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After test riding and months of drooling, I've narrowed it down to these two:
-Kona Kula Lisa http://http://www.konaworld.com/08_kulalisa_w.htm
-Gary Fisher Big Sur GS http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/big-sur-gs
Anyone with knowledge or experience on these bikes? I would appreciate any responses.
I *love* my Kona (have a more limited budget & thus a Cinder Cone). I had a (now stolen) Kona MTB before that too. They are awesome bikes. But so are Fisher bikes... Either way I think you'll be very happy, but I can't speak highly enough about Kona. I rode a Kona on the World's Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia and that pretty much sold me (though I had one before that... :) )
Anne
I have a Cinder Cone too. Lots of reviews say best bang for the buck.
I'm happy with my Cinder Cone also, but I don't do really hard or technical riding.
I think you really need to take a look at the bike geometries. They are really quite different for the two smallest sizes for each bike. The gary fisher top tube measurements are pretty long for the standover height. And the kona's top tube lenghts seem to be reasonable, but the standover height could be a little much for some who fits the top tube length.
For example, if I were fitting myself and had to pick one of these bikes I would probably have to pick the Kona (16") on paper because the top tube length (assuming that they listed the effective top tube length) at 21.7 inches works and the standover height just barely works. The gary fisher 15" is out, but the 13" might work for me. But I really have to test ride both to see how they handled......
The problem is that it is hard to find women-sized bikes hanging around bikes shops. But it you can find them, test ride them. If you find they fit equally well and you like the handling of both, I'd pick the one with the nicest frame because you can always upgrade components as they wear out.
Two very different bike brands geometry-wise. Any chance you'll be able to ride them both, back-to-back, on dirt? It's probably the only way to really know what's going to work best for you. That said, I vote for the GF. :D Not only because I am completely biased :p, but also because I have found my Tass to be a very capable wee bike, both up and down hills.