WSD road bike, what do you suggest?

[adrienne52]

New to road riding, have an 18 year old bike, desperate to replace. Found a WSD Trek 4900 and although it is qualifed as a mountain bike could it be good for regular road riding up to 36 + miles.

[Skippyak]

Well, that isn't a road bike, so it doesn't even qualify. Why WSD? What are your goals? What is bad about your old bike?

[adrienne52]

weighty and definitely not like the bikes of today, was purchased as a recreational bike, I would like to upgrade. I am only 4'9", so the WSD type bike would be more specific to my needs in terms of the frame. When I looked at the reviews on the Trek 4900 it sounded like it could be a decent choice since I am not needing a race type bike, just something I can use on weekends for the longer rides. I find myself way behind the pack with my heavy version. The bike I located is used as well as the price is right, but only if it would work for my needs, otherwise I will keep looking.

[OakLeaf]

WSD has to do with body proportions (torso, arms, legs), not overall height, although it's true it can be hard to find men's frames in the smallest sizes.

If all you're looking for is a weight reduction, you're automatically undercutting yourself by going to a mountain bike with suspension fork, wide rims and knobby tires. All those things are very useful off-road, but if you only intend to ride pavement, all they do is add weight. At least the forks can be locked out on that bike, which you'll want to do on pavement, but if you're going to ride with them locked all the time, why pay for a suspension fork?

Test ride lots of bikes, choose the one that best fits your body and your budget.

[Skippyak]

You really need to just get your budget in order first, then ask what you want, at your height you are tiny so I would suspect you are limited to WSD but you still need to know what would fit you best. But you are looking for a road bike, not a mountain bike. Road bikes can be more comfortable or more racey, maybe do some googling. Look at what your pack is riding? Budget is going to really decide a lot though.

[Owlie]

Given your height, you are probably going to be limited to WSD purely because of the availability of sizes. What sort of riding are you looking at doing? If you want to ride only on pavement, and want lighter, look at a hybrid or flat-bar road bike (Trek FX series, Specialized Vita, etc) if you don't want drop bars. Stay away from suspension and huge knobbly tires. If you're just going to ride on pavement, it's not worth paying for suspension that you don't need and just adds a lot of weight. Decide what you want to do, and how much you want to spend. Test-riding is going to be hard, because of your height, but I'd at least go talk to some shops to see what they carry that meets your needs.

[TigerMom]

Given your height, you are probably going to be limited to WSD purely because of the availability of sizes. What sort of riding are you looking at doing? If you want to ride only on pavement, and want lighter, look at a hybrid or flat-bar road bike (Trek FX series, Specialized Vita, etc) if you don't want drop bars. Stay away from suspension and huge knobbly tires. If you're just going to ride on pavement, it's not worth paying for suspension that you don't need and just adds a lot of weight. Decide what you want to do, and how much you want to spend. Test-riding is going to be hard, because of your height, but I'd at least go talk to some shops to see what they carry that meets your needs.

I agree with Owlie as usual.

Mountain bikes are way heavier than flat bar road bikes/road bikes. I couldn't understand at first why people usually owned 2 bikes (one mountain bike and one road bike). After riding for a while, especially in groups, you'll know why it's better to have a mountain bike for mountain and a road bike for road.

A mountain bike is too heavy and has too much friction for you to keep up with your road biking friends (unless they all ride mountain bikes for road biking too).

[nuliajuk]

You don't say what your budget is, but some of the Terry bikes might be small enough. The smallest sizes are made with 650C wheels, or with a 24" front wheel. That could make it a little trickier to find spare inner tubes, but it would most likely fit.
http://www.terrybicycles.com/Bicycles/Ready-To-Ride-Fitness
Extremely small adults also have a few junior choices available, such as the Kona Jake 24 (cyclocross), or some of the 24" wheel road bikes made by companies such as Pinerello and Argon 18. The components aren't top of the line, but those could be upgraded if they wore out.

[emily_in_nc]

You would also fit on a Bike Friday with 20" wheels. I have one I bought for touring but it's great for regular road riding as well.

Agree too with the Terry recommendation. I used to have an Isis and fit well on the 17.5" size at 5'2" with 28.5"ish inseam. You'd need the smallest size (16"). There's a gal in the club I used to be in around your height that rides that size.

Definitely agree about the MTB -- I love mine and ride it on the road for utility rides and on paved trails, but it's quite heavy compared to my road bikes.

Good luck!

[kajero]

Part of the reason I decided on a WSD was because of my small hands and shoulders. They WSD specialized road bikes really addressed this problem for me. Not Trek.

[Sylvia]

What is your inseam measurement? At 4' 9" I'd guess you probably have an inseam similar to mine. I'm 5' but have short legs for my height and have an inseam of 25". If your inseam is the same as mine, it may be difficult to find a diamond frame road bike that gives you enough clearance to stand over. Unless you get one with 24" or 20" wheels. There are a number of youth road bikes that use 24" wheels, and various folders and mini velos on 20" wheels. Otherwise, you might look for a small mixte or step-through frame bike.