New project for girlfriend this time.

[wildoliver]

My girlfriend has decided she wants a half decent bike as opposed to the halfords special, it has fallen to me to find the bits, build the bike oh and pay for the bits too. Good deal eh?

So I am building out of her old bike which has a few little bits of use but I doubt any bits will get used personally, she has made the following stipultations:

Must be alloy framed (I can agree with that)
Must be full suspension (I would sooner do a hardtail, and if I find one that is what she will get)
Mustn't cost me too much money (so at least she isn't totally heartless)

I'm hunting out something along the lines of a decent quality alloy frame to suit someone 5ft10 - 5ft11 tall, so most frames will suit, I would sooner get a scabby looking nice quality frame and have to repaint it than a cheap and nasty one that looks perfect, a set of decent but basic forks, something like rock shox judies, a decent but not ott set of wheels, she doesn't go off road, the worst they will have to deal with is kerbs and the odd pothole, so a set of shimano hubs and either cheap mavic or a set of those velocity deep v rims something along those lines, anything more would be a waste. And then the other bits I will try to scavenge from other bikes or ebay.

So does anyone have an alloy frame spare, a pair of wheels or hubs or rims? Or even a stalled project with some reasonable parts? Please bear in mind parts must be cheap, but I don't mess around and if I say I will have something I will pay a fair price.

Many thanks

Oliver

[catso]

I recently built a bike for my wife, inspired by 'leftover' parts from other 'projects'.

I bought a brand new, lightweight Saracen Ladies MTB frame for £20 off ebay, searched for good used forks but ended up buying a new set for £25.

The bike turned out nice and more than good enough for the light, occasional use it will get.

Not sure if at the end of it, had I saved my money and sold off the parts I already had, whether it worked out any cheaper than buying a new bike but it kept me busy and I'm certain that the bike is better than the equivalent priced new bike.



Good Luck......

Edited by catso on Monday 26th March 11:52

[wildoliver]

Lets be honest we enjoy making things

I'm hoping to find a mens frame for Emma though, so might be easier for me with luck!

[mat205125]

Why is there a need for ladies specify bikes?

Surely there is enough adjustment for any body shape with the components / sizes available.

History lesson anyone?

[catso]

mat205125 said:

Why is there a need for ladies specify bikes?

Surely there is enough adjustment for any body shape with the components / sizes available.

History lesson anyone?

I think it originates from the fact that 'Ladies' wore dresses and so it was difficult, (not to mention undignified), to cock their leg over the back of the seat so lower frames were made to allow them to mount/dismount by passing their leg through the bike and maintain their dignity, a sort of 'sidesaddle' for bikes, I think there is also the issue of different body proportions eg women generally having longer legs in relation to body etc but as you say this can be catered for with different components.

When building the wife's bike I wasn't specifically looking for a Ladies frame, just that it came up at the right price & time and my wife seems to think that in some way a Ladies frame is better but if she's happy, I'm happy but as mentioned earlier if you're looking for a man's frame there is much more choice available.

That said I have ridden the bike and it works well, even for a 15st, 6ft bloke (although my knees are a bit close to the bars) so I don't know if there's any downside to the design?

Edited by catso on Monday 26th March 13:45

[JPJ]

Not sure if you meant the use of womens frames with a strongly sloping top tube, or newer ones with dimensions adjusted for the female frame. Of the newer bike designs, the manufacturers have realised that ladies tend to be proportionately longer in the leg and shorter in the torso than males, so to avoid them stretching so much the top tube has been shortened without destroying the angles of the bike.