Hi Anne, I'm 5'2 (and 1/2 or so). Somewhat shorter legs; longer torso than is standard for women, I suspect. I've found that road bikes with effective top tubes between 50.5cm and 52cm can all work. Anything longer than that, and no...
I had a 48cm Sam. Unquestionably too big. It had a 54cm effective top tube. Really unworkable as a road bike (and, frankly, too big as an upright hybrid as well.) I would also say that the San Marcos would probably be too big. From Riv's geometry chart, it says that the effective top tube is 53.5cm, which too me is just way too close to 54cm. (The geometry chart also says, though, that the seat-tube angle is 71.5. I have a hard time imagining it could possibly be that relaxed -- I've never seen anything like that possible in small frames, but who knows...) I have a Jamis Quest Femme in a 48 that fits very, very well. I like it very much as a road bike! It's a steel frame with carbon fork. When I decided to get a real road bike, I was looking at the Bianchi Vigorelli as well, which comes in a stated 46cm frame, which I think has a 50.5 effective top tube. (I have a Bianchi San Jose in their smallest size, which has the same frame -- it fits PERFECTLY.) (I went with the Jamis because I worked at a shop that sold Jamises and really couldn't justify turning down the staff pricing...) Anyway, both Jamis and Bianchi have various levels of steel (and non-steel) road bikes in 47-48cm frames. Given her height, I wouldn't even consider a 50cm frame! I believe Felt also has frames in very small sizes (with 650c wheels). Aluminium and carbon frames only (no steel), though, I believe. Good luck, -- Liz S. Washington, DC On Thursday, January 30, 2014 2:21:41 PM UTC-5, Tim Gavin wrote: > > I recently bought my girlfriend a Soma San Marcos. She's about 5'4", and > the 51cm fits her pretty well. It has a 51cm top tube. It's available in > a 47 as well, which would probably fit your friend perfectly. The San > Marcos is the lightest current Riv, except for the Roadeo. > > Plus, the color is magnificent. > > > Tim > > > On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Anne Paulson > <anne.p...@gmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> A new member of my bike club posted that she wants to buy a new road >> bike. She doesn't have much experience on the road. So I suggested >> some issues she ought to think about. >> >> Now she returns saying that she is trying to decide between two Trek >> carbon bikes, one of them a 47 cm and the other a 50 cm. She likes the >> bigger bike because the handlebars are higher and wider, but the >> salesperson says the reach is too long on the bigger bike. >> >> I want to gently suggest that she look in another direction (not a >> racing bike with a stupidly high low gear and stupidly low handlebars! >> I did not say that to her). I would've suggested a Sam, but it seems >> like even the 47 cm would be too long for her: the two bikes she is >> looking at have effective top tube lengths of 50.9 and 51.9 (something >> like that) and the Sam is quite a bit longer at 54.5 cm. >> >> Any suggestions for a fun road bike for a small woman? I think a Sam >> would be in her price range. >> >> -- >> -- Anne Paulson >> >> It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> >> . >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
