013 alloy Range.

I think it makes sense to create a greater difference between the Sight and Range but maybe a Carbon with the newer geometry would be too much for me and Squamish riding.

The carbon itself is 25% lighter frame and the frame feels stiffer
flag mabes1
Posted: Sep 8, 2013 at 20:15 Quote
25%? I didn't think it was that much.

Do u know if the angles on the 2014 Sights are changing?
(Thank you for answering my questions..u must be wiped out after the Fondo!!!)
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 8, 2013 at 20:28 Quote
The aluminium Range and sight are unchanged, only the carbon frames have the slacker head tube
flag mabes1
Posted: Sep 8, 2013 at 20:49 Quote
Okie dokie. So even the carbon Sight has a slacker head tube?
flag cdnrocki
Posted: Sep 27, 2013 at 5:21 Quote
K-D-M wrote:
Actually she's loving it! She needed a stem swap and a bash guard (minus the 3rd ring) but otherwise fits and rides well. She rides everything from freeride, park and xc and raced it during the 24 hours of adrenaline. It's light enough for her to handle on the car rack and it's pretty damn durable too. For the price you cant go wrong. The newer onces have improved a little but haven't changed too much. Updated colour schemes are rad though. Definitely recommended.

Thanks for the follow up - missed the notification thread had been updated.

We picked up an XS Trance X2W - swapped out a few parts to drop about 3 lbs and bike is now 26 lbs with pedals. Mel is unhappy with the tires (schwalbe performance line nobby nic 'dual' compound) so we'll look for some stickier rubber and work to tune the suspension. Otherwise very happy with the result.
flag Kootenaycycle
Posted: Sep 27, 2013 at 8:21 Quote
brandi wrote:
Okie dokie. So even the carbon Sight has a slacker head tube?

I don't think the specs say they are slacker, but riding it did feel a little more slack, could have been the fork and other setup.
flag Tavm
Posted: Nov 11, 2013 at 8:51 Quote
Hey everyone....currently in the research phase for a GOOD full suspension mountain bike for my wife. She currently rides a WS Giant hard tail with a suspension seat post on it to help with the comfort. However since the rest of the group is on full suspension and we're progressively doing a few more challenging rides I'm going to invest in getting her a good bike that can handle most things from XC to AM.

In my research...I've looked at many of the women's specific bikes (Giant, Trek, & Juliana primarily)...and found they were quite identical to a men's version with only some very slight tweaks to seat post angles, head angles, and perhaps handlebar width if that's stated at all. That seems to be it...but yet they cost twice as much in some cases. I find it hard to believe that it takes so much R&D that it would justify that much of a cost increase to be honest.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on where to look and so forth? My wife and I have nearly the same inseam, with the height difference lying in the torso...and we both ride small frame bikes regardless of the intended sex of the bike.
flag napguy
FL
Posted: Nov 11, 2013 at 9:42 Quote
Not sure there's much else out there that beats this price. Based off the old Trance W but with updated geo, definitely women's specific:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/lust.2/14862/66216/
Unsecure image, only https images allowed: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/_generated/_generated_us/bikes/models/images/2000/2014/Lust_27.5_2.jpg

 


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