Road bikes for short people

Hi. I'm short. 145cm (4'8). I am looking for a road bike which is going to fit me properly. My bike shop has ordered in a Trek 1.2 WSD 43cm with 650 wheels. I'm going to try it out this weekend. I was just wondering if there are any other women out there who's short and what they ride or anyone with advice and what I should look out for when trying out the bike. Cheers

What your main problem is likely to be is top tube length. Personally, I've done a lot of research on this subject as - although I'm nowhere near as short as you - I have a very short torso. I found that the shortest womens frames were the Treks, of which I now have a 1500 WSD which I love to bits.

Good luck with it and let us know how you go.

Lotte

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I am 5' 1" and have the 43 cm, trek pilot 1.2 with 650's and its a perfect fit. I tried other bikes and brands and decided on the trek. I know some people debate over 650 vs 700 but for me the 650's give me a better center of gravity.

5' nothing - 44cm race bike with 700c wheels, 47cm rain bike with 650c wheels

At 4'8" even the Trek 43cm may be a bit big on you depending on your proportions. If you are short torso then you might have to go to a 24" wheel bike (I have a Conquest 24 cyclocross bike). Felt, Fuji, Trek and even Pinarello all make a kids model that may be a better fit than a bigger bike. Fuji also does a scaled down 650 wheel model for kids, but I don't know if it is any smaller than the smallest women's sizes.

Check the TERRY web site to see if they have a walk-in dealer near you ...

I'm 5'2" and ride a WSD Pilot. It fits me very well and love to ride it. I have heard very good comments about Terry Bicycles also.

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Cycling Bikes

I'm not a woman, and while I'm short, I'm not as short as you are... but my daughter is. It's the wheels that are the limitation for the short rider, because with 700c wheels, no matter what length they make the seat tube, in reality, all you're getting is a 51 cm bike (49 cm centre-to-centre) with a short seat tube. It can't be any smaller than this, because the head tube can't get any shorter, and neither can the horizontal length of the bike. You can never make that fit properly if you intend to ride it as a road bike. The smaller wheels help solve that. Now, 650 wheels are smaller, and so they allow the bike to be made smaller. But that being said, 4'8" is pretty short, maybe even for 650 wheels if you don't intend to ride with the handlebars higher than the seat. You might be better off with a road bike intended for a child, if you can find one.

I beat you! 4 foot 10 :P
I usually ride with smaller weels and I think Felt makes some good petite road bike!
I have one

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Keep in mind that "short" is a fairly broad range of heights. What is fine for someone 5'1" may not be for someone who is 4'8". That's a 5 inch difference! At 4'8", even 650 size wheels will be large if the rider expects to ride the bike in a road riding position. If it was me, I would definitely at least try out a 24 inch wheel road bike.

The shortest top tube lengths in an off-the rack bicycle are Terry's. I used to own a Trek 420 which had the shortest top tube manufactured by Trek, and it was still an inch too long for me. I've only discovered what it's like to ride a bike that fits since I bought my first Terry 3 years ago.

Terry Bicycles Main Site

Used Terry's

Unfortunately prices have gone up significantly recently. My Madeleine was $1200 when I bought it new 3 years ago; the least expensive Terry is now around $2500. However used Terry's are still very affordable - I bought my Despatch a few months ago (with upgraded shifting built into the brake levers instead of downtube shifters) for $250.

Hope that helps.

Sojourner

I am about 4'11" and seem to have short legs to boot. After riding a hybrid that was clearly too big for me and trying some bikes of other short women in my bike club, I nearly gave up cycling thinking that I'd never find a road bike that was right for my size. I tried a kid's road bike with 650 wheels and that got me thinking to search for other bikes with 650 wheels. I just bought a Giant (that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one) XXS frame with 650 wheels. Apparently the XXS corresponds to about a 41cm frame. So far I'm liking it a lot. What a difference from my hybrid. So you definitely should check out Giant. I also tried the Felt bikes, but the Giant frame is still a little smaller.

If 650 feels better, you might like 26 inch wheels more. They are a bit shorter. 650 is not that much shorter than 700c once you put the wider tires on the rim.

Checked out the Terry bikes.....really, really wish women had a wider range than that.
Sorry, but I would never ride a hideous bike called the "fast woman". Much less would I pay a few grand for it. Especially one made of steel. Surely there are better bikes for us shorties.