Trying to find a bike for my wife

[ss_ridgerunner]

My wife has decided that this cycling thing looks interesting so we are looking to get her a bike. We went to the bike store and had her measured and she looked at a few bikes, but we didn’t have time to get on any because they were closing. I did a bit of research when I got home and realized that to get the right top tube length (51.5 cm) in the bikes that we were looking at that we would have to get around a 50-51 cm. The seat tube recommendation for her is 54.5. Do you have any recommendations? We were looking at the C’Dale R1000 WSD and Trek 5000 WSD.

I put her on my 56 cm C’Dale with a 80 mm stem and the seat way down and all the way forward just trying to get an idea…She was so stretched out she looked like she was on some sort of torture device.

This will be her first road bike and I feel like she will ride the heck out of it. She commandeered my trainer this winter and put her very cheap mtn bike on it and went at it all winter…I had to get another trainer so I would have one. She is doing all my training videos and loving it from what I can tell. I am not limited to C’Dale and Trek, but they are the ones I have the easiest access to.

Any ideas will help. Thanks.

[RoadRaven]

Hey there ss, what kind of cycling does your wife want to do? That will help us with your question.

Road racing?
Mountain biking?
Criteriums?
Time Trials?
Commuting?

[ss_ridgerunner]

Hey there ss, what kind of cycling does your wife want to do? That will help us with your question.

Road racing?
Mountain biking?
Criteriums?
Time Trials?
Commuting?

She would mostly be doing high intensity group and solo road rides. She wants a bike that she could race on should the notion strike her. That means road races and crits around here, not too many time trials.

[Pedal Wench]

I have two Cannondale r1000 wsd bikes. Love them, but the rumours that Cannondales have a somewhat harsh ride is true. They handle very well, and are quite fast. I did change out the seatpost and added padding to the handlebars to try to soften up the ride - it worked rather well. I don't ride them as much lately only because I upgraded to carbon and Campy.

[salsabike]

I needed a top tube 50.5-51.5 cm, and got a size 50 Bianchi Eros Donna, which I love passionately---very smooth ride, fits perfectly. http://www.bianchiusa.com/06_eros_donna.html

I did also try a Specialized Dolce, which also comes in a size that would fit your wife, but liked the ride of the Bianchi much better. Also prefer the Campy shifters on the Bianchi (Dolce comes with Shimano shifters, harder for smaller hands to use).