Do female-specific bikes really make the difference?

[IBrakeforPastry]

IMO it totally depends on the person. I'm 5'0". My road bike is a Felt F-5 unisex bike. I did try several WSD bikes and the ONLY one that I was even mostly comfortable on was the Specialized Ameria. The Felt fits me great. I love it. The only thing I swapped out was the saddle and that was for a different men's saddle. (I also don't have kids and the men's saddles seem to be more comfortable for me than the women's are.) My cruiser type bike is a WSD as is my mountain bike. The mountain bike we've had to make several adjustments to the handle bars to get it feel better, the cruiser is pretty good the way it came. I'll look at WSD bikes for anything that is not a road bike. I will not look at WSD road bikes because I feel to cramped on them. I feel much better on the unisex road bikes as long as I can find them small enough for me to ride.

Thank you for typing out most of my experiences! I'm 5'0", long torso, short limbs. I bought a Specialized Dolce last year that fits reasonably well. But this year I tried a petite Felt that seemed to fit even better. The dealer explained that at that small size, the proportions are less WSD (even though it's a women's bike) and more unisex. I don't know if it was a sales pitch, but the bike did feel good. A fitter who helped me with the Dolce said I would probably do fine with a men's bike, it's just that there are very few that are small enough.

I'm not sure if my problem is with men's vs. women's bikes, or just that I'm really hard to fit. I may just go back to the straight bars.