Women's Specific Designs

[Dirt Girl]

At 5'1" with unusually short arms, I've owned two WSD mountain bikes and the road bike I bought this year happens to be WSD. I've bought all of them not simply because they are WSD but because they fit me. All of the WSD bikes with their shorter top tubes work better for me, and come closest to my ideal length, than any non-WSD bike I tried. I also like features such as smaller handlebar diameter on my mountain bike and the stock 36 cm handlebars on the road bike. I use the 165 cranks on both bikes. But that shorter top tube is what sells me.

Choices are so much more limited for people on the extreme small end of sizing. I think WSD simply expands the choices for women. That's a good thing. Make a small bike without the WSD label (that's not custom) and I'd be happy to try it out. Bottom line: if the bike fits (WSD or not), ride it!

[Pedal Wench]

I'm split on this issue. My first bikes were both WSD - Cannondale R1000's, which were top-of-the-line WSD from Cannondale. I loved the fit. When it was time to upgrade to CF, I was very limited in WSD designs, so I just shopped geometries to find one that was close enough for me to work with. Getting a high-end WSD is pretty tough. Getting a standard geometry and then swapping out components what I think we're forced to do (I built mine from a frameset, so I could pick my components). I'm probably right on the line, in that I don't think I've got particularly long legs, but I firmly believe that some women need a bike built for their bodies.

[Surlygirl]

I'm also pro WSD. Seem like us short stuffs need the WSD to get a bike that fits. I'm only 5' and finding a bike to fit me has been a challenge. Seems like if you are in the middle (avg) you have much more choices and can choose either men's or women's frames.

I have the same problems as the rest. Once you get the top tube short enough then you run into toe overlap. I've got an almost non existant stem on my Surly and it makes handling really squirrely. Its also hard to find 165 cranks with high end groups. I couldn't stop my bike without short reach brake levers and like the extra set on the tops. And the 38 handlebars are short and shallow. I've only ridden 700c wheels but most LBSs I've been in only have one or two bikes that have the 650s.
Even my mountain bike, a Gary Fischer Xsmall, well lets just say I have NO standover room.
The biggest problem is when you are a small female and looking to test ride bikes, there just aren't that many choices out there and most shops I've been in seem to carry sizes for the average male.

[spazzdog]

I've never ridden a WSD... but that's niether here nor there. Whatever the bike, I have rarely experienced a bike shop that paid women much mind in the fit department. It's like "sell it and roll her out", unless you pepper them with questions and prove you know something. I've had shops try to sell me a bike, saying it was a "great" fit just because my grrl-bits had a smidge of clearance on the top tube.

Whomever the manufacturer, they should demand that the shops representing them become proficient in properly fitting the customer. A happy customer is a return customer.

[Ali]

I totally agree with spazzdog's comments. I rarely visit my lbs (only a mile away) because of their sales attitude. If they have it on the shop floor and you can stand over it, they tell you it fits. I got my first mtn bike from them and it was way too big (16"), unfortunately I didn't know any better at the time.

I now have an XS racer-X that I built up myself choosing components that I wanted like SID SL fork that my next lbs (TX) kept saying would be awful, they had a lot of flex and I should buy a Mazochi (sp?). And I'm stood looking at these guys saying I weigh just over 100lbs, how am I ever going to flex anything.

That being said, I got a WSD road bike last fall and I love it. I test rode a lot of 48 cm and 50 cm men’s frames, but they were too long, even with shorter stems. Too wide and deep in the handlebar, and I could only get my finger tips on the brake levers. However, most WSD bikes were a major disappointment as far as components were concerned. I didn't want dura-ace but I definitely didn't want sora/tiagra. I also wanted 700cc wheels as for our biking household; it’s easier to keep stock tubes and tyres readily available.

In general, I think WSD is a good idea, as it may enable more people to have bikes that fit them. However, I find that component wise, most WSD does not offer a wide range of options and that often WSD are priced higher than a comparably equipped men’s frame. Women should not be penalised because of our smaller size and mass - we deserve the same wide range of options that are available to men at no greater cost.

[Masiguy]

Ok, the cat is out of the bag...

I am Tim Jackson, the Brand Manager and "head" of Masi Bicycles. Susan was kind enough to post the thread on my behalf so that unbiased replies could be generated by all of you. Your feedback has been wonderful and I greatly appreciate all of it. I was formerly the Inside Sales Manager at Canari Cyclewear and worked with Susan quite a bit and she is wonderful, so I came to her (and you) for feedback to my questions.

I could post for hours here as there is so very much to reply to, from all of your comments. So I don't know where to begin or what to say exactly. However, I would like to offer a direct link to me so that this forum does not become biased as a sales tool by me. Let's face it- I do need to sell bikes.

I maintain a blog site and would like to invite you to visit so that you can cast a vote there. I have a poll right now about WSD bikes and your votes would give me "hard numbers" to be able to back my plans and goals. Also, I would like to share my email address with you so you can contact me directly- tjackson@masibikes.com.

Again, I do not wish to abuse Susan's wonderful generosity, so I will refrain from posting further.

Susan did give me permission to say "thank you", so thank you for your invaluable feedback on this issue.

Sincerely,
Tim Jackson
Brand Manager
Masi Bicycles

[Irulan]

LOL, there aren't enough options on your poll.

*wsd needs to have better component options
*train lbs peeps to understand parameters of WSD