Downhill bike for a small girl?

PB Forum :: Girl's Clubhouse
Downhill bike for a small girl?
Author Message
flag Nobble
Posted: Jul 24, 2012 at 16:08 Quote
so you're trying to tell me that I misunderstood my own question?...

Facepalm
flag Fufi7
Posted: Jul 24, 2012 at 23:34 Quote
Nobble wrote:
so you're trying to tell me that I misunderstood my own question?...

Facepalm

no i honestly think you are capable of that....but maybe you dont understand the simplicity of the problem, cant imagine how other people in different situations feel or you just searching for entertainment. whatever it is i dont care anymore. i usually try to help and solve peoples problems wherever i can. i came to this forum because i had questions, and i was supriced i got an excact answered to my question right away, which i am grateful for.

the queen gave you a plain answer (and the ones i gave you werent too far off hers). then you still try to argue about her answer that comes actually from a smaller girl describing smaller peoples issues and thats actually how they feel. then you tell that the standover is the difference between tt and crotch etc. etc. etc.
just go back and read through all the postst word for word after your question again. and if you still dont get what we were talking about...go out and ride your bike.
conversation with you ends here...
flag emmswhit
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 9:56 Quote
Escape-Artist wrote:
I have decided to give DH a good try. I went on my brothers old beaten up norco six, and had the time of my life. I will continue to ride that beast until I decide if I really want to stick with it. But anyways, I was wondering, that since i'm pretty small (5'3", 115 lbs) should I go for a female specific bike? What would you recommend for someone like me? We live right close to Fernie B.C., so that's where I will be riding most of the time, if that makes a difference. Any suggestions would be totally awesome and completely helpful, seeing as I don't know that much. Smile

i'm only just 5 foot so im a midget and i've had a go on a glory and it fitted pretty well, and i have a trek sessin and it fits absolutely perfectly for me! if thats any help, shorter frames like on the glory and session are sweet for midgets.
flag Fufi7
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 12:58 Quote
thanks for your help...yes the session was also one of those i considered. 2 friends of mine (girls) have the session in S and several swiss girls who ride dh. we will see...but for now she has to stay with her voltage.

awesome, tomorrow we will go to bikepark chatel (portes du soleil) in france for 4 days...so looking forward. have a good day everyone.
flag emmswhit
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 14:02 Quote
Fufi7 wrote:
thanks for your help...yes the session was also one of those i considered. 2 friends of mine (girls) have the session in S and several swiss girls who ride dh. we will see...but for now she has to stay with her voltage.

awesome, tomorrow we will go to bikepark chatel (portes du soleil) in france for 4 days...so looking forward. have a good day everyone.
im out in chatel from monday onwards till 17 th august!
flag amnda
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 16:01 Quote
I'm 5'5 110lb and ride a small demo. It fits me perfectly and is a pretty easy ride. The low bottom bracket and short chainstay is nice for a small rider. If she has long arms like me, the reach on the xs may be too short and make her feel more vulnerable on steeps.
flag amnda
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 16:04 Quote
Fufi7 wrote:
my girlfriend got into downhilling because of me.

so she bought a scott voltage fr for hitting the parks.
she likes it but on the gnarly stuff she is always a little anxious and scared. few weeks ago she rode a transition tr450 in S and felt more secure right away. the scott has a quite hard rear end that is good for having fun in bikeparks but doesnt give you that much confidence in highspeed and steep rocky stuff at least when you are a little scared.

my question is what size of the demo would you recommend for a woman that is 164cm (5'4 - 5'5),XS or S? considering that she is not a fast and gnarly rider yet. when i compare the reach and geometrie to transition in S i would say an xs demo but i am just not so sure.
why not a transition when she feels comfortable on it?
i think the demo would be a even better choice for her over the transition because of the lower top tube and the short chainstay. the problem is there is almost nobody around that owns an xs or s demo to ask if we can have a quick ride on it.

thanks in advance

I'm 5'5 110lb and ride a small demo. It fits me perfectly and is a pretty easy ride. The low bottom bracket and short chainstay is nice for a small rider. If she has long arms like me, the reach on the xs may be too short and make her feel more vulnerable on steeps.
flag nishnash
O+
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 20:54 Quote
Standover is a nice thing to have, but it's also absolute bullshit. leaning the bike over to get on/off is pretty normal to have to do. It shouldn't be a crazy lean, but some angling is normal, especially with the correct seat-height. and standover is COMPLETELY irrelevant to Center of gravity, it's dictated by the suspension design/R wheel clearance on DH bikes.

Any bike made in an XS/S would be rad, other than sizing the rest of it is just up to picking angles and specific lengths that dictate a bikes feel.

All of the things that are good for guys (low CG, slack, light, long) are good for girls as well, and vice versa. It's not gender specific.
flag Fufi7
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 at 23:35 Quote
amnda wrote:
Fufi7 wrote:
my girlfriend got into downhilling because of me.

so she bought a scott voltage fr for hitting the parks.
she likes it but on the gnarly stuff she is always a little anxious and scared. few weeks ago she rode a transition tr450 in S and felt more secure right away. the scott has a quite hard rear end that is good for having fun in bikeparks but doesnt give you that much confidence in highspeed and steep rocky stuff at least when you are a little scared.

my question is what size of the demo would you recommend for a woman that is 164cm (5'4 - 5'5),XS or S? considering that she is not a fast and gnarly rider yet. when i compare the reach and geometrie to transition in S i would say an xs demo but i am just not so sure.
why not a transition when she feels comfortable on it?
i think the demo would be a even better choice for her over the transition because of the lower top tube and the short chainstay. the problem is there is almost nobody around that owns an xs or s demo to ask if we can have a quick ride on it.

thanks in advance

I'm 5'5 110lb and ride a small demo. It fits me perfectly and is a pretty easy ride. The low bottom bracket and short chainstay is nice for a small rider. If she has long arms like me, the reach on the xs may be too short and make her feel more vulnerable on steeps.

hmm ok good to know thanks...we really need to find somebody who rides a S or XS first i guess...because she is closer to 5.5.
flag Fufi7
Posted: Jul 26, 2012 at 0:23 Quote
nishnash wrote:
Standover is a nice thing to have, but it's also absolute bullshit. leaning the bike over to get on/off is pretty normal to have to do. It shouldn't be a crazy lean, but some angling is normal, especially with the correct seat-height. and standover is COMPLETELY irrelevant to Center of gravity, it's dictated by the suspension design/R wheel clearance on DH bikes.

Any bike made in an XS/S would be rad, other than sizing the rest of it is just up to picking angles and specific lengths that dictate a bikes feel.

All of the things that are good for guys (low CG, slack, light, long) are good for girls as well, and vice versa. It's not gender specific.

ok lets compare slower smaller riders (maybe beginners) who take more time to learn to get less scared in steep terrain to normal riders who have a longer experience and arent scared and everything.

yes you are right the standover doesnt bother me too much as well. i actually dont give a damn. but when it comes to girls who dont plow the way down the hill as much as we do...with less speed and a little scared in the steeper terrain it gives them just the ammount of comfort they need. also when they sometimes get on and off the bike in the steep and gnarly stuff it still matters for them. girls who shred the same like guys...you re right again it doesnt matter.

and its not completely irrelevent... with a lower top tube you surely have a lower center of gravity...just google or search in wikipedia for center of mass. or go to a physics class.
of course the suspension is the heaviest part and matters the most...thats one reason i chose the banshee legend.

i now my girl her riding style and when she feels comfortable or not. i dont ask this stuff for no reason and i know what to her. cant compare everybody with everybody.
flag Fufi7
Posted: Jul 26, 2012 at 2:06 Quote
emmswhit wrote:
Fufi7 wrote:
thanks for your help...yes the session was also one of those i considered. 2 friends of mine (girls) have the session in S and several swiss girls who ride dh. we will see...but for now she has to stay with her voltage.

awesome, tomorrow we will go to bikepark chatel (portes du soleil) in france for 4 days...so looking forward. have a good day everyone.
im out in chatel from monday onwards till 17 th august!

so cool to be on a bikevacation that long!! have fun there, it is awesome!!
flag nishnash
O+
Posted: Jul 26, 2012 at 21:57 Quote
Fufi7 wrote:
nishnash wrote:
Standover is a nice thing to have, but it's also absolute bullshit. leaning the bike over to get on/off is pretty normal to have to do. It shouldn't be a crazy lean, but some angling is normal, especially with the correct seat-height. and standover is COMPLETELY irrelevant to Center of gravity, it's dictated by the suspension design/R wheel clearance on DH bikes.

Any bike made in an XS/S would be rad, other than sizing the rest of it is just up to picking angles and specific lengths that dictate a bikes feel.

All of the things that are good for guys (low CG, slack, light, long) are good for girls as well, and vice versa. It's not gender specific.

ok lets compare slower smaller riders (maybe beginners) who take more time to learn to get less scared in steep terrain to normal riders who have a longer experience and arent scared and everything.

yes you are right the standover doesnt bother me too much as well. i actually dont give a damn. but when it comes to girls who dont plow the way down the hill as much as we do...with less speed and a little scared in the steeper terrain it gives them just the ammount of comfort they need. also when they sometimes get on and off the bike in the steep and gnarly stuff it still matters for them. girls who shred the same like guys...you re right again it doesnt matter.

and its not completely irrelevent... with a lower top tube you surely have a lower center of gravity...just google or search in wikipedia for center of mass. or go to a physics class.
of course the suspension is the heaviest part and matters the most...thats one reason i chose the banshee legend.

i now my girl her riding style and when she feels comfortable or not. i dont ask this stuff for no reason and i know what to her. cant compare everybody with everybody.

I work with beginner riders all the time as a guide, and again the standover is completely secondary to everything else. Again, it's a nice thing to have, but proper geo/bb height/suspension (if applicable) is far more necessary. And again, I'm aware of the physics and you seem smart enough to understand it. Your bottom bracket shell is you're mass centre being that it is where you stand on the bike, and what directly supports your weight. The top tube is of miniscule amounts of weight relative to body mass and the mass of the bike. It does next to nothing to control the COG.
flag feedtheflame
Posted: Jul 27, 2012 at 7:13 Quote
im about 5.7 and 140 lb and i chose a xs over a small. i started with a norco stryk in a small and (coming from a person who has been used to a bmx) found it kinda big and feeling shaky on it. standover height means something to me, cus yes, im slow right now and stopping/getting off/putting a foot down is a lot more difficult....not to mention im just naturally clumsy on a bike....

my boyfriend had gotten himself an 07 norco six three and that frame rides like a dream. i love it. even my brother loves it. So i managed to find someone selling that bike in the 06 model in an extra small. Snatched that gem up and i dont know if im ever going back to a small. standover height is more comfortable (for those who care about that) and because of the shorter tt length, it centers my body in a better position. I feel like i have more room for getting over the front or back and its so much whipy'er. and because of the double crown fork and just the geometry in general, its slacker too which i like. on my old small size bike, i felt more like i was floating in the middle, and had to work harder to get farther forward/backwards.
flag Gayle
Posted: Aug 4, 2012 at 16:23 Quote
Hi,

I'm a short arse, 5'1"... And I ride an XS Yeti 5 for trail riding and a Small Super 8 for DH...

The Super 8 is slightly to big for me height wise, I have the saddle slammed down, but can stand over the frame 'just'.
DH bikes are always nice and short so TT length isn't an issue on him and I can easily get out over the back. He is however a lot of bike to man handle down a track being of the old school heavy DH bike era... Though I truly love riding it and had the best time ever in Morzine this year on the old boy...

For the issue of standover height, it is really important and I'm shocked that some-one working with beginners says it's secondary.

OH has a Intense in medium, it too has a really short TT length and doesn't feel that much longer than my Yeti... but it's terrifying, if I need to dab a foot I know I wouldn't be able to, I have to jump off it and hop on,, and going round a Berm, never even dared to try, the bikes just too tall.. Saddle height is set up fine for me..

Basically due to the standover height I can manoeuver and 45lb plus DH bike better than a 35lb AM bike.

I'm a wimpish rider and standover really effects my confidence on a bike, more than angles and suspension...
flag JFLICK
Posted: Aug 14, 2012 at 4:10 Quote
I used to ride bmx and now i ride dh and in any case standover is always important to me i like to feel like i can be comfortable when im riding or when im chillen.

 


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