road bike for short people

zippydee said:

Good Morning! I just joined this site and am looking for advice on finding a road bike to fit a 4'11' female (me). I'll be riding in a very long fundraiser on the west coast in August and need to begin training. The 44 with standover height of 28" is still too tall for me, and I don't want to get into the big money of customizing until deciding if I really love the sport. Any ideas?? Thanks! Deanne

There are some smaller road bikes designed for older childrend that might fit you. I believe Felt and possibly Orbea make them. The only real drawback is that they take even smaller wheels than 650's making tubes and tires more difficult to find.

http://www.feltracing.com/06/06_bikes/f24/ (this one is about $700)

You could also look at the Kona Jake 24 - this a cyclecross bike, but with some slick tires on it, it may be more suitable for touring or commuting. It has fender islets and lower gearing than the Felt

http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/JAKE24/index.html (this one is cheaper at about $600, but you would likely want to change out the tires - this is a swap the shop might do)

another option would be to look around for a used Terry - the drawback to these bikes is that they have two differently sized wheels.... that means double the repair kit as well as having to find odd sized tubes and tires.

Check out posts by "Little Jackie", she is 4'11" on a good day. 😉

Thanks for the reply! I am testing a Felt today as a matter of fact. It has 24" wheels and is a 650 tire size (if that makes sense) on sale for $520. They also have a Giant and a Bianchi for me to try in about the same sizes. It's a gorgeous day in CA today and I am itching to join the world of roadbiking!

[quote="Eden"]There are some smaller road bikes designed for older childrend that might fit you. I believe Felt and possibly Orbea make them. The only real drawback is that they take even smaller wheels than 650's making tubes and tires more difficult to find.

[quote="zippydee"]Thanks for the reply! I am testing a Felt today as a matter of fact. It has 24" wheels and is a 650 tire size (if that makes sense) on sale for $520. They also have a Giant and a Bianchi for me to try in about the same sizes. It's a gorgeous day in CA today and I am itching to join the world of roadbiking!

I highly recommend Bike Friday. They do custom bikes at reasonable prices and specialize in 20" wheels. Many professional riders use them. Another nice thing about them is that they can be fit into a suitcase for air travel.

Whatever you get, make sure it has a low bottom bracket and 160mm cranks or smaller.